Seventeen years ago today, I opened the PEB FORUM. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! If you don't know the backstory, I was serving as the Chief, Soldier's Counsel at the Ft. Sam Houston Formal PEB board. I was in my terminal assignment, having submitted my resignation about a year before (that's another story....my packet kept on getting "lost"). I was Chief of an office that varied in strength between one Lawyer (Me) or up to three, depending on manning. In those days, we were the only assigned counsel available, and I was handling a huge caseload. But, the challenges aside, I had the advantage of seeing ALL of the cases that came through the FPEB. At that time, we would contact Soldiers 14-10 days before their hearing and then fly them in for 3 days. Day 1, check-in and interview/prep the Soldier. Day 2 conduct the Formal PEB hearing. Day 3, validate orders and they flew back out. That was it. I noticed a pattern. The cases seemed to fall into about thirds- one third were clear winners...