Hello everyone, I have just joined this site, though I have been searching on here for a while now.
Here is my scenario that I am needing help with:
Last year I was on emergency leave, a family member passed away. A day after the funeral I was driving down the highway in my hometown (SC) with my girlfriend, before I had to come back to Knox. We were T-boned at a high rate of speed by a drunk driver. We rolled 4-5 times at least and the impact was around 70+ mph according to the officers on scene. It was a hit and run of course, I am a medic so my first reaction was to make sure she was ok, then I chased after the drunk on foot as he drove away. I got a good ID on him and a tag number. He was found moments later. My issue is, before this happened I was going to get every Army school possible and go to college. Obviously I can't do the Army schools now that I have compression fractures in my T-Spine (T2-T7 I believe) also, of course with most of us soldiers, DDD, bulging discs...etc. As well as, sleep apnea (my sleep study showed 171 events per night, average of 21 per hour). I have deployed so I do still struggle with some of the events that happened while I was in Afghanistan but I have greatly improved. I am still very upset with the accident situation, as you can imagine. Most recently I had an MRI of my knee that showed: "...mild partial thickness articular cartiledge loss lateral patellar facet." Basically just wear and tear from me working in the hospital -hospitals suck- (And walking more than I should be!!!) I know this isn't major compared to what most of you folks have, but it is very demoralizing to be a 22 year old with 2 broken hands (2 Left hand surgeries), compression fractures with chronic pain in mid/lower back, sleep apnea, some behavioral health issues (nothing major, just depression and PTSD), chronic headaches (atleast 1 per day)..etc. The list goes on, this is just to give you pro's some insight on what I am dealing with to help me make an informed decision.
I have already fought the MEB I am currently undergoing as hard as I could. I went so far as to offer my PCM the opportunity to do a physical assessment every so often after my P3 was initiated to see if I could just get a P2....that obviously didn't fly.
So my current situation is this: I have fought tooth and nail with this command, it has covered everything from not being able to watch my family member die because I was required to do "AWT" training, instead of go on emergency leave. As well as including the changing of my profile without my knowledge through a provider I do not know, accusing me of abusing narcotics in front of my family who visited me while I was admitted shortly after my accident, etc...also this list can go on. I have used every resource I could before I just gave up, JAG, IG, Ombudsman, 2 congressionals, not so open "open door policies", everything made my life worse...so I stopped. I am in no way bashing leadership on here at all. I just know what good leadership looks like and I have not seen it here. I applaud you leaders who take your jobs and your authority seriously..I wish others could do the same.
My ETS is in June of this year (2013), terminal leave will put me out in late May. My last MEB appointment was today (16 April 2013), at the IDES center here. Now according to my PEBLO we wait...
What will I be giving up if I ETS? Will I lose any of my VA benefits? I know, I know...100 of you are going to say "TAKE THE MEB! FREE HEALTHCARE!"...well that may be true. Yes taking the MEB if I am found unfit and over 30% would be beneficial for myself and future family. I am just trying to sort all of this out with a poisoned mind and the NEED for success through a great education (mechanical engineering). If I elect to just ETS, I don't want to miss out on the benefits we would normally have under regular discharge scenarios. I think the most debilitating part about this process is infact the time, which my MEB was initiated early Jan, of 2013. I don't want to waste another year of my life, sitting around doing nothing....I joined the Army specifically to deploy multiple times, a drunk driver didn't allow me to do that. So I feel it's time for me to get out and make big $$$ and ENJOY a life worry free...and yes I do know life will be stressful in college having to deal with all of the douche bag frat kids....but I think I will survive...I think...
Here is my scenario that I am needing help with:
Last year I was on emergency leave, a family member passed away. A day after the funeral I was driving down the highway in my hometown (SC) with my girlfriend, before I had to come back to Knox. We were T-boned at a high rate of speed by a drunk driver. We rolled 4-5 times at least and the impact was around 70+ mph according to the officers on scene. It was a hit and run of course, I am a medic so my first reaction was to make sure she was ok, then I chased after the drunk on foot as he drove away. I got a good ID on him and a tag number. He was found moments later. My issue is, before this happened I was going to get every Army school possible and go to college. Obviously I can't do the Army schools now that I have compression fractures in my T-Spine (T2-T7 I believe) also, of course with most of us soldiers, DDD, bulging discs...etc. As well as, sleep apnea (my sleep study showed 171 events per night, average of 21 per hour). I have deployed so I do still struggle with some of the events that happened while I was in Afghanistan but I have greatly improved. I am still very upset with the accident situation, as you can imagine. Most recently I had an MRI of my knee that showed: "...mild partial thickness articular cartiledge loss lateral patellar facet." Basically just wear and tear from me working in the hospital -hospitals suck- (And walking more than I should be!!!) I know this isn't major compared to what most of you folks have, but it is very demoralizing to be a 22 year old with 2 broken hands (2 Left hand surgeries), compression fractures with chronic pain in mid/lower back, sleep apnea, some behavioral health issues (nothing major, just depression and PTSD), chronic headaches (atleast 1 per day)..etc. The list goes on, this is just to give you pro's some insight on what I am dealing with to help me make an informed decision.
I have already fought the MEB I am currently undergoing as hard as I could. I went so far as to offer my PCM the opportunity to do a physical assessment every so often after my P3 was initiated to see if I could just get a P2....that obviously didn't fly.
So my current situation is this: I have fought tooth and nail with this command, it has covered everything from not being able to watch my family member die because I was required to do "AWT" training, instead of go on emergency leave. As well as including the changing of my profile without my knowledge through a provider I do not know, accusing me of abusing narcotics in front of my family who visited me while I was admitted shortly after my accident, etc...also this list can go on. I have used every resource I could before I just gave up, JAG, IG, Ombudsman, 2 congressionals, not so open "open door policies", everything made my life worse...so I stopped. I am in no way bashing leadership on here at all. I just know what good leadership looks like and I have not seen it here. I applaud you leaders who take your jobs and your authority seriously..I wish others could do the same.
My ETS is in June of this year (2013), terminal leave will put me out in late May. My last MEB appointment was today (16 April 2013), at the IDES center here. Now according to my PEBLO we wait...
What will I be giving up if I ETS? Will I lose any of my VA benefits? I know, I know...100 of you are going to say "TAKE THE MEB! FREE HEALTHCARE!"...well that may be true. Yes taking the MEB if I am found unfit and over 30% would be beneficial for myself and future family. I am just trying to sort all of this out with a poisoned mind and the NEED for success through a great education (mechanical engineering). If I elect to just ETS, I don't want to miss out on the benefits we would normally have under regular discharge scenarios. I think the most debilitating part about this process is infact the time, which my MEB was initiated early Jan, of 2013. I don't want to waste another year of my life, sitting around doing nothing....I joined the Army specifically to deploy multiple times, a drunk driver didn't allow me to do that. So I feel it's time for me to get out and make big $$$ and ENJOY a life worry free...and yes I do know life will be stressful in college having to deal with all of the douche bag frat kids....but I think I will survive...I think...