FORT DRUM — According to post officials, injured or ill soldiers with medical profiles can be deployed if they can receive proper care in theater, and they denied that it jeopardized medical treatment and division objectives.

"Standards of deploying capable men and women to accomplish the 10th Mountain Division's assigned missions has not, and will never, be compromised," Fort Drum's media relations officer, Benjamin E. Abel, wrote in an e-mail response.

According to Mr. Abel, a medical profile is a directive issued by medical personnel, such as a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, that restricts a soldier's activities or duties because of an injury or illness. The profile can be temporary, meaning it is effective for less than 12 months, or permanent, meaning it is effective for more than one year.

Mr. Abel said there are a "wide range of medical conditions" that can be treated or monitored while deployed, but did not specify what any of those were. He said that a soldier's ability to be deployed is determined on a "soldier-by-soldier basis".

Mr. Abel said profiles can be changed to reflect an improvement or deterioration in a soldier's condition.

"We treat solders much the same as any other employer would," Mr. Abel wrote. "If they are injured, we expect them to do their job to the best of their abilities within the constraints of their physical capacity."

The installation was responding to a story in last Tuesday's Denver Post in which a 10th Mountain Division soldier, Staff Sgt. Jack Auble, said his medical paperwork was changed so he could be deployed, even though he suffered from a variety of serious medical conditions, including severe osteoporosis of the spine, bulging discs and compression fractures.

Sgt. Auble said in the article that during his deployment to Iraq in early 2007, he had to be medically evacuated out of the war zone after being examined by a doctor. The paper reported that he has been retired on a permanent disability since then.

While Fort Drum did not comment on Sgt. Auble's specific case, Mr. Abel said that commanders have the discretion to deploy a soldier based on his medical condition and available care in the field. However, he said, they cannot change a soldier's medical profile.

Capt. Jennifer Bell, brigade surgeon for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said via e-mail that commanders are interested in maintaining healthy troops.

"I have never been pressured by a soldier's chain of command to change a profile or deploy a soldier," she wrote.

Despite these assurances, claims of medically unfit soldiers being sent to war have become so widespread in the Army that the Government Accountability Office is investigating the issue. Preliminary reports released in December indicate the allegations are untrue, but the full report is not due out until April 8.