Army MMRB/COAD

[BPIMOM]

Okay here goes. I have read this site all day. I have not seen really anything relating to my husbands case. My husband is AD/Army 11b. He was in a bad car accident last summer. The man who hit him did not survive. My husband sustained a fracture of C/5 and subsequent issues with his neck, shoulder, arm, elbow and wrist. He has had 3 MRI's, 3 EMG's, numerous visits to ortho, neuro, phys med (for acupuncture) PT, Chiro, etc. Rounds of different medication also. Nothing is helping. We are pretty sure he has suffered a Traumatic Brachial Plexus injury at the level of C/5. This has been confirmed by a specialist in Houston as well as the Neuro here at our MTF. We are currently at Fort Lewis. Three weeks ago at a follow-up with his PCM he stated that enough was enough of trying to suck this up and heal while doing his regular job has gotten my husband no where. With TBPI's nothing is guranteed with regards to recovery. Most stretch injuries will heal over time. Its been almost 12 months so he may be looking at some permanent injury. His doctor told us that he needed to go to a MMRB and also transfer to the WTU so he can concentrate on rehab and see if he can get any better. He really needs the time to try and heal more. He has been on a profile for 11 months and he was still going to the field etc etc. He can not wear IBA or ride in a tactical vehicle right now. His doctor assured us that the Army is not all fired up to kick soliders to the curb any more. My husband has 16 years of active service.

The process has been initiated and his PCM spoke with the head of med boards here at Madigan about my husband and his desire to continue on active duty (COAD). We were told of this program three weeks ago and we can find very little information about it. He does not want to be booted from the Army so close to retirement. This has been his whole life. We got a call today informing him of a information meeting next week to start the board process. What can we expect? We are soo lost. I can not seem to find any information on COAD/MMRB. He is planning on telling them next week that he would like to have a few months in the WTU to concentrate on rehab and then would be happy to go back to recruiting duty to serve out his time. He was recruiter for 4 years and was very successful. His PCM talked about reclassing but we can not see the Army retraining him so late in the game. Is it wise to have a proposal to return to recruiting??? His PCM said his injuries are serious and he can not deploy or go back to the infantry.

This is all very hard. I told my hubby I would get as much information as I could.

The one bit of good news today is that I was able to negotiate with Madigan (JAG) to cap their recovery at our PIP limits so we can settle with the insurance companies and not have to pay for his medical bills out of his settlement. They called today to say they would not collect past our PIP as he deserves as much compensation as we can get. I was very suprised by this decision. The man who hit him was under insured so we are going to be collecting from his and our insurance. We have USAA and they have been fabulous. He was offered policy limits by both companies. THis has been a lot of work but we are doing this ourselves in lieu of an attorney to be able to gain the best possible settlement for him.

I have rambled enough. Any and all help will be very appreciated.

[Jason]

BPIMOM,

Welcome! Chapter 6 of AR 635-40 (found here AR 635-40) contains the rules and information on COAD. This option would only be available after an unfit finding by the PEB.

Here is a link to AR 600-60, which contains the rules for MMRB's: http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r600_60.pdf

I do think it is good to have an alternate plan to push for reclassification out of the MMRB. The issue that I have not looked at is whether you can go to recruiting now without the MOS. Do you know if he qualified for the Recruiting MOS? Has he considered just volunteering for a recruiting tour before going to MMRB? It may be possible to finesse this so he can gain time to heal and take the MMRB out of the equation (they could recommend referral to MEB). While in a recruiter billet, he could pick up the MOS at his NCOES level, if he has not already.

Bottom line, his benefits will be much greater if he can make it to 20 years. Whatever he can do to reach that mark will benefit him greatly.

Best of luck and please let us know any questions.

[BPIMOM]

Jason,

Thank you for the information. I do not see how it will be possible to transfer to recruiting now that the PCS to WTU and the MMRB has been initiated. I do have a question though. Can the MMRB recommend a MOS change to 79R. Recruiting would be his last choice of assignment but he feels if he is upfront and volunteers to go back that would show how serious he is for staying in the Army. This is all pretty overwhelming. He is lucky to be alive. But, the mistake of someone else may end is career. I think they may come back with probation because the whole idea of WTU was so he could concentrate on rehab. He misses so many appointments because of his job that there is little continuity of care.

THank you.

Julia

[BPIMOM]

Sorry but no he is not a 79R. He is an 11b but he did a 4 year tour in recruiting and has been out of that for 2 years. USAREC pulled him back last summer for TDY for the summer surge also.

Julia