Does a Fit or Unfit determination have have anything to do with a actual disability in service needing support?

[seaairmariner]

I never went through the DES. I am trying to understand the DES. ​

I am finding in instruction they could keep you, fit or unfit, on TLD or TDRL kind of situation.​

​

So a fit or unfit determination does not mean you do not have a medical problem that needs support​

​

A fit determination does not mean you are not injured.​

​

A fit determination means you could have a medical problem, and with treatment and care, you can continue to serve.​

​

I am asking the board, to change my honorable to a disability discharge, to get benefits like tricare​

​

They basically say I had no infractions in service, had all passing evals, and say now I was fit, after the fact, although the recognize I literally tried to get out of the Navy all together, and the DOD Stopped it medically 3p for spine musculoskeletal and psych left open and the a year later the navy doctor diagnosed me with major depression or bipolar and no treatment was ever given, and then a year later another navy doctor documented I stopped taking lithium due side effects, and did not get me any therapy although he actually documented I requested counseling.​

​

I sort of shut up after that as they were basically ignoring me, no matter what my conditions of service were​

​

I was a BM on a FFG and that is just the tip of the iceberg.​

​

Save me God​

 

[vextheo719]

hello everyone..!

 

[sabirose]

You’re absolutely right — a “fit” determination doesn’t mean there’s no medical issue. It just means the board believed you could still serve with treatment. Crossy Road

 

[seaairmariner]

You’re absolutely right — a “fit” determination doesn’t mean there’s no medical issue. It just means the board believed you could still serve with treatment. Crossy Road

Hello Sabirose

This is very helpful thank you. How do you have this context? Did you go through it? Is it coming from regs? I am going off regs and common sense. I never went through it.
I am in a Navy Board of Corrections. I think it would shock you how the Board of Corrections uses the Fit determination. Would you be ok with me sharing parts of my Board Determination based on what you said?

Thanks

 

[seaairmariner]

You’re absolutely right — a “fit” determination doesn’t mean there’s no medical issue. It just means the board believed you could still serve with treatment. Crossy Road

sabirose-

Hope you are well. Not sure if you have seen board decisions. If you try to get a honorable discharge changed to a medical discharge, after the fact, the Board of Navy Corrections, will do a Fit PEB determination without me ever actually going through a MEB or PEB, without even considering you never received treatment in service, and no one even considered a disability and its connection to your military assignment. But that is not what a real PEB would do. That is what I am trying to lock in on, what would and should have happened, in a real MEB PEB process, and the fit determination. It seems we already covered it, for the most part, a Fit Determination would document the injury treat it, and at discharge help you get disability support either through the DOD or VA.

Docket No. 7479-20

The Board considered whether you should have been referred to the DES in 1998 when the Army found you to be medically unqualified for transfer and subsequent enlistment due to an unspecified “Spine, Other Musculoskeletal/Psych” in your record. This record provided insufficient evidence for the Board to make any determination regarding whether it should have triggered referral to an MEB.

However, considering your performance in the USNR subsequent to your rejection by the Army and the findings of the AO, the Board is confident that you would found unfit for continued duty by the PEB even if the Navy had been aware of the Army’s determination at the time.8

8 The Board also noted that the Court commented in its remand Order that you “assert in passing that (you) should have been found eligible for a medical retirement as a result of spinal disability . . . Because the argument is not developed at all, the Court will not address it.” The Board determined that even in consideration of the additional submissions you provided to the Board following the remand Order, you did not establish that you suffered a spine/musculoskeletal condition or disability that impacted your fitness for duty and established entitlement to a military disability determination or military disability retirement.

More importantly, even if your referral to an MEB was appropriate at any time, the Board found that you unquestionably would have been found fit for continued service at the time by a PEB.

The AO also noted the Court’s directive regarding the application of the Hagel, Kurta, and Wilkie Memos, but noted that the liberal consideration guidance of these policies does not apply to Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) decision making, which was the basis for the CORB AO. The AO acknowledged your compelling account of the traumatic events that you experienced while serving onboard the USS SIDES, followed by your need for mental health consultations while you were in the USNR. Nonetheless, the AO noted that your enlistment was characterized by an absence of any objective evidence of significant duty performance decrement or inability to perform your duties. Even in consideration of the insight provided by Dr. Foote and the otherwise respected medical and mental health professionals, the AO found that the evidence did not establish that you were unfit for either a spinal condition (reflected in the Army’s 1998 determination) or for a mental health condition.5 The AO was provided to you, and you submitted rebuttal information in response to its conclusions for the Board’s consideration.
5 PEB-related decision-making is reliant on the preponderance of evidence as opposed to the ‘at least as likely as not’ VA standard pertaining to establishing service connection.


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[forest99]

The Board determined that even in consideration of the additional submissions you provided to the Board following the remand Order, you did not establish that you suffered a spine/musculoskeletal condition or disability that impacted your fitness for duty and established entitlement to a military disability determination or military disability retirement.
99 Nights in the Forest

 

[escape3]

They basically say I had no infractions in service, had all passing evals, and say now I was fit, after the fact, although the recognize I literally tried to get out of the Navy all together, and the DOD Stopped it medically 3p for spine musculoskeletal and psych left open and the a year later the navy doctor diagnosed me with major depression or bipolar and no treatment was ever given, and then a year later another navy doctor documented I stopped taking lithium due side effects, and did not get me any therapy although he actually documented I requested counseling. escape road 3

 

[Lyrara]

I never went through the DES. I am trying to understand the DES. ​

I am finding in instruction they could keep you, fit or unfit, on TLD or TDRL kind of situation.​

​

So a fit or unfit determination does not mean you do not have a medical problem that needs support​

​

A fit determination does not mean you are not injured.​

​

A fit determination means you could have a medical problem, and with treatment and care, you can continue to serve.​

​

I am asking the board, to change my honorable to a disability discharge, to get benefits like tricare​

​

They basically say I had no infractions in service, had all passing evals, and say now I was fit, after the fact, although the recognize I literally tried to get out of the Navy all together, and the DOD Stopped it medically 3p for spine musculoskeletal and psych left open and the a year later the navy doctor diagnosed me with major depression or bipolar and no treatment was ever given, and then a year later another navy doctor documented I stopped taking lithium due side effects, and did not get me any therapy although he actually documented I requested counseling.2048​

​

I sort of shut up after that as they were basically ignoring me, no matter what my conditions of service were​

​

I was a BM on a FFG and that is just the tip of the iceberg.​

​

Save me God​

What specific steps can I take to appeal the fit determination and ensure that my medical history and ongoing issues are adequately considered in the review of my discharge status?