Help! Dual process done, commander choosing OTH

[MEB4Life]

I have been in the MEB process an incredibly long time, being dragged through the mud the whole way. In May 2024, the PEB came back with a medical retirement recommendation at 90%. Since, I’ve sat waiting for the final determination on my dual process.

Today, I was informed that tomorrow I will be presented with my discharge paperwork by my commander and he’s opting for an Other Than Honorable discharge.

My admin sep was for failed fitness assessments back in 2022 and one LOR last September, MEB is for Bipolar Disorder. Why on Earth am I getting an OTH???

I have a meeting set up with my ADC in addition to a meeting with a civilian military attorney. But I literally have no idea what to do. I’m so scared to lose healthcare benefits as I cannot afford my medication, therapy, and psychiatry out of pocket, I cannot afford to lose my GI Bill, and I was really depending on my disability payments post-separation.

Please any advice is welcome

 

[SimCooper]

That verbiage as you posted doesn't 100% read like the final determination of a dual process if "he" (your unit commander) is opting for an OTH.

Per DAFI36-3211, 8.31.2, ... SecAF or the GCMCA makes the final determination as to whether involuntary discharge or disability separation/retirement is more appropriate..

Your unit commander cannot "opt" for an OTH for the disposition of a dual process.

The actual no-kidding dual-action final decision (Dual Action Decision Memo):

If your separation authority is SecAF:
Dual Action Decision Memo will be signed by a GS-15 or similar authority from within the Secretary of the Air Force Personnel Council (SAFPC).

If your separation authority is GCMCA:
Dual Action Decision Memo signed by the first General Officer in your chain of command.

Dual Action Decision Memos do not get signed by a mere unit commander.

Hopefully this is not the Dual Action Decision Memo, and it's just your unit commander's in-house thing and he doesn't know what he's doing.

If the worst case happens and it is the Dual Action Decision Memo from SAFPC or GCMCA:

You will not lose VA disability rating & compensation just from an OTH! A guy I know got jail time and BCD (worse than OTH) from Special Court Martial but now he's smiling ear-to-ear collecting 100% VA.

If you have completed a previous enlistment and reenlisted at least once, you would not lose Post-9/11 GI Bill.

If you are separated your venue to appeal to be retroactively medically retired is the AFBCMR. If AFBCMR doesn't work, next venue is U.S. Court of Federal Claims. You would have a good shot at winning one of those venues due to Bipolar disorder. If your condition in question was GAD, it wouldn't be a good shot.