I always thought I would do 20 or more years in the Navy. I have always had amazing people by my side but that is no longer the case. I am currently on LIMDU and considering fighting for medical retirement. I am at 15 years of service. I have 2 combat deployments and 2 other deployments. My medical records are on point and I recently put in a package for a Purple Heart for TBI I got from my first deployment. My passion to continue to serve has diminished and I’m not motivated to finish out my 20. From all the reading and podcast listening iv done I believe it’s possible for me to medically retire and receive the DOD pension depending on my DOD rating and still receive my VA disability benefits as well as long as it’s combat related. If this is all true I would be in the ballpark of 7-8k a month all tax free as long as I’m 100 percent Dod and 100 percent VA? I don’t want to make the wrong decision but if this is the case and I can medically retire now and receive that amount there’s no incentive for me to stay. Just curious if anyone has seen this and I guess I just need some reassurance that this would be the best decision for me and my family. How hard is a 100 percent rating from the DOD Compared to the VA? Any advice would greatly be appreciated!
Medical Retirement contemplation
- Thread starter ItsADadsLyfe
- Start date
I'll let others chime in on the big stuff but I do want to say - I'm not sure if you've factored all this into your equations or not but since youre asking about 100% DOD, just know that the max DOD will payout is 75% of your high 3. Even if you got 80% DOD, 90% DOD or 100% DOD.
Oh yes I know that the max is 75 percent! I just put 100 for some reason lol
A lot of unknowns. Also, the Navy is the hardest branch to get found unfit. They don't like to lose people and would rather move you into a different job and work around your issues. It's not normal to just get a medical retirement. It really is out of your hands. As far as I know all you can do is seek treatment and if the doctors think you have a condition that doesnt allow you to do your job and the Navy isn't willing to accommodate you then you get put into IDES.
Also, its not easy to get conditions found unfit. So even if you think there are several highly rated conditions they may not count towards your DOD%. If put into IDES today it would still take up to a year. So what you are looking to do in the best case scenario is shave 4 years off. However, the risk is super high! Could end up with no retirement and just a severance check which needs to be paid back by a reduction in VA pay. Just be careful! You have a lot more to lose than to gain by being put into IDES.
Even with a purple heart you think it will be hard to get medically retired?
A Purple Heart states that you were injured. It typically does not show how much you are currently injured unless it's obvious like missing a limb. Additionally, it is necessary to show how much or how little a given condition is interfering with ones current job.
The award can definitely help make the service connection to a given injury very easy for IDES purposes.
These are all the conditions I can link to my TBI.
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Deviated Septum
- Chronic Migraines
- Frequent Headaches
- Hormonal Dysfunction
- Infertility
- Tinnitus
- Hearing Loss
- Sleep Disturbance / Insomnia
- PTSD or PTSD-related symptoms
The VA could potentially rate each of those conditions as secondary to your TBI with the correct paperwork such as diagnosis and treatment documents. However, for a condition to be DoD rated it must be shown to actually prohibit one from doing their specific job. It is probable that several of those listed conditions will not be included for DoD Chapter 61 purposes.
Just adding on to @DaveK . Most of these conditions would not be unfitting. All of them could be fitting depending on your symptoms. Even if they did prevent you from doing your job the Navy could just move you around and change your duties. The Navy is hardcore and prefers to not medically retired Soldiers. They would rather use you up and put you to work on other things until you reach 20 years.
It all comes down to what I said at the beginning. You have pretty much no say in it. Make sure to continue to be treated for your health conditions. If the Navy wants to keep you in they can. Also, much more risk if put into IDES. You could miss out on thousands of dollars a month in benefits by not reaching 20 AFS. If you reach 20 AFS you get everything no matter what. You will get all of your pension and all of your VA disability compensation.
Which one of those do you have a profile for??? To start IDES you need to be on profile. I remember when I did mine, I didn't have a profile. I had to get on profile and have it be a P3 to initiate the MEB process
My MEB was for PTSD/migraine/Lower back condition.
In the Navy it’s not required.
A Provider can refer someone directly into the MEB/disability system before or without placing them on LIMDU. It does not require going on LIMDU first