hello everyone. I'm new to the forums. I had been fighting to avoid MEB for nearly a year because I wanted to make the Navy my career. I lost that fight a couple months ago and have been going through the process. I finished the QTC VA exams and the reports are back with my PEBLO. My doc is writing the NARSUM now and should be done with it by next week. My question is, whats next after that? I know I sign it and it gets sent to DC, but what then? do I just wait to hear back? how long is that wait? I now know that leaving the Navy will be what is best for my recovery and my best chance at having a normal life but im also not trying to run out the door fast I can. I want to make sure I dot my Is and cross the Ts.
Lost the fight...MEB time
- Thread starter Pac942
- Start date
pretty much lost all the fight in me after so many docs said the best thing for me is to get out. another question I have is if they put me out, and I am able to recover in some time can I come back?
I'm not 100% sure on that but from what I would think is it would have to depend on what they rated you.
If they put you FIT, you can return to duty without getting out. If UNFIT and put on the TDRL you could in theory come back in at a later time. It's pretty unlikely 5% of cases are returned to duty last stat I read. You could also be eventually transferred from the TDRL to PDRL, Separated with Severance (if DOD rating drops to 20% or below), or fit for duty.
You're still "in the fight" until you sign acceptance of the findings. Know you desired outcome and aim that way. Best wishes.
You're still "in the fight" until you sign acceptance of the findings. Know you desired outcome and aim that way. Best wishes.
Like others are saying just do not stop fighting. In the time though while you are waiting to hear from your results I would suggest to make your doctors appointments and go through whatever treatment they are suggesting to try and get better. I will let you know though do not get discouraged because it is going to be a while before you hear what their decision is, mine took 5 months before I received my rating. Also keep in mind make sure you talk to people like the disability lawyer after you receive your rating and make sure what you are getting is fair, otherwise like many of us here you will want to file an appeal which will make your process longer.
Your Non Medical Assessment that your CO does can make a big impact. If you state your desire to stay in, and your CO supports that you can still perform your job even with some limitations, it leans in your favor. Request Permanent Limited Duty Unconditional.
In the Army, we have COAD, or Continuation On Active Duty. I'm relatively new to the MEB process myself, but during the briefing, I was told if I wanted to continue my service, I would need to get letters from supervisors and co-workers explaining that I am able to do my job, despite the injury. If I received an unfit status from PEB, I could quickly respond. Maybe there is something similar in the Navy.
I completely understand people's desire to stay in a uniform and serve for 20 years. This is what we have all been programmed to believe in as a goal from the start of our careers!! I was once one of you and had an unrelenting desire to stay until 20 and fight to not get MEB boarded at all. I was thrown unwillingly into the process by my Brigade commander (06 for you Navy/AF types) sending me a formal letter/order directing me to see an Army doctor "fit for duty" exam. I soon learned that the MEB/PEB process is a rigged one. It is like a high stakes poker game where the branch of service you belong to is the professional player and you the individual are the Person that just learned the game five minutes ago. The deck is stacked against you from the start. If your an officer, you can make that analogy that you learned poker 30 minutes ago, E3 and below make it that you have never learned not played poker in your entire life, you don't even know how to spell poker and you don't even know what playing cards are.
fit findings and continuing active duty or TDRL return to duty rates are extremely low. Try too hard to be found "fit" and you put yourself in great jeopardy of being found unfit at a very low percentage due to your own downplaying of your symptoms and commander and coworker statements that you can do your job. The PEBs are supposed to be impartial but they are far from it.
Be warned. The PEB is not your freind. Neither is any branch of DOD in a drawdown. They alone decide your fate, senior officers whom have never met nor served with you sit on your PEB board and decide your fate in just a few hours. Thier decisions effect your pay for the rest of your life!!! If I had a tough time as an O3E selected for O4, how much harder is the E3/4 going to have it?
Take some time and seriously think about risk vs reward. I desperately wanted to make it to 20. I would have made an extra 1500 a month for life under CDRP. But I KNEW it wasn't in the cards. Had I been in 19 years it would have been a totally different story!!! I only made it to 17.5. I don't regret the decision to fight for unfit one bit. I know my branch (army) mentality In the drawdown and knew it was an impossible fight to stay in, even for such a short time.
fit findings and continuing active duty or TDRL return to duty rates are extremely low. Try too hard to be found "fit" and you put yourself in great jeopardy of being found unfit at a very low percentage due to your own downplaying of your symptoms and commander and coworker statements that you can do your job. The PEBs are supposed to be impartial but they are far from it.
Be warned. The PEB is not your freind. Neither is any branch of DOD in a drawdown. They alone decide your fate, senior officers whom have never met nor served with you sit on your PEB board and decide your fate in just a few hours. Thier decisions effect your pay for the rest of your life!!! If I had a tough time as an O3E selected for O4, how much harder is the E3/4 going to have it?
Take some time and seriously think about risk vs reward. I desperately wanted to make it to 20. I would have made an extra 1500 a month for life under CDRP. But I KNEW it wasn't in the cards. Had I been in 19 years it would have been a totally different story!!! I only made it to 17.5. I don't regret the decision to fight for unfit one bit. I know my branch (army) mentality In the drawdown and knew it was an impossible fight to stay in, even for such a short time.
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so your saying the best course of action is to not fight it? Just go with it?
Idk what your condition is or what effects this condition will have in your sea shore rotation or ability to do your job. Let's say you had PTSD. If your course of action is to medically retire, you'll want to get the highest percentage possible so have your commander and career manager write that you cannot do your job and explain how disabling it is. If you wanted to stay, have them write that it doesn't effect you, or that you could do a desk job, and at the same time tell the doctors that your symptoms are mild or have improved. Now understand that if you choose the second option, you are saying your condition isn't really that bad, and the PEB could come back and still say you are unfit and that because it isn't that bad, they could separate you with no medical retirement.... What I am saying is that it is the very definition of a catch 22 to try and stay in. Unless there is a clear cut precedent for your specific condition, I would go with the first option.
Your PEBLO and attorney should be able to tell you more about how your specific PEB decides cases such as yours. Mine told me it was highly unlikely I would be found fit because I have a neurological disorder and mental health condition. That's like a knockout punch combination in the Army that is drawing down drastically. They have no need for broken people who cannot deploy. Of course my branch of service, PEB, and conditions differ from yours. Our outcomes could be very similar or very different. Just know the writing on the wall. Is the Navy kicking people out left and right for medical reasons? Is your job overmanned? Is the Navy drawing down? If you have a mental health condition are they finding nearly everyone with mental health conditions unfit at your PEB? These are the kind of things you need to know in order to make the best decision possible. The stakes couldn't be higher, the outcome will effect how much you make for the rest of your life!!!
I just have to say that this is the best analogy of the MEB/PEB process that I have ever seen. LOL!