MEB and PTSD

[Army Medic Dad]

New twist to the story.

Son received a phone call from the transition office today wanting to make an appointment with him so they can do the final paperwork for discharge.

They didn't say anything about the status of his packet being sent back. So he called his case manager and was informed that his packet was never on the list to be sent back to Fort Lewis. The delay was for his grade determination.

JASON - wasn't the Army going to re-consider ALL 10% packets?

Son will be trying to find out tomorrow why his packet wasn't one of the ones sent back for re-evaluation.

[Jason]

Yes, that is the policy. See if he can find out what they are giving as a reason for not doing so. If they persist, I would ask why he is not being given benefit of 38 Code of Federal Regulations Section 4.129.

He should get this sorted out before he separates...unless there is some fact omitted, he should be retired instead.

[Army Medic Dad]

Jason,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Don't know if it will help. My son is still of the opinion that the lump sum severance package is the way to go over retirement. Because of credit card and vehicle loan debt, he feels he would be better off being able to pay off all that debt. Also feels that he will get enough extra disability $$$ from the VA and Social Security anyway. He feels that the only benefit to retirement would be PX/Commissary privileges (can be replaced by going to Wal Mart) and TriCare (which can be replaced by VA medical benefits).

He's not even sure if he even wants to ask the "powers that be" about why his packet wasn't resubmitted. He's worried that they might try to correct the error (if there was one) and force the retirement on him instead of the severance package that he wants.

[Jason]

Army Medic Dad,

I can't tell him what to do. But I doubt it is to his advantage to get severance over retirement. Depending on age, years of service, and base pay there may be some scenarios where he could do better. But with PTSD, he will qualify for CRSC and thus get at least a partial restoration of his waived DoD retirement pay.

This is what I would do to figure it out. Take the amount of his severance pay. Compare that to the restoration under CRSC (2.5% times years of service times monthly base pay). If you divide the restoration by the severance, that will tell you how many months until he receives more under retirement than under severance. (Of course, this is not the whole story, you have to take into account the present value of money versus the value of the annuity, including cost of living increases-but it is a pretty good yardstick).

The value of the health care benefit is immense. It covers not only your son, but his eligible dependents. I was trying to find the citation, but my memory is that the GAO pegged the value of this benefit for those age 60 and over at $175,000. The value for those younger is much greater. Of course, it also more valuable the more dependents you have.

The severance will likely be very handy for the next few months. It will take looking at the numbers to know for sure, but my instinct is that though it may take 5, 10, or more years to earn more in retirement than he would in severance, I am near certain that over 20, 30,40, or 50 years the retirement benefit will amount to many times the value of the lump sum.

[Army Medic Dad]

Jason,

Thanks for all your help. I talked to son again last night. Don't know if it made a difference. He heard late yesterday that it was just an oversight as to why his packet didn't get sent back up to Fort Lewis. He should find out more info today when he talks to his case manager. He also has an appointment with the transition office this AM.

His biggest concern - if he got the 50% and retirement, he just "knows" that the Army will knock it practically down to zero when it is re-evaluated.

[maparker]

I tend to think that taking the severance pay is penny wise and pound foolish.

First, if your son is retired on the TDRL and the Army later rates him at 0-20% during a TDRL review, at that time he will get a severance payment despite being previously retired on the TDRL. When your son leaves service, he should run, not walk, to the VA and get his condition rated by the VA. In fact he should have already started this under the Benefits Delivered at Discharge program. The VA ratings can be used to challenge artificially low ratings by the Army now or during a TDRL review.

If he is hurting for funds and really desires the severance pay for that purpose, here are a couple of strategies to consider.

1. If retired on the TDRL, take a loan out from a bank, family member or other source for the amount of the severance pay. Pay the loan back with the DoD retirement/VA compensation. When you are done paying back the severance, you can then collect your DoD retirement check for the rest of your life. He will also have retirement benefits the rest of his life. The value having guaranteed health insurance, with little or no co pays, for him and his family is immeasurable.

2. If he is separated with severance, he is eligible for the DoD Physical Disability Board of Review. He will most certainly win there as the Army has stated PTSD cases leading to separation from active duty since 28 January 2008 will be rated at minimum of 50%. If this board determines he should have been retired, they will merely subtract the amount of his severance pay for the retirement due. Once the severance pay is recouped, he will get a lifetime retirement check.

Mike

[brianwl]

I don't know about the new policy. However, where the difference is, is in benefits. The dollars and cents don't matter because he'll lose $1 from his military retirement for every $1 he gets from the VA.

Benefits wise is there the 50% really comes in. He will get all the same benefits as regular retirees; Tricare medical coverage for him and his family (or future family), BX/PX privalages, commissary privalages and much more.

Also since he has PTSD and will be retired he'll be eligible for Combat Related Special Compensaiton (CRSC) which returns some of what the VA takes away from his retirement.

[maparker]

Assuming his PTSD is combat related, he will not have to pay back his severance with VA compensation. With a retirement, he should be able to collect his retirement based on LOS and all of his VA compensation via CRSC.

Mike

[Army Medic Dad]

I apologize for the length of this reply, but felt I had to share it. You talk about the true meaning of FUBAR.

My son goes to his appointment with Transition last week only to find out they DIDN'T send his packet back to Fort Lewis (never gave an official reason) and they were going to go ahead and process him with the 10% and severance package. They print out a draft DD214 - lo and behold it lists the medical reason for discharge as NON-combat related. He points out that this in error, but they say that they can't change it (it's in the coding AND coding can't be changed). He gets on the phone with squad leader, case manager, etc. They all tell him that this needs to be changed, but no one has a clue as to who changes it. Next day, one of the SGT's in WTU goes to Transition and finds a more experienced civilian. She says that all they have to do is CHANGE A CODE.

So he goes to Transition the next day - the more experienced lady catches the fact that his packet wasn't resubmitted to Fort Lewis, so they are going to do this. The weekend passes. He then finds out that Transition has decided NOT to send the packet back and are going with the original plan of 10% and severance. He goes back to Transition yesterday to complete everything. Again, the DD214 still says NON-COMBAT related. He says that he won't sign anything and that he can't even clear Finance until he gets a "correct" DD214. So they tell them (are you ready for this) - "Then don't clear Finance" AND that the DD214 error can be changed AFTER his discharge AND that the Army can correct the 10% vs 50% disability error after discharge.

Well, needless to say he's pissed. He tells everyone within shouting distance and decides to visit JAG this morning. At the morning formation, he is informed that his squad leader passed along the story of his dilemma and it reached the ears of the WTU commander (a LTC). Later on this morning, he gets a phone call from the head of Transition. They will be going by the book and will be sending his packet back to Fort Lewis for re-evaluation (like they should have in the first place). Hopefully he will hear back within 2-3 weeks.

I told him that he may still be discharged before his original ETS (Aug 09).

And to think, I thought the Army had changed since I was in.

[Purple]

Army Medic Dad

Sorry to hear of all the discripancies. Hopefully his DD214 gets corrected, and everything works out at Ft Lewis for the re-evaluation.

Service members shouldn't have to go through these different type of measures to get treated fairly, and to get a concern addressed, and corrected. It's good that he voiced his opinion around post and it is being addressed.


Good luck with everything.