Final Board in 1.5 hours!!

SERE0002

SERE0002

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
Here is an idea of what to expect at the formal board. I am sure others may be different, but it seemed pretty orderly. The people working at the Airmans counsel as well at the FPEB have all seemed very nice and acomodating.

SO I arrived at Lackland for my formal board on Monday.
I met with my Lawyer to go over what my desired outcome would be. Also they gave me my entire medical records and MEB package to review so I was refreshed on everything that was in it.

I was free to leave then came back on Wednesday to meet with my Lawyer again and go over questioning and board rules etc.

It is now Thursday and my board is set for 1230.....I will post the outcome as soon as I get it.

Again, I hope this helps for those of you curious about how the process works at the Air Force formal board.
 
I always wondered how others viewed the FPEB process (I.e. in processing and initial briefing prior to meeting with your assigned legal counsel). Did you feel you had enough time with your assigned JAG officer. BTW, I was a board mbr up until 1 April 12, retired.
 
I can't speak to how individuals going through the process view their experiences. But I can say that I think the AF has the best process as far as timelines for members at the FPEB.

The Army and the Navy normally bring the member in on orders for two to three days at most (the three days normally being when the dates fall over a weekend). So, the Army/Navy will order the member to the FPEB on the day before the hearing to meet with their assigned counsel, and then have the hearing the next day. The Air Force, on the other hand, typically allots a week of travel orders. After meeting with the attorney, the FPEB hearing date is fixed. Now, in practice, I am not sure this matters much- i.e., the total time spent with the assigned counsel may not be that different and the outcomes probably do not matter much. From my point of view (and, yes, as a civilian attorney who practices before each service's boards), I tend to think the actual time meeting does not matter much- the two more important factors are time before the board- and travel for the board- to analyze the case and to gather additional evidence, and time after the board to draft an effective appeal if the outcome of the FPEB is not favorable. If you just show up and meet your attorney the day before and there is no additional work done before hand, the outcomes are probably the same (that is, the prep time for the hearing, as opposed to gathering additional evidence- if the case turns on facts rather than the law-, is not that important...if additional evidence gathering is important, than the short prep time is actually a very big issue). All that said, I tend to think that the AF has the better practice of all the services (though, at the same time, the AF seems to do much worse on putting together complete MEBs than the other services...the fact that the AF separates its IPEB and FPEB seems to mitigate the importance of this, though).
 
Got the results of the Board this morning and I was victorious in getting my 50% lower back added as a category 1 condition!!!! So instaed of 30% retirement I now have 70% DoD and 100%VA!!!
Although the fight has gained me nothing financially, it sure feels good to know that all the time and work on my own to understand the process and stand up for what I know was right has finally paid off.

My board was almost an hour and fifteen min. long and consisted of a ton of questions by the flight surgeon, a few by the board president, and 1 question from the admin Lt. Col.
I had to prove why my low back condition indeed was service disabling and how it effected my ability to do my job, or lack of my job. I was very well prepared, I knew my records and of course I did live through all this so it is very easy to recite.

I was told I did an exceptional job of speaking before the board. I did not make it personal, and simply stated the facts and answered only what the dr's asked. My job requires me and has for the last 13 years to speak in front of people of importance and that of course helped me.
Stand up for what you know is right, keep your cool, the process takes forever, so patience is extremely important. Do not take that frustration out at the FPEB if you go to one. There is a time for a critique of your PEBLO, and believe me I had a hay day writting that!! That system I truely believe is broke.

Any way, I want to thank everyone who has provided help, guidance and advice on this forum. Without it, i would of had no clue on my own where to start. You do need to know this is a forum, so not all advice on here is right, people like to try, and no case is the same so always keep that in mind. BUt overall I am more than impressed on what I have got from this forum. Thanks

70% permanant retirement
100% VA
I AM ONE HAPPY INDIVIDUAL RIGHT NOW!!
 
Hi Sere0002,

Congrats on the Awesome News. Thank you for sharing your experience and I will be able to benefit from your experience. I will be meeting with my PEBLO in the next couple of weeks and then will be directly fast tracked according to my unit to Lackland for my MEB/PEB. I feel much more comfortable with this whole process from gentlemen such as yourself who took the time to educate and share your experiences with the rest of us. Again, thanks for sharing and congratulations!!!

V/R

SSgt. Batch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top