Approved...timeline and a question

JohnnyAirforce

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
Hi all! So I’m new to here and this forum has been very helpful to me as I went through this process. So I thought I also give my timeline for reference purposes to those going through the PDBR review.

I was 20% and discharged in 2007 with seizures grand mal. I got my first contact from this board or review in 2015. I filled out the paperwork and sent it in but expected nothing out of it. After a few years I had all but forgotten about it since I hadn’t heard anything. In December 2016, I wrote an email to the PDBR pentagon email address and got an automated response telling me that my package was at final review at the DDA and I would be notified within 45 days of a decision. Well Feb 22, 2018 (14 months not 45 days!) I got my answer. I was approved to be recharacterized to RETIRED and they rated me at 80%! I was astonished, but extremely happy. Next step is to call AFPC and talk to Ms Adams. She’s an awful person but she is the only person who handles SBP. She’s the first hurdle.
If you live near an AFB, then she will schedule you for a SBP briefing within a few weeks. If not, then she has to call you back whenever she’s good and ready. It took her 29 days to call me back. Then she sent me two forms. One to claim whether or not you want SBP for your spouse if you were married at the time or discharge, and/or your children. If not you can decline and she couldn’t care less. Oh, you will also find out your pension amount. Use that to figure out your retro pay (mine was $259,406 since I had no VA offset, but they take back the severance).
The other form is to have your spouse/ex-spouse sign and notarize. Send the hard copies back to her and that’s all. From there the package goes back to the board and gets signed by the Director of the AF Board Review Agency. Then you’ll get new orders, and your DFAS account will be opened. So here’s the timeline.
05/2015-sent in PDBR request
02/2018-received decision
04/2018-finish SBP declaration
05/2018-received final approval from director
No orders yet and no DFAS.

If you’re just starting, be patient. If you get apporoved, believe me it’s worth the wait!!

For those approved, does anyone know if we get a ceremony, flag, and president letter? Just curious. Okay all the best! Ask questions if you have any!!
 
Thanks for the timeline!! I received my letter about a month ago. Originally submitted for PDBR Sept, 2016.. From talking to Ms. Adams at the beginning of June sounds like it could be 30-60 days before my SBP briefing. I don't live within 50 miles of an AF base either. I went from 10% - 30%. VA was also 10% so I will be getting backpay as well. Still have to pay off about $10,000 in severance though.

I don't see much on retirement ceremonies in the AFIs regarding our situation. Ill dig in some more and see what I can find.

Keep us updated on your orders/DFAS timeline too. Really curious on how long this is going to take.
 
Hey so congrats on your retirement also! I’ve been told that they will schedule a retirement for us if we request but I don’t really want all that. Just want what every other retiree received. It also seems that everyone else’s timelines show similar times from receiving the approval to getting paid. Ms Adams has delayed my timeline by at least a month with her bs. But still, appears that it’s about 6 months from the time we get the first approval letter to the time we get paid. They finally posted my pdbr decision online also. Was yours posted yet? And if so, when?
Thanks for the reply!
 
Hey so congrats on your retirement also! I’ve been told that they will schedule a retirement for us if we request but I don’t really want all that. Just want what every other retiree received. It also seems that everyone else’s timelines show similar times from receiving the approval to getting paid. Ms Adams has delayed my timeline by at least a month with her bs. But still, appears that it’s about 6 months from the time we get the first approval letter to the time we get paid. They finally posted my pdbr decision online also. Was yours posted yet? And if so, when?
Thanks for the reply!

My PDBR decision hadn't been posted yet. I will probably end up taking the VA disability pay over the military retirement pay. VA is more and tax free. So, not sure if thats going to take longer, but worth the wait. I am more interested in getting my retirement ID to utilize the base and Tricare as of now. I also found that Tricare is supposed to back pay us medical expenses as well. Still have to pay the monthly premiums, but those are nothing compared to what most people are paying for medical.

The Army and Navy seem to be getting theirs processed much faster then the Air Force from what I have seen on this forum. Still trying to find a AF individual on here who has been through the whole process.

Were you able to get a contact/website to see the status of your progress after the SBP brief?
 
Yes the other branches are definitely moving faster then the AF. In fact, I saw one AF timeline that showed he was waiting 6 months for retirement orders and still hadn’t gotten anything. And I haven’t seen another AF person finish the whole thing either. In fact, ms Adams told me something alarming that didn’t compute until now, she said it could still be a few YEARS before the process is finished. Ironically she said that right before she told me that each person along the way has 30 days to finish their partner of our package. So knowing that, if 10 people have to work on it, I look at ten months. If more than that then I can only fathom how long it would take. I will however say that it was a good sign to see the board finalize it all and send it off to AFPC for new orders. You will get that letter after you finish SBP. Mrs Adams told me that’s when it is all approved and sent for the changes in our paperwork. So I assume I should be hearing something in the next couple months.
I was rated 0% from the VA because they can not establish the exact diagnosis and have a doubt that it is service connected. So they denied all my TBI awards and gave me a 0% for my back. I am currently trying to reopen that. Me Adan’s also told me mine would be faster because DFAS doesn’t need to do an extensive audit on me as I have no VA payments at all. That’s the only light I can see right now in this long tunnel.
And YES we can get Tricare to pay past medical bills. However, it Only applies if you can prove you paid a bill with self pay. Otherwise they simply reimburse your prior insurance carries for their loss. It also takes a long time I assume because I haven’t read about anyone seeing anything from those claims yet.
I will continue to update you as I hear more. It took 3 full years to get to this point for me, so with my luck, you’ll get yours before me!
As for the status, where are you seeing that? I don’t even know where to check that.
 
The first person who answered at AFPC when I called was not Ms. Adams, but she took my info and told me the same thing. I quote, "One person has been in this process for 3 years". I didn't think much of it at the time, because I was still in shock about the letter in the first place. I called Ms. Adams and she said the same thing as you hear. 30 days for each entity to take care of their end.

Not to worried about Tricare back pay as I don't really have any medical expenses needing paid back, but for some people I would think it would be a big deal. Ill keep you updated as I get more info.

Ms Adams had told me there was some place we could look online for the status of our orders. She said I was just starting the process and didn't give me any other info passed that.
 
Yea she crushed my hopes of a speedy payment also with her words lol. I can’t understand how it could take three years to process a new set of orders and DFAS to pay us, but then again, it’s the military.

I looked online for something and I would assume she was talking about vMPf. It’s only accessible to CaC card holders and active duty. I don’t see anything else out there online. If you do find something at some point I’d love to hear about it. And same goes with me also.

At the end of the day, we are both now retired AF and we will eventually be given everything we deserved in the first place. We’ve waited several years at this point, so what’s a few more months at this point right? For me it’s waiting for a six figure check and Tricare for my dependents. I’ll wait. They will give us our back pay and allowances. I’ll keep you informed of anything new I find out and I wish you all the best brother and congrats again on your retirement!!!
 
Yeah, not sure about the "online" website for status, but seems like there is something out there. Ill ask after my SBP is done.

Anything else I find out I'll post.

Congrats to you as well!
 
Congratulations on your retirement and successfully navigating a very long process.
 
Congratulations on your retirement and successfully navigating a very long process.

Thank you Sir! I appreciate that. I only spent 9 years enlisted but it was a rough 9 years? It all changed after 9/11. The Air Force went from a business with 8 hr shifts and rotating days off to after 9/11 12 hour shifts and no days off. Fun.
 
@JohnnyAirforce
The USAF and other services has been continually deployed since Desert Shield, all the while DoD manpower numbers have decreased greatly. Only politicians can justify trimming the force during the transition from a cold war to the real thing.
 
Congratulations on your retirement. My timeline is looking very similar to yours. I completed the SBP briefing around the end of March and I'm still awaiting my new orders. The air Force definitely seems to be the slowest to process everything.
 
I know my case was filed in March of 2017 and in May I emailed the link and they replied stating my case was sent for adjudication. I have emailed again in curiosity to see what they say and haven't gotten a response. I hope the letter comes sometime but its just a waiting game as we all know. Good luck to everyone and hopefully we all get good news.
 
Congratulations on your retirement. My timeline is looking very similar to yours. I completed the SBP briefing around the end of March and I'm still awaiting my new orders. The air Force definitely seems to be the slowest to process everything.

Have you been able to get any other info on the status of your orders? I was told there was supposedly some way to check "online"?
 
Congrats on your retirement! Thank you very much for sharing your timeline! I was AF for 9 1/2 years before my discharge. I got my approval letter on 9 June 2018, it was signed with a date of 4 May 2018 (The record of proceedings that accompanied the letter was signed as of 26 April 2018). I called Ms. Adams on 11 June 2018 and am still waiting for my SBP briefing to be scheduled so we are getting really close to that 30 day mark for her portion of this. I do have a CAC and access to vMPF and I haven't seen any change to my status (though I am not positive where to look, but I go through it daily).
 
Congrats on your retirement! Thank you very much for sharing your timeline! I was AF for 9 1/2 years before my discharge. I got my approval letter on 9 June 2018, it was signed with a date of 4 May 2018 (The record of proceedings that accompanied the letter was signed as of 26 April 2018). I called Ms. Adams on 11 June 2018 and am still waiting for my SBP briefing to be scheduled so we are getting really close to that 30 day mark for her portion of this. I do have a CAC and access to vMPF and I haven't seen any change to my status (though I am not positive where to look, but I go through it daily).

My dates are the same as yours. Ms. Adams told me, "the other entities have around a 30 day timeframe to complete their side of it. But she said she is behind on her part". Im thinking probably 60 days out. If I don't hear anything by the beginning of next month I will be calling. Let us know how you make out.
 
Hi all! So I’m new to here and this forum has been very helpful to me as I went through this process. So I thought I also give my timeline for reference purposes to those going through the PDBR review.

I was 20% and discharged in 2007 with seizures grand mal. I got my first contact from this board or review in 2015. I filled out the paperwork and sent it in but expected nothing out of it. After a few years I had all but forgotten about it since I hadn’t heard anything. In December 2016, I wrote an email to the PDBR pentagon email address and got an automated response telling me that my package was at final review at the DDA and I would be notified within 45 days of a decision. Well Feb 22, 2018 (14 months not 45 days!) I got my answer. I was approved to be recharacterized to RETIRED and they rated me at 80%! I was astonished, but extremely happy. Next step is to call AFPC and talk to Ms Adams. She’s an awful person but she is the only person who handles SBP. She’s the first hurdle.
If you live near an AFB, then she will schedule you for a SBP briefing within a few weeks. If not, then she has to call you back whenever she’s good and ready. It took her 29 days to call me back. Then she sent me two forms. One to claim whether or not you want SBP for your spouse if you were married at the time or discharge, and/or your children. If not you can decline and she couldn’t care less. Oh, you will also find out your pension amount. Use that to figure out your retro pay (mine was $259,406 since I had no VA offset, but they take back the severance).
The other form is to have your spouse/ex-spouse sign and notarize. Send the hard copies back to her and that’s all. From there the package goes back to the board and gets signed by the Director of the AF Board Review Agency. Then you’ll get new orders, and your DFAS account will be opened. So here’s the timeline.
05/2015-sent in PDBR request
02/2018-received decision
04/2018-finish SBP declaration
05/2018-received final approval from director
No orders yet and no DFAS.

If you’re just starting, be patient. If you get apporoved, believe me it’s worth the wait!!

For those approved, does anyone know if we get a ceremony, flag, and president letter? Just curious. Okay all the best! Ask questions if you have any!!

Any word on your orders yet?
 
Congratulations on your retirement. My timeline is looking very similar to yours. I completed the SBP briefing around the end of March and I'm still awaiting my new orders. The air Force definitely seems to be the slowest to process everything.

I would love to hear when you get your orders. Did you get a second letter from the AF directing MPF to change your records yet? I got another approving letter after the original decision and SBP briefing in May. My SBP was done end of April.
 
WOW. Air Force guys...I just talked to a friend on FB who just finished this process. He sent in his package in August 2014. He got his decision letter on July 17 2016. He got SBP briefing in September 2016. He got his new orders in May 2017. He got his DFAS account in March 2018. He was just paid the second of three payments for retro pay last month. From decision letter to orders was 10 months. Decision letter to payment was 22 months. Almost 2 YEARS AFTER he got his decision letter. Army takes 6 months. Fucking Air Force. Wow.
 
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