Troubles have not ended for Special Forces soldier, Green Beret Tim Brumit, who was left paralyzed from the neck down after diving into the sea to save a girl from drowning, in July last year, according to The Daily Beast.
Despite stormy conditions, Sergeant First Class Brumit jumped into the water at Crab Island, Florida, on hearing screams that a 13-year-old girl was in trouble in the water and he thought he saw a drowning girl.
Instead of being hailed as a hero, Brumit, who is now paralyzed from the chest down, is under scrutiny for being under influence of alcohol and drugs on that day.
Following the U.S. Army's decision, Brumit can face a possible "other-than-honorable" discharge from service and loss of his military medical care, if he is not able to get the decision overturned by the Army.
The 33-year-old had 0.1 percent blood alcohol in his system at the time of the injury, which was not illegal because he wasn't driving. Brumit's hospital toxicology report also showed traces of cocaine and amphetamines in his system.
"I'm going to take responsibility for the fact that I had a coping problem," Brumit told the Daily Beast. "But the day of the injury, I had not used anything, and I wasn't even drunk."
Claiming he was clear-headed when he heard the Coast Guard alert about a missing girl.
"She did not seem too far. I was a good swimmer. I felt the responsibility and felt very capable of doing something, even with the storm," Brumit said. "I have a daughter. I would want someone to do the same for her."
"When I dove in, the water seemed to slip away and the sand bar was right there, and there was no turning back, and I hit my head," Brumit narrated the entire incident.
"I tried to shake it off … and realized I'd heard something break. I thought, oh my God, I've broken my neck."
Brumit's friends, who were on the boat with him, immediately jumped in to pull him out when they saw him face down in the water and still.
Few current and former senior commanders and congressional staffers came out in support of the injured soldier.
"Even if the guy killed himself driving his motorcycle drunk at high speed, we try to find a way to make sure his family gets his benefits," one former senior commander said, speaking anonymously.
According to Army investigation reports, Brumit is a soldier with a history of performance problems and alcohol abuse who blames everything on PTSD the Army says doesn't exist.
While the U.S. Army spokesman declined to comment on the Brumit case, a Special Operations Command based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said Lt. Gen. Ken Tovo has been studying the case.
"First and foremost, the command is sympathetic to SFC Brumit's tragic injury. The USASOC Commander is currently considering providing support to SFC Brumit's request for reconsideration," Lt. Col. Rob Bockholt said in an email Friday. "LTG Tovo is not questioning the decisions of the subordinate commanders, but is considering the totality of SFC Brumit's service to the nation and factors that could have led to this unfortunate accident."
He also pointed out that the Army's Human Resources Command is the ultimate decider of the case.
"Brumit was denied the opportunity to not only receive a full diagnosis, he was also prevented from obtaining treatment that he and others — with the exception of his command — recognized was necessary," Hunter wrote in a letter to Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning. "Now that Brumit will require a lifetime of medical care, an unfavorable discharge of any type fails to account for the Army's failure to support one of its top-rate warriors," he concluded.
The Green Beret Foundation, which supports active and retired Special Forces soldiers, has set up a fund for Brumit's care.
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