Hi everybody!
I'm new, so thanks for the patience as I figure out this forum and where I should post stuff. Mods, if you'd like to delete the other two posts that I put up in inappropriate places that would be great.
About me: I'm a drilling reservist in the AF. I'm a major, I served 12 years active, now have 1.5 good years in the reserves (roughly 4500 total points.) My job is C-17 pilot, so naturally a lot of time spent overseas as part of my normal job (even without deployments).
About my condition: I've been diagnosed with a thoracic aortic aneurysm. It measures 4.5 on the CT, 4.7 on the echo. Though I'm 6'6" they've told me I'm not Marfan (I'm 35, so they probably would have caught it by now.) My profile has me on no PT testing, no heavy lifting, no maximal effort, and currently no deployment. Additionally, until the retention issue is decided, I'm DNIF (can't fly).
About my LOD: The VA hinted at it when I separated (they did an echo for some reason), but they never diagnosed it. I never heard back from them. I worked off and on for the first year, but started 179-day orders 3 months ago. A month into those I asked the MTF to look into my heart. I'm confident that the LOD will come back in my favor since I was on such a long set of orders at the time.
About my situation/goals: I'm now beginning the MEB/PEB process. I've done all the cardiology tests/consults at the MTF, so now my unit's doctors have taken over. I really don't know where they're going to go with the whole thing. Based on what I understand, my goal now is to get medically retired, since this won't stop my airline job and represents quite a bit of money if I can retire now.
My questions:
1. Do I read the DODFMR correctly in my retirement compensation? I would get up to 60% (my eventual disability rating) of my base pay as a Major? My high 3 is about $7K, so 60% would mean a check every month of about $4200, maybe $1200 from the VA and the rest from DoD.
2. What are the current trends in the PEB for a condition like this? I can't find a reg or instruction that gives PEB members marching orders about this. Is it just a matter of me not being able to deploy and that driving a separation per the policy memo I saw from earlier this year?
3. At what point will I get a liaison or somebody that can help me navigate this process? a PEBLO maybe? What can I do to hurry it along?
4. Is there anything I might not be thinking about? I'm looking to start a dialog with folks that have been through this (if even only tangentially).
Thanks everybody!
-Moose
I'm new, so thanks for the patience as I figure out this forum and where I should post stuff. Mods, if you'd like to delete the other two posts that I put up in inappropriate places that would be great.
About me: I'm a drilling reservist in the AF. I'm a major, I served 12 years active, now have 1.5 good years in the reserves (roughly 4500 total points.) My job is C-17 pilot, so naturally a lot of time spent overseas as part of my normal job (even without deployments).
About my condition: I've been diagnosed with a thoracic aortic aneurysm. It measures 4.5 on the CT, 4.7 on the echo. Though I'm 6'6" they've told me I'm not Marfan (I'm 35, so they probably would have caught it by now.) My profile has me on no PT testing, no heavy lifting, no maximal effort, and currently no deployment. Additionally, until the retention issue is decided, I'm DNIF (can't fly).
About my LOD: The VA hinted at it when I separated (they did an echo for some reason), but they never diagnosed it. I never heard back from them. I worked off and on for the first year, but started 179-day orders 3 months ago. A month into those I asked the MTF to look into my heart. I'm confident that the LOD will come back in my favor since I was on such a long set of orders at the time.
About my situation/goals: I'm now beginning the MEB/PEB process. I've done all the cardiology tests/consults at the MTF, so now my unit's doctors have taken over. I really don't know where they're going to go with the whole thing. Based on what I understand, my goal now is to get medically retired, since this won't stop my airline job and represents quite a bit of money if I can retire now.
My questions:
1. Do I read the DODFMR correctly in my retirement compensation? I would get up to 60% (my eventual disability rating) of my base pay as a Major? My high 3 is about $7K, so 60% would mean a check every month of about $4200, maybe $1200 from the VA and the rest from DoD.
2. What are the current trends in the PEB for a condition like this? I can't find a reg or instruction that gives PEB members marching orders about this. Is it just a matter of me not being able to deploy and that driving a separation per the policy memo I saw from earlier this year?
3. At what point will I get a liaison or somebody that can help me navigate this process? a PEBLO maybe? What can I do to hurry it along?
4. Is there anything I might not be thinking about? I'm looking to start a dialog with folks that have been through this (if even only tangentially).
Thanks everybody!
-Moose