Looking for guidance on changing a Guard Regular Retirement to Retroactive Medical Retirement

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dvwag

New Member
Registered Member
Hello all,

New user and first-time poster here and hoping someone can point me in the right direction as I didn't see anything that related exactly to my situation in past threads.

My situation:

- Retired M-Day E7 out of the ARNG (21.8 years total service of which 14.5 cumulative years are T10 Active Duty, T10 Mobilization, or T32 AGR Time).

- Retired out in July 2023 and immediate registered with the VA and submitted a multitude of claims by the end of that month, beginning the C&P process.

- Received VA decision letter at the end of February 2024 designating me 100% P&T.

My question is this: I was infantry with combat service in both Iraq and Afghanistan and have documented combat injuries that significantly impact my quality of life. I was told by an old mentor that, because I was a first time go for 100% P&T VA disability due to the severity of said combat injuries, that I should look to change my Regular Retirement to a retroactive Medical (or is it Disability?) Retirement as I would be eligible to collect my Army pension early.

Is this truly the case if I were to try and change to a Medical Retirement? And if so, how would I even begin going about to initiate that change? For context, I have LODs and several profiles from my last few years in the Guard as an M-Day Soldier, and my command was kind enough to let me get my 20, though the more I look into it, my full timers probably should have processed me for a Medical Retirement.

Open to any and all help, and more than happy to connect offline. Thanks for what you all do to guide veterans, such as myself, navigate the plethora of frustrating (and confusing) military and government regulations.

Deter
 
dvwag said:
Hello all,

New user and first-time poster here and hoping someone can point me in the right direction as I didn't see anything that related exactly to my situation in past threads.

My situation:

- Retired M-Day E7 out of the ARNG (21.8 years total service of which 14.5 cumulative years are T10 Active Duty, T10 Mobilization, or T32 AGR Time).

- Retired out in July 2023 and immediate registered with the VA and submitted a multitude of claims by the end of that month, beginning the C&P process.

- Received VA decision letter at the end of February 2024 designating me 100% P&T.

My question is this: I was infantry with combat service in both Iraq and Afghanistan and have documented combat injuries that significantly impact my quality of life. I was told by an old mentor that, because I was a first time go for 100% P&T VA disability due to the severity of said combat injuries, that I should look to change my Regular Retirement to a retroactive Medical (or is it Disability?) Retirement as I would be eligible to collect my Army pension early.

Is this truly the case if I were to try and change to a Medical Retirement? And if so, how would I even begin going about to initiate that change? For context, I have LODs and several profiles from my last few years in the Guard as an M-Day Soldier, and my command was kind enough to let me get my 20, though the more I look into it, my full timers probably should have processed me for a Medical Retirement.

Open to any and all help, and more than happy to connect offline. Thanks for what you all do to guide veterans, such as myself, navigate the plethora of frustrating (and confusing) military and government regulations.

Deter
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I am a bit confused. You said retired out July 2023. Does that mean that you are currently receiving a regular active duty retirement? If so, you are getting an immediate pension check and all of your VA compensation. That is the most gross compensation you can get. That means a chapter 61 retirement wouldn't net you any additional income. If you should have been medically retired and those unfitting conditions were designated by the PEB as combat related then your chapter 61 pension would be exempt from income taxes.

I guess if you should have been medically retired earlier then maybe there is some benefit assuming you were only TPU and TPU pay ends up being less than what your chapter 61 pension would be. However, if that chapter 61 retirement were to be retro active then the VA offset would apply. Basically your case would be super complicated and you would have to consult an attorney. Personally if I got out and received my full active duty pension and all of my VA compensation I would not spend my time and effort on it but that's just me.

You would need to submit a claim to the The Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) assuming that is your branch. If not Army there is a similar one for each branch. I think this would be a very hard claim because you would have to prove they did something wrong and if you were able to do your job until you retired then your conditions (however severe you may claim them to be) don't meet the standards of unfitting. A lot of people read the regs and think that its the medical standards that gets a condition designated as unfitting but in reality its the IPEB and FPEB that make that decision and they utilize much more information to get that decision. For example, if you have good NCOER's or OER's that state you can do your job. They look at the commander's impact statement. They look at the NARSUM and profile's that show restrictions. They also look at the needs of the military. That is why its almost impossible for Doctors to be medically retired. They will work around almost any health issues because they are shorthanded on docs.
 
@Provis, thank you for the quick response. To clarify, I retired out as an M-Day (One Weekend a Month) Soldier with Guard (equivalent to a TPU in the USAR - no idea why they're called different things when part of the same service ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), so I currently have a Reserve Component, not an Active Duty, retirement.

This information is helpful, though my last unit in the Guard was a bit of a soup sandwich, so my last three NCOERs were never processed due to criminally negligent Leadership, which is why I wanted to get my 20 and retire in the first place. I imagine that, if there was any benefit to it, trying to change my retirement from Regular to Medical would definitely involve an attorney of some sort?

Also, I was under the impression that Chapter 61 Retirement only applied to those who medically retired with less than 20 years of service - does Chapter 61 include those over 20 years as well?

Thanks brother,

Deter
 
dvwag said:
@Provis, thank you for the quick response. To clarify, I retired out as an M-Day (One Weekend a Month) Soldier with Guard (equivalent to a TPU in the USAR - no idea why they're called different things when part of the same service ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), so I currently have a Reserve Component, not an Active Duty, retirement.

This information is helpful, though my last unit in the Guard was a bit of a soup sandwich, so my last three NCOERs were never processed due to criminally negligent Leadership, which is why I wanted to get my 20 and retire in the first place. I imagine that, if there was any benefit to it, trying to change my retirement from Regular to Medical would definitely involve an attorney of some sort?

Also, I was under the impression that Chapter 61 Retirement only applied to those who medically retired with less than 20 years of service - does Chapter 61 include those over 20 years as well?

Thanks brother,

Deter
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Yes you can be eligible for a 20 year retirement. Not everyone retires at 20 years. Some have ADSO due to promotions or just want to stay in longer. Then they get sick or injured and medically retired even though they qualify for a 20 year regular active duty retirement. If that happens they will retire regardless and which retirement just depends on if their DOD% is higher or if their earned longevity is higher. Though anyone that hits 20 years AFS with at least 50% VA rating will max out compensation since by law you can't get more than the combination of your earned longevity retirement + VA compensation.

So to confirm you are a grey area retiree correct? That means you have 20 year letter and were transferred into the retired reserve while awaiting pay which will happen when you apply for your guard retirement at eligible age.
 
Provis said:
Yes you can be eligible for a 20 year retirement. Not everyone retires at 20 years. Some have ADSO due to promotions or just want to stay in longer. Then they get sick or injured and medically retired even though they qualify for a 20 year regular active duty retirement. If that happens they will retire regardless and which retirement just depends on if their DOD% is higher or if their earned longevity is higher. Though anyone that hits 20 years AFS with at least 50% VA rating will max out compensation since by law you can't get more than the combination of your earned longevity retirement + VA compensation.

So to confirm you are a grey area retiree correct? That means you have 20 year letter and were transferred into the retired reserve while awaiting pay which will happen when you apply for your guard retirement at eligible age.
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Yes, I am Grey Area. Thank you!
 
dvwag said:
Yes, I am Grey Area. Thank you!
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Even if you were to get a retro chapter 61 retirement doesn't mean you get any more compensation. Your chapter 61 pension would be offset by your VA compensation. For most with a chapter 61 pension you get tricare and the net compensation is the same. The only way in that situation is to then apply for CRSC to recoup some of the offset equal up to your earned longevity pension amount.

You have an uphill battle to accomplish your goal if that goal is to get a retroactive medical retirement. It would take years and the help of a lawyer so you may want to balance the benefits verse the costs. Remember its just not money but time spent on this goal you should look into before taking a leap.
 
Provis said:
Even if you were to get a retro chapter 61 retirement doesn't mean you get any more compensation. Your chapter 61 pension would be offset by your VA compensation. For most with a chapter 61 pension you get tricare and the net compensation is the same. The only way in that situation is to then apply for CRSC to recoup some of the offset equal up to your earned longevity pension amount.

You have an uphill battle to accomplish your goal if that goal is to get a retroactive medical retirement. It would take years and the help of a lawyer so you may want to balance the benefits verse the costs. Remember its just not money but time spent on this goal you should look into before taking a leap.
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Thanks @Provis . I have a lot to think about, even considering reenlisting in the Guard just to go through the MEB, as I think my old unit would support it.

Are there any lawyers that are a part of this community and specialize in this area that I could bounce some thoughts off of?
 
dvwag said:
Thanks @Provis . I have a lot to think about, even considering reenlisting in the Guard just to go through the MEB, as I think my old unit would support it.

Are there any lawyers that are a part of this community and specialize in this area that I could bounce some thoughts off of?
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There are private attorneys that deal in IDES. I will send you my standard message offline.
 
USAF12345 said:
Can I get a lawyer information
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Sure sending you their info now. You might need to call a few times. There are only a handful of options and they are all pretty busy with clients. They are well worth it though. The one my wife chose changed out financial life for the better!
 
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