Bowezy

Well-Known Member
Registered Member
I’m trying to make sense of everything that is happening. I am active duty Air Force with less than 7 months left in service. I have been in over 7 years and I was just told today that I am facing an administrative separation or an MEB due to being on profile for fitness and duty restrictions. I was told this is in response to the SecDef memo concerning “members are expected to be world-wide qualified” and “Service members who have been non-deployable for more than 12 consecutive months, for any reason, will be processed for administrative separation in accordance with Department of Defense (DoDI) 1332.14 Enlisted Administrative Separations, or DoDI Instruction 1332.30, Separation of Regular and Reserve Commissioned Officers, or will be referred into the Disability Evaluation System in accordance with DoDI 1332.18 Disability Evaluation System (DES)”.

So a little background history is I’ve been exempt from one or more components of the PT test since 2015. Which is 6 out of 7 tests, in this time period. I did have one fitness failure back in Sept of last year. This has been my only fitness failure during my career. I had been fighting with my command and PCM to allow me to get surgery. My PCM told me if I did not try and take the walk test, he would MEB me. So I attempted to take the walk test and failed because I cannot do the walk test after having 2 foot surgeries. After this, I went back to the PCM to explain that I did need an MEB because I could not do the aerobic components and had other issues post surgery. I was also having a lot of problems doing my job due to the surgery. It basically too physically demanding. He still refused an MEB but did finally allow me to have surgery.

I have had 3 elective foot surgeries for problems caused by the military. The last one was in December of 2017 and I only needed it because the previous surgeon undercorrected the procedure (Basically it was messed up and they needed to fix it).

Anyways, I have been fighting for the last few years with medical to try and get them to send me to the MEB due to physical limitations and duty problems. They have refused to send me to the MEB process, even though my previous commander referred me for a RILO. I was told back in June that I was currently world wide qualified and did not need an MEB. They told me they could not proceed with an MEB after surgery without me spending 1-3 month in my primary job. I am currently in a desk job, which is not that physically demanding. So until I go back to my main job, they had no evidence of my ability or inability to perform my primary Job duties.
I was ok with this because I intended on separating in March of next year when my contract ends. Now I am being told if I do not produce a plan of action or some sufficient information from medical about why they should keep me then I’ll be administratively separated in less than 3 months.

I’ve been given 30 days to get these documents from my PCM, physical therapist, and surgeon. I’m just not sure that anything I do will be good enough. It seems like my command has already made up their mind. I’ve been told that I need to prove that I can do a full PT test without any restrictions. However, I just tested in June and the AFI states that if you have an approved separation date then you are exempt from any test (provided your last test is within 1 year of your sep date). So I planned on applying for separation next month when I become eligible. Then my next test, in December, should be exempt if they approve my separation. So I do not understand what is the point of risking re-injury trying to prove they should retain me for the next 7 months, if I would be exempt for my final test anyways? I do not want to be administratively separated for no reason.





Can anyone offer an advice or help? I would greatly appreciate it, esp. given the time constraint.
 
The admin discharge will be honorable but I would fight it. All admin discharges require an optional board hearing if you have over six years in so don't waive that right at any costs. What is your surgeon saying? Your PCM seems not to support any MEB but maybe your surgeon does? Even if you do get a MEB I'm not sure you would get a 30% rating based on the info you provided so far so you would still be looking at a medical separation. I would apply for this program first thing September 1st https://benefits.va.gov/predischarge/claims-pre-discharge-benefits-delivery-at-discharge.asp.
 
I have not had a chance to speak with the surgeon yet. I have an appointment with him tomorrow. I was told by his nurse that this was unfair and that he would recommend MEB. However, because he is an Army physician and I am Air Force. He cannot start the MEB process, only my Air Force PCM can. I spoke to my PCM a few days ago and he said unfortunately he could not do anything. He recommended that I scheduled an appointment with the head PCM of the clinic and convince him. I have an appointment with him next week. So I hope I can convince him to change his mind.

Yes. My PCM does not support the MEB. He feels that my conditions are not bad enough to warrant an MEB. He said he might change his mind if he was given a memorandum from the surgeon explaining his findings and recommendations. He also stated that he would like me to return to my primary job role (not the desk job I’m currently in) for 1-3 months. He said because I was performing poorly in that role prior to surgery that I must return to that role after surgery so they can compare the two and make an accurate determination.

I have explained to him and my new commander that I cannot return to my primary job due to manning in the unit. We have two people out on pregnancy leave, one due to PCS this month, and two with pending MEBs. This is a small shop of about 10 people. So adding me to this mix just is not feesable from supervision’s stand point. So dispite me telling supervison and the new commander this, they have not offered to move me back. The commander did ask them to look into this, but so far it has not went anywhere. I do think my supervison would like to help, but they can’t. They need me in my current role due to my experience with the job. The head of my primary job (SMSgt) who runs the operations, he asked me to write a memorandum for record explaining the complexity of the situation for record.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. I will look into applying for this next month. And I agree that I might not get a high percentage. This is why I was not upset initially when my previous PCM explained that I did not have enough conditions to meet the MEB requirements. I explained that I would rather just separate at my DOS rather than persue an MEB. However, now I am being given no choice in the matter. If faced with an MEB or Admin. I would rather take the MEB.
 
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