Repost, without most of the typos this time! The Presiding Officer is the second member of the IPEB upon the initial review stage and the person running the formal hearing at the FPEB stage. When you reach this stage on the iPEB level, you are nearing the initial decision re whether you are fit or unfit. Note- you will not be able to access the 4th deck of Building 36 at the Navy Yard to speak with board members. Neither civilian nor Navy counsel have been allowed in their spaces since an 0-5 Navy judge advocate had a physical altercation with a board member back in 2010. Before that, both Navy counsel and civilian counsel like me had ready access to the members' spaces. Service members have not been allowed in the board members spaces since the West Coast PEB at Balboa and The East Coast PEB at Bethesda were consolidated into one panel at the Navy Yard around the time that the IDES was rolled out in 2009-2010. Side note re other services- you would not be able to walk into the members' spaces at Randolph for Air Force PEBs or Fort Sam for Army PEBs either.