Commander's Recommendation

Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the med board process and my packet just went up to Washington to determine fit or unfit. I'm Active Army at Fort Bragg.

I have DDD (basically really bad arthritis in my lower back - accompanied by a winged shoulder blade, chronic right shoulder pain and scoliosis.)

Now, everything in my report basically makes me sound like I'm disabled from the neck down (obviously joking) but the one thing in my report that sticks out is my commander said that I can preform my MOS duties and that my injuries do not harm the unit's mission and he recommended retaining me. He did all of this without even asking me about it and he is brand new to the unit and knows nothing about me or how I work.

My question is what is the likelihood that I will be retained now because of what he said?!
 
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thearmyguy said:
Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the med board process and my packet just went up to Washington to determine fit or unfit. I'm Active Army at Fort Bragg.

I have DDD (basically really bad arthritis in my lower back - accompanied by a winged shoulder blade, chronic right shoulder pain and scoliosis.)

Now, everything in my report basically makes me sound like I'm disabled from the neck down (obviously joking) but the one thing in my report that sticks out is my commander said that I can preform my MOS duties and that my injuries do not harm the unit's mission and he recommended retaining me. He did all of this without even asking me about it and he is brand new to the unit and knows nothing about me or how I work.

My question is what is the likelihood that I will be retained now because of what he said?!
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Mine did the same, they didn't even take the Commander's recommendation in to account because it was blatant his opinion was not well informed, nor was he well versed in my injuries.
 
grizz13 said:
Mine did the same, they didn't even take the Commander's recommendation in to account because it was blatant his opinion was not well informed, nor was he well versed in my injuries.
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Oh okay, that gives me a little bit of hope. It says "See Comment Section" but I cannot find the comment section. I don't know if he wrote anything anywhere or just answered those questions.
 
thearmyguy said:
Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the med board process and my packet just went up to Washington to determine fit or unfit. I'm Active Army at Fort Bragg.

I have DDD (basically really bad arthritis in my lower back - accompanied by a winged shoulder blade, chronic right shoulder pain and scoliosis.)

Now, everything in my report basically makes me sound like I'm disabled from the neck down (obviously joking) but the one thing in my report that sticks out is my commander said that I can preform my MOS duties and that my injuries do not harm the unit's mission and he recommended retaining me. He did all of this without even asking me about it and he is brand new to the unit and knows nothing about me or how I work.

My question is what is the likelihood that I will be retained now because of what he said?!
Click to expand...

It's certainly not going to help you. It is a little late now, but I would still suggest sitting down with your leadership and explaining what your goal is. It is either to stay in, or get out. Your commanders letter should support that goal.

The danger of having a letter like that is the board can get the idea that you are not impacting mission and could find you fit. The letter should clearly state that you are not going to be an asset to the unit if you can't do your job. Your injuries would prevent you from deploying I assume?

Grizz, yours was a case of them looking beyond your letter. That was good for you, but may not be the case all the time. The commanders letter does have a big impact if the board is following regulatory guidance. When it comes to preparing for anything that has written guidance, it is always best to follow it. The less you leave to interpret, the better.
 
ranger2992 said:
It's certainly not going to help you. It is a little late now, but I would still suggest sitting down with your leadership and explaining what your goal is. It is either to stay in, or get out. Your commanders letter should support that goal.

The danger of having a letter like that is the board can get the idea that you are not impacting mission and could find you fit. The letter should clearly state that you are not going to be an asset to the unit if you can't do your job. Your injuries would prevent you from deploying I assume?

Grizz, yours was a case of them looking beyond your letter. That was good for you, but may not be the case all the time. The commanders letter does have a big impact if the board is following regulatory guidance. When it comes to preparing for anything that has written guidance, it is always best to follow it. The less you leave to interpret, the better.
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There's an appeal process though if they find me fit, correct? Does that usually take a long time? I just want to get out as soon as I possibly can. Yes, my conditions make me permanently non-deployable.
 
thearmyguy said:
There's an appeal process though if they find me fit, correct? Does that usually take a long time? I just want to get out as soon as I possibly can. Yes, my conditions make me permanently non-deployable.
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You you could appeal and request a formal board if they find you fit. The whole process is not quick. You should know fairly soon as to whether the board finds you fit or not. That usually happens within a month or so of the MEB sending the PEB your packet. If it comes back fit and you appeal, I would imagine it will take a few months before you have your formal board and get results.

Again, the key is to make your both medical and your change of command understand what your goal is. Generally, they will help make it happen.
 
ranger2992 said:
You you could appeal and request a formal board if they find you fit. The whole process is not quick. You should know fairly soon as to whether the board finds you fit or not. That usually happens within a month or so of the MEB sending the PEB your packet. If it comes back fit and you appeal, I would imagine it will take a few months before you have your formal board and get results.

Again, the key is to make your both medical and your change of command understand what your goal is. Generally, they will help make it happen.
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I will be so upset if they find me fit, my commander is brand new to the unit and knows nothing about me and literally sent that up without even asking me about anything, so it's a real crappy situation. The medical side knows I want out and so does my first line, the commander just made a really bad decision in my eyes.
 
thearmyguy said:
I will be so upset if they find me fit, my commander is brand new to the unit and knows nothing about me and literally sent that up without even asking me about anything, so it's a real crappy situation. The medical side knows I want out and so does my first line, the commander just made a really bad decision in my eyes.
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I wish that PEBLOs told Service Members that the Commander's interview is for the Direct Supervisors to fill out and the Commander is to interview the SM's CoC to find out if the statements are true, if they are, then the Commander signs it...

Since when does a Service Member other than the 1SG or the Platoon Leader work with the Commander on a daily basis??? Titling the form as Commander's Statement is wrong and leads to completely incorrect assessments of a SM's work capabilities.
 
grizz13 said:
I wish that PEBLOs told Service Members that the Commander's interview is for the Direct Supervisors to fill out and the Commander is to interview the SM's CoC to find out if the statements are true, if they are, then the Commander signs it...

Since when does a Service Member other than the 1SG or the Platoon Leader work with the Commander on a daily basis??? Titling the form as Commander's Statement is wrong and leads to completely incorrect assessments of a SM's work capabilities.
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That's exactly what I think and I hope the people up at Washington have some insight on this.
 
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