I want to appeal my MEB findings

C

cwhita86

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
I'm new here and in panic mode as I only have 6 days to decide if I can appeal the medical retirement decision or not.

I am a 15 year air traffic controller who had a TBI during a motorcycle accident in 2012. I continued ATC until April 1 2019 when the medical team reviewed my records and determined I did not complete follow up care and should not have been controlling. I was able to control traffic for 7 years post accident with zero issues until this started. I was put on a code 37 (AF) and not allowed to complete my primary duties.

The results came back from the MEB and the AF wants to medically retire me because I am unable to complete my primary duties and a controller due to a neurocognative disorder. This disorder will not prevent me from doing ADMIN duties as I have been for the last 11 months, but does not allow me to control. I want to stay in the AF and complete 5 more years until I am retirement eligible. Any advice is appreciated, TYIA.

I am under the impression I can only appeal disability claims and not the fact that I am not physically disabled. I am worldwide deployable, can go anywhere with no additional medical requirements, I just cant control traffic even though I have been doing it for the past 7 years due to medical oversight. How do I successfully bring this to the appeals board and win so I can finish my career?
 
You can appeal this for sure, have you been in touch with the OAC?
 
Office of Airmen's Counsel
 
eerf123 said:
You can appeal this for sure, have you been in touch with the OAC?
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I called Thursday and was called back by a TSgt. She put me in the system by asking some basic questions and said an attorney should get back to me by Tuesday which is my due date. All of the attorneys are working from home so you leave a message and then they return phone calls.
 
Yeah at this point you just need to tell your peblo that You disagree with the findings and want a formal PEB. you will probably be in a limbo status for a while though case of the travel restriction. Did you get a copy of your 1180?
 
eerf123 said:
Yeah at this point you just need to tell your peblo that You disagree with the findings and want a formal PEB. you will probably be in a limbo status for a while though case of the travel restriction. Did you get a copy of your 1180?
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Yes I did receive my 1180 and it gets more weird from here. The DoD issued me 30% disability for a TBI from 2012 and that is the whole reason the MEB was started. The VA Dr. During my C&P exam said I don't qualify and the VA did NOT issue me anything, so 0 percent for TBI. When the TSgt called me I was told that the Formal PEB would still happen and I would give my presentation via teleconference within about 15 days after I sign the appeal paperwork. I am enrolled as an AFWW member and was told by my counselor that I need my career field functional manager and my CC to endorse my decision to stay in. It is very challenging with the time constraints to get in touch with these individuals as a lot of people aren't at their work phones. I was also told that the appeal win percentage is very low and my reasoning of just not agreeing with the findings won't be enough. I still haven't talked to my attorney and don't know what direction I should focus my energy toward fighting and winning this battle.
 
What did your commander write on the original CIS? Does he support your continued service? You should be a good candidate for LAS, as long as they recommendEd PDRL.

So your TBI is disqualifing condition but rated at zero percent?
 
My CC talked to me before we wrote the CIS. He explained that he had never written one of these before but explained the usual TSgt Whitaker is a great NCO and has exceeded standards for the ADMIN roles I have been placed in following my inability to continue ATC.
So for ATC the TBI is not a disqualifing factor but I received a neurocognative disorder which is. The DoD accepted it but the VA denies it saying I don't meet the diagnosis. I was never recommended for LAS bit we didn't know the outcome at the time this was written. Thank you guys for the additional attention and time to reply to my thread.
 
eerf123 said:
Where does the 20 come from then
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Apologize for not understanding where does the 20 come from. DoD acknowledgement of TBI continued the MEB which I didn't want. I even tried to stop the process but was told I'd have to wait until it's over to appeal. The VA gave me a zero percent for TBI as they did not believe the neurocognative disorder was accurate. I do have other conditions that led to my overall VA percentage but non of them disqualify me from continued service or worldwide deployability. Not sure if this answers ur question, but I was unsure of what 20 you were referring too.
 
Well sounds like your cc will support a favorable LAS request in the future, the next thing will be your career field manager. you or a snco in your chain should be able to call them directly or email. Find out if they will support a LAS request for you.
 
eerf123 said:
Well sounds like your cc will support a favorable LAS request in the future, the next thing will be your career field manager. you or a snco in your chain should be able to call them directly or email. Find out if they will support a LAS request for you.
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Thank you. I will start working on conveying my intentions up my chain of command for this very important conversation in the near future. I will also look into LAS a little more to make sure I qualify and make this my primary focus for the appeal grounds. My 15 year mark is in July and I found an AFI that says after 15 years of service the member will not be considered for retrain but instead medically retired taking away my options for continued service. Hopefully this timeframe isn't exceeded with the current COVID restrictions. Thank you again, and I'll keep updating as I get more info.
 
Yeah based on the information given it seems like you best option is LAS, but as far as your appeal goes that’s something else altogether. LAS is its own thing, you don’t go to the FPEB and appeal for it.
 
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