Hello,
I'm literally posting this just as I got done seeing my Dr. at the clinic because my 2nd LIMDU expires soon. After talking to him he said we was going to start the process of the next phase of LIMDU, which I believe he meant MEB, He said he hasn't done a MEB in awhile though... He mentioned coming back to do a full physical and other appointments, that I should be getting a PEBLO too. He didn't really mention too much else. I just didn't get a straight answer from him like, "I will be starting your MEB process today." It was all pretty quick and I'm just now thinking about questions I should have asked him before I left.
So my concerns are that my EAOS from the Navy is next year. If I'm going to this MEB could they just ignore this and say well he is going to get out next year anyway? The Dr. mentioned that he doesn't think my symptoms are severe enough that they would medically retire me. Well, I'm not really sure what he meant by that. That he thinks they would seperate me but not medically retire me? Does he think that they would find me fit for duty? What the heck is the point of submitting all this paperwork and going to all these appointments if he thinks that they would find me fit for duty anyway?
I have 9 years in, it will be 10 in August this year. I'm sitting here in my office staring at the wall because I am already feeling overwhelmed and confused by all of this.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts, advice, or enouragement.
Indeed, welcome to the PEB Forum!
At this point in time, have you been officially accepted into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process?
Nonetheless, if applicable, never default acceptance to potential injustice is my stance; fight then continue to fight some more until the desired expectations are achieved in my opinion!
From a procedural viewpoint at this point to aide with building your potentially new DoD IDES knowledgebase, the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is explained in detail as follows:
After referral into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process by your military PCM who initiated a permanent physical profile with PULHES of 3 or 4 in any one category, the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) who has approval authority for DoD IDES MEB referrals shall review the originally PCM-initiated permanent physical profile request.
Upon acceptance into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process, during the MEB Phase is when all of your medical conditions are reviewed to determine which are "medically unacceptable" or "medically acceptable" conditions. The MTF will assign a PEBLO to develop the MEB case file for the MEB phase of the DoD IDES process.
To that extent, the MEB Physician is supposed to review all applicable medical condition(s) associated with a PULHES category of 3 or 4 in the AHLTA EMR database system, and then make an informed objective medical evidence determination to either maintain, down select, or upgrade the specific category code in the PULHES.
Upon approval by the DoD IDES MEB Physician(s) at the MTF of the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile referral, the MEB Physician shall either generate a new permanent physical profile with updated PULHES (most favorable course of action in my opinion) or transpose the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile with PULHES as written (least favorable course of action in my opinion).
In continuation of the DoD IDES MEB process, a Narrative Summary (NARSUM) is dictated after receipt of the DoVA C&P Examination results which outlines in detail all medically unacceptable and medically acceptable conditions.
It's unknown what type of C&P Exam clinician you will get on the day(s) of the evaluation. In my opinion, some DoVA C&P Examination clinicians are good-to-go while others seem not to care about the military service member.
With that said, you may receive good or bad results from either of the aforementioned type of DoVA C&P Exam clinicians; there are no guarantees. Depending on the type of C&P Exam, the clinician will just ask a lot of questions and/or perform a physical evaluation.
If the MEB determines that medically unacceptable conditions exist, then the IDES case file is forward to the PEB for a fit for duty or unfit for duty determination. The
MEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 100 calendar days for Active Component (AC) military personnel and
140 calendar days for Reserve Component (RC) military personnel.
If the PEB determines any unfit medical conditions, then the IDES case file is forward to the DoVA D-RAS for ratings of all PEB referred unfitting conditions (e.g., DoD disability rating(s)) and all DoVA claimed conditions. It's important to note that DoD
must adopt the DoVA D-RAS rating(s) for each PEB-referred unfitting condition(s).
Upon receipt of the IPEB findings inclusive of DoD and DoVA proposed ratings, the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is generated. The PEBLO has a three day maximum limit to inform you of the IPEB findings and your election options once he/she received your IPEB fitness determination and disability ratings. The
PEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 120 calendar days for both AC and RC military personnel, but current timelines are well extended due to the backlog of DoVA disability claims.
From an U.S. Army perspective, when the military service member is found unfit by the PEB and the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is finally signed [e.g. after completion of all appeals and reviews to include an one-time VA Rating Reconsideration (VARR) request, if warranted], the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA), U.S. Army Human Resources Command (USAHRC) will transmit via the Transition Point Processing System (TRANSPOC) III or message to those installations without TRANSPOC, the required data to complete the military orders process.
As such, TRANSPOC-III performs transition processing functions in which it generates the DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release from Active Duty or Discharge) document, and schedules the generation of retirement/separation orders from the U.S. Military. Once received, the installation’s transition center or other personnel support facility will publish the discharge, refrad, or retirement order in a timely manner.
Moreover from an U.S. Army perspective, the USAPDA will assign a not later than separation date that will not exceed 90-days after the completion of processing final determination by the USAPDA. The Installation Commander, through the transition center, will establish a separation date within the 90-day window. The not to exceed 90-day window allow installations flexibility to assign a separation date within the 90-day window based on individual military service member circumstances, but should not be construed as an opportunity to delay the departure of a military service member from active duty.
Generally, the separation date should factor in the total number of days required to clear the command, authorize permissive temporary duty (PTDY) for eligible active component military service members, and allow for the use of accrued leave (e.g., transition leave).
In conclusion, the DoD officially published timeline for AC military personnel within the
DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is 295 calendar days, and RC military personnel is
305 calendar days . But, it's potentially delayed beyond the aforementioned durations due to the continuing massive amounts of backlogged DoVA disability claims.
Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."
Best Wishes!
