Camp Atterbury IN Issues/Concerns/Recommendations

brianmatt31

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
Registered Member
Hi y'all. I wanted to start this thread specifically for any AGR or MDAY that is going through Camp Atterbury (CAIN) for their IDES.

The reason: I am a fighter and since I've been going through the IDES process I have gotten the worst assistance from these guys that I would think are suppose to be there for us and give us good information during this time. We are talking career ending process that is supposed to cover down on injuries incurred for our service and I plan on filing complaints on CAIN in the hopes that things get changed. I have never filed a congressional complaint before but I'm not about to just let CAIN not assist any veterans that may come behind me after I am long gone. I have been keeping notes and timelines along with all the emails from my VA MSC, JAG and PEBLO. Currently I feel the VA is a top notch organization compared to the CAIN representatives. I really think that CAIN has lost their caring for their job and no longer realize what their job duties are really affecting. Most of their duties to service members rely on phone calls and emails. I however am only two hours away from CAIN and have already driven there once for JAG assistance for my PEB findings. Here is how that trip went.....

So on July 18th I received PEB findings and DA 199 at my civilian email. The PEBLO assistant, not PEBLO, typed in July 18th on the counsel memo that is when he sent me the paperwork. After getting these I immediately call JAG counsel to set up a meeting as we only have 10 days to decide what we want to do and get the paperwork turned back in. I still haven't gotten JAG to answer any of their phones and neither has my PEBLO so I can let him know I will be appealing both, PEB and VARR, as my whole packet was completely incorrect. No answer until two days later. Now we are running into the weekend and I know they aren't working and D-Day is approaching for my paperwork to be turned in. I called throughout the day Friday leaving phone messages and doing emails to them that when Monday comes they only have four days until I have to have all appeals turned in and I haven't even gotten a call from JAG to show me what a appeals memo looks like. I could have used the two days of the weekend to type those up but nope. Come and gone. But I did read the regs to stay on top of what AR's are stating.
So Monday comes and I get a call from the JAG saying he'll do a Tuesday meeting. I'm calm a little but not really as D-Day is three days away. I also finally got ahold of my PEBLO to let him know that the findings are incorrect that I am doing two appeals. I've asked about the deadline on this and he explains that all of their internet has been down since the Thrs before. Which helps explain some things but not the fact that I didn't get any email replies.
So I'm at CAIN, Building 1013, which is off post. I walk to the door to go in and wait from my 0900 meeting. Doors are locked. Hmmm. I guess work doesn't start until 0900 for these guys. So I go sit in my vehicle and within a few minutes I have security guard approach me and ask if he can help. lol. So I laughed and said you realize I'm in uniform and probably have a meeting with the JAG. He smiled and said they called because they seen me sitting in the parking lot. I asked him if they was afraid of pissed off veterans that they have purposely pissed off and they are afraid of an active shooter. lol He laughs and said probably so. So he said he had a key and could let me in.
Now at the JAG meeting. Sitting and going over the PEB findings with him he doesn't want to look at the new heart condition I developed after the MEB was processed. For me I have to have that added to the case as that is unfitting and that will drive up the DoD percentage for pay. I explain to him that I have within my ratings, a cervical strain, this new heart condition, updated Asthma information and a new MRI showing my shoulder has gotten worse. Well he blows everything off and says we should just look at adding your shoulders to the PEB appeal. He even said that I shouldn't do a VARR but wait until I'm retired out and deal with the VA then. I told him no. The C&P exam was incorrect as I gave the Dr. all evidence and she misreported things. Good thing for the MEB as they corrected things but reading the PEB it shows somewhere someone didn't have the information or they didn't read through my medical information to properly rate things like my Prostate and Hypertension conditions. He didn't want none of that and went back to his saying of if it's not on the original profile then it will not be looked at for PEB or VARR. I told him that I disagreed and that I'll type the VARR appeal up myself but I need him to assist with the PEB. He ended up sending me all this copy and pasted email about all the things that I needed to gather up in order for him to type the appeal. I then looked around and noticed that the PEBLO, VA MSC, PCM Dr that does the NARSUM and other JAGs are all in this building. I was shocked and then realized that they all are probably talking about these cases and possibly eating lunch making fun of all of us. I didn't want to go there but with the lack of assistance I've gotten since Sep 2016 from JAG and my new PEBLO I'm disgusted as these shouldn't be how this process works for service members. If I had two years in and sent in 45 things about have I'm broken I could see them questioning things but that isn't their job. They duties exist to facilitate veterans going through the IDES. Even the lead Dr that is on my NARSUM's office is there. I emailed him last week and he gave me more information than anyone other than this forum of course. He told me that I could ask for my case to be recalled. The IDES would did-enroll my case then re-enroll it and give it a new number.
After I returned to work I called my PEBLO and told him that I'm requesting an additional 10 days per regulation as their emails was down and I had no assistance for almost 6 days of the original 10 days. He told me that my packet wasn't due until August 03rd as we did the counseling on the 24th July. Again, this pissed me off as I'm thinking what counseling are you talking about. He actually considered the phone call on Monday the actual counseling. That point again made me realize there is no quality control or checks and balances going on with CAIN's staff for the IDES.

So at this point I am typing up my own appeals and submitting them. After I requested to my PEBLO yesterday that I wanted my case to be recalled and need him to start that process he denied that and said that I would have to wait for the PEB to do that. I don't know what to believe from these guys and I have no confidence in CAIN to properly assist. My current option due to not knowing is I'm having my BDE Surgeon who initiated my IDES due to being a new diabetic, to redo a new profile to add my heart condition, asthma, shoulders with the previous two conditions in order to let that start this whole process over. Now that I know how to play their game in order to get the correct conditions properly document and looked at.

Well. I hope for you going through CAIN this gives you some insight to what I have been going through. I've got time on me side. I'm in now hurry. I really wanted those that are assisting us to properly do their jobs. Maybe they are burnt out and if so they should ask for a different job. I realize they see a lot of cases but their jobs exist only because of broken service members and they are to assist not force the numbers through so they get credit for completing packets.

Issues/Concerns/Recommendations?

My recommendation I've been looking at is developing a checklist of the actual IDES steps in detail. I know the IDES steps is out there but it is an overview and doesn't have specifics within it on what is really going on. I'm trying to type something like that up that details within the IDES for AGRs and include regs to refer to and also contact information for POCs. I'm also looking at adding for each stage when where to look on the service members paperwork to find the names of those signing off on it so that you can contact them personally. Id did that to the Dr off my NARSUM and he gave me information on recalling my case when no-one else at CAIN would. Their advice was to do it after I'm retired but they wouldn't realize that could take the VA up to 6 years.

Sorry to type a lot but wanted anyone going through CAIN to know what I have gone through thus far and what CAIN has been doing. Remember, all of our IDES folks are in the same office so be tactful and thoughtful if you email them as they can share that as they all work together.
 
Just an update on Camp Atterbury. One of the two Legal Counsel's has left for a new job so everyone that is going through CAIN for their MTF will have the one counselor that is still working. I assume he is going to be overloaded constantly with everyone's VARR's and PEB Appeals. Just wanted to let you all know the info.
 
I'm going through CAIN and waited over 150 days for my 199 because it was stuck in transition. It only got fixed after I repeated bothered my PEBLO. Hopefully the next phase of waiting for orders doesn't take half a year.
 
For anyone having issues with Camp Atterbury here is Fort Knox's POC that can get things done and she is CAIN's boss for IDES.


Susan L. Epperson, PA-C
IDES Physician Assistant
BLDG 853
433 192nd Tank BN Rd
Fort Knox, KY 40121
(502) 624-3515
[email protected]
 
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