Cumming National Guardsman Fights for Back Pay

A member of the Georgia National Guard has lost his four-bedroom home in Cumming because an injury he received in Afghanistan in 2011 was not properly documented.

Spc. Robert Quattrocchi and his wife Monica recently had a child, but have been forced to live in an un-insulated farmhouse owned by Monica’s parents. Quattrocchi should be receiving incapacitation pay; he aggravated a back injury he received in 2011 during pre-mobilization training in 2013, the Military Times reports.

Military Times says that Quattrocchi’s back injury occurred in the line of duty in Afghanistan, but the paperwork declaring that was not properly filed after he demobilized after his 2011 tour. Due to the lack of a ”proper” paper trail, Quattrocchi hasn’t been able to receive incapacitation pay. Authorities are still investigating his injuries to determine whether or not they happened in the line of duty, which must happen for Quattrocchi to get his pay.

Although Quattrocchi has gotten adequate care from the VA, his wife Monica has had to leave the service because it too much in gas money to report for drill. The pair met while serving in the National Guard in Afghanistan.

Quattrocchi calls his unit every week and asks that they release his records to the VA, but all he hears back is that he needs to turn in his equipment; his contract is up in November.

In the meantime, Quattrocchi is considering starting the medical evaluation board process while Monica goes back to school. Quattrocchi is also planning to go back to school using the GI Bill to study engineering.