Confused...just referred to IDES

[mdd]

I I just had my briefing with my PEBLO on 13Jun but now I think I have confused myself over the weekend with the different processes discussed
Can some break it down like I am 7yo and explain?

I have 22yos (all active duty). With that being said to get out on unfit medical retirement, would the army have to find me over 55% disabled? From my understanding is if the my conditions didn't go over 55%, the army would have find me fit for duty so I could go back and get regular retirement and because they won't ever take away what you have already earned from the years of service. Am I understanding this correctly? And if this is true, I don't have any thing to truly lose to appeal since the highest the military go is 75% and I am already at 55%.

Please tell me if I have this correct. Thanks!

 

[Provis]

I I just had my briefing with my PEBLO on 13Jun but now I think I have confused myself over the weekend with the different processes discussed
Can some break it down like I am 7yo and explain?

I have 22yos (all active duty). With that being said to get out on unfit medical retirement, would the army have to find me over 55% disabled? From my understanding is if the my conditions didn't go over 55%, the army would have find me fit for duty so I could go back and get regular retirement and because they won't ever take away what you have already earned from the years of service. Am I understanding this correctly? And if this is true, I don't have any thing to truly lose to appeal since the highest the military go is 75% and I am already at 55%.

Please tell me if I have this correct. Thanks!

So you you pretty much have nothing to lose or gain by medically retiring if you have 20 or more active duty years of service. The most you can get by law is all of your earned longevity which in your case is 55% of your high 3 + All of your VA disability compensation as long as your total VA % is 50% or higher.

So don't get too much into the weeds on total compensation. You are already set. Basically when medically retired via chapter 61 retirement you need your DOD% to be higher than your longevity. So if you don't get 60% or higher DOD your earned active duty retirement pension is used.

If your DOD is 60% or higher there are a few perks but not life altering. If you choose tricare select you get the annual enrollment fee of $300 waived. If one of your unfitting conditions is found to be combat related then your chapter 61 pension is exempt from federal taxes. You can't get more gross compensation but may be able to net more via not paying taxes. If you get a higher DOD% than 55% then you just get less from VA compensation. You can never get more than the total between earned pension and VA compensation. So you are already maxed out on income. So all it boils down to is a few extra perks with chapter 61 pension. Though even a regular retiree could get all of their income exempt via CRSC so chapter 61 pension isn't the only route to make their earned pension exempt from federal income taxes.

 

[mdd]

So you you pretty much have nothing to lose or gain by medically retiring if you have 20 or more active duty years of service. The most you can get by law is all of your earned longevity which in your case is 55% of your high 3 + All of your VA disability compensation as long as your total VA % is 50% or higher.

So don't get too much into the weeds on total compensation. You are already set. Basically when medically retired via chapter 61 retirement you need your DOD% to be higher than your longevity. So if you don't get 60% or higher DOD your earned active duty retirement pension is used.

If your DOD is 60% or higher there are a few perks but not life altering. If you choose tricare select you get the annual enrollment fee of $300 waived. If one of your unfitting conditions is found to be combat related then your chapter 61 pension is exempt from federal taxes. You can't get more gross compensation but may be able to net more via not paying taxes. If you get a higher DOD% than 55% then you just get less from VA compensation. You can never get more than the total between earned pension and VA compensation. So you are already maxed out on income. So all it boils down to is a few extra perks with chapter 61 pension. Though even a regular retiree could get all of their income exempt via CRSC so chapter 61 pension isn't the only route to make their earned pension exempt from federal income taxes.

This is really helpful. Thank you for breaking it down that way. I do have a follow on question and some info I forgot to mention earlier. In March I came out on the O6 promotion list but have no idea when my sequence number will be up. My PEBLO said it would be possible to get promoted right before I medically retire (even if my sequence number hadn't been called yet). I unfortunately forgot to ask specific questions to clarify if that meant the retirement pay would be O6. Do you know anything about this? Thanks!