Welcome to the PEB Forum!
Hmm, indeed interesting to say the least; appreciate the historical perspective!
Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."
Best Wishes!
I was an injured Soldier and was placed into CB-WTU-CA in SEP 2008. I remained in that unit until discharge in APR 2012.
3 1/2 years worth of CB-WTU-CA time.
Believe me, I have saved all copies of emails from those days and know for a fact just how poorly and not up-to-standard that location was.
It's pretty bad when you get assigned a NCM who is a CPT and still has yet to compete their 4-year degree in nursing (and doesn't want to/keeps getting extension/waivers, etc), who asks to you spell basic medical terminology that I even learned how to spell in Basic A School Navy Enlisted Corps School, who never replies back to your emails & only phone calls you from 600 miles away once every other week.
AHLTA records were pathetic considering all the information she received via phone and fax. Stuff never got annotated into the system, paperwork was misplaced/lost/never completed, & rules where simply "made up" & decisions rendered that were contrary to regulations. Oh. And no accountability either.
This way of "doing business" had a BIG impact on my ability to get a properly fair and accurate IDES rating - let alone the treatment I needed prior to getting coded for the MEB/PEB.
It was a fight every step and twist in the road just to get treatment. The constant NCM mantra's, "Let the VA take care of you" was her first and last words to anything.
I found you guys (this web site) in the Summer of 2009. Thank GOD! I began posting my situations back then on this web site. Feel free to go back and read the first three years of my stuff and you will get a taste of what this experience was like for me.
At the end of my time in this unit, I finally got to have the "official" transition meeting. It lasted 45 minutes & the Enlisted NCO in charge of transition was soon to retire with his regular 20 years of AD service - non-injured.
The entire 45 minutes were NOT spent explaining or asking me questions, or informing me of any tools or services. Oh no.
It was spent with my listening to him talking about HIS sunny retirement to Mexico - HIS home building near the Mexico coastline - HIS pointing to pictures of HIS retirement home construction and the beautiful views from HIS property he had pinned all over the walls in his cubicle.
So much for transition services.... or, the ideas of developing a transition plan. Basically, it's a good thing I realized without the help of the Army I needed to develop plans for my future as the Army was no help at all to me.
What made this a difficult process was the isolation and lack of contact to competent staff and decision-makers who seemed not to have any occupational/professional accountability.
Enough said....
V/R,
nwlivewire