Sgt. Kaipo Giltner has been in the Hawai'i Army National Guard for 10 years.

The 28-year-old Hawai'i Kai man deployed to Iraq for a year in 2005, and was set to deploy to Kuwait last fall.

That's when his service to the nation got complicated — in this case due to injury. Giltner's battles have since been fought at home with the National Guard as he figures out what to do about a bad back.

Giltner said his Humvee hit a bump on a tank trail Sept. 2 during training at Fort Hood, Texas. He and other Hawai'i soldiers were preparing for the deployment to Kuwait.

Giltner, a 1999 Kaiser High School graduate, said he felt pain shooting down his leg, and numbness.

"He followed protocol" and went to sick call, said Giltner's wife, Shelly. She was six months pregnant at the time. Kaipo Giltner was sent home and taken off active duty.

The National Guard initiated a special "line of duty" investigation, and Giltner recently got the results.

"They are going back and forth, (but) they are saying that it was a previous injury, and they are not responsible because I didn't claim it at the time," he said.

Giltner said he was in a Humvee that was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq during the 2005 deployment. He had some back pain, "but it was really small and minor," and Giltner said he didn't report it. He then went through pre-deployment training in 2008.

"I was fine. I did all the necessary training," he said. Giltner, who has a disc protrusion, said he should have been kept on active duty so he could receive pay as he pursued medical treatment.

"One doctor told me I might need surgery, so if I go through surgery, I'll be out of work for a year," said Giltner, who works part-time as a gate guard at Fort Shafter.

"I feel pretty much betrayed," he added. "I fight for the country and put my life on the line and when it's time to take care of me ... they can't do it."

Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, a Hawai'i National Guard spokesman, said he is prohibited from discussing specifics of Giltner's case, which he called "very complicated." Soldiers often are kept on active duty during injury treatment, he said.

"In most cases, it's pretty clear cut," Anthony said. Other cases "can be problematic because it's not clear in terms off what caused a particular illness or injury (and) whether or not it was a pre-existing condition."