December 1 and still no DD 294?

longbchdirtbag

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
hey all, I decided to join this forum out of extreme frustration. I, like most of you am in the middle of this grueling process to earn what I feel is mine. I am a Navy Corpsman who was discharged from the United States Navy for PTSD with a 10 percent rating. After reviewing the 2006 DOD directive and now the new one I am near certain I was underrated. I received a VA rating at 80 percent, 50 percent of course because I was discharged for PTSD in May 2007. A six month review after my discharge confirmed and continued my decision. I'm at a bit of an advantage to some of you most likely as I work for the VA rating disability claims and understand the 38 CFR Part 4. Still I am finding it difficult to navigate this process. I know what I should have been rated, but am afraid of the process.

I was treated so terribly by my unit due to my discharge, I took the ten percent rating and ran, but now regret it. The VA healthcare for mental health is poor. All they would say is they are going to fix me, or that I should not have gone to Iraq if I couldn't handle what I saw. This is what I am in desperate need of disability retirement. I'm hoping the Tricare I can recieve will offset the tremendous difficulty I have with the VA. Now its December 1 and I do not see a DD Form 294 available to us. Does anyone have any good news on this? And how can the review end December 2009 if we are not given proper time to gather our evidence? I'm confident I can recieved a PBDR recomendation of 50 percent, but I'm afraid of possible injustices and am looking for guidance on petiioning the board of military correction. The PBDR process seems so cement that if a unfavorable decision is made there will not be a chance to try again. I'm really worried this will lead to the same injustices we have had before. Any help I can get or others opinions would be great.
 
Hi, and welcome to the board! :)

This subject isn't something I have any experience in, but others will be along who would know more. The great thing about this site is answers come pretty fast. Good luck!
 
LBDB,

sorry to hear what you are going through. i'm w/you on your unit treating you poorly throught the MEB and beyond. i've been going through mine for 2yrs. now and it's still ongoing.

as far as the VA mental health have you tried going to one of the VA's Veteran's Center's? i believe most states have them. they are run by the VA but usually located throught some states. i go to one, because the care i was getting @ the naval base near me was piss-poor. i told my PCM about it and she put me in for an outside referral, but they would'nt approve it. they approved me to go to another naval clinic, which was over an hour away. i can just about drive short distances, because of my back and all the meds. i'm on, so i didn't go. i was just going to go on my own using my civilian coverage, but then i found out about the vet's center. they have been really good for me. from what i was told they could referr out.

w/your problem w/your paperwork, why don't you go down to one of your local congress or senators office. they usually have a veteran's rep., that deals w/these type of issues. i would just pick one that you know of or one who is well respected and try that. you don't want to call them all and "get too many hands in the pot".the more conservative approcah would be going w/one of your local veteran's support agancies (DAV, VFW,purple heart association, etc.). i used the VFW 1'st, then i've been using the DAV. but those vet's centers can help you w/all that stuff too.

other than that, i'm sure you'll find alot of good answers and info here.
good luck!
 
I work for the VA and many times I get judged under the opinion I am working the system by VA healthcare providers. It gets tough for me. I saw a VA mental health doc for a year straight and they told me I had a sense of self importance (or h/e its spelled) because I was upset I have to wait upwards of two hours past my appointment time and that I'm to young to have PTSD (I'm 23) My VA experience has been horrendous from the health care side. The benefits side has been great, but this has not been the smoothest road for health care.

On a warm note, thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to have found a place where there are others like me.

Any help I can get on the PDBR would be great!
 
I recently called Military One Source for some authorized counseling for myself (a spouse). Perhaps they have the same benefit for the service members...? They had me in within a day to see a provider!
 
Give an hour is a good source, I have recommended them to numerous callers. Those that contact them please provide feedback.
 
Well, I wrote my senator today. We'll see how quick action is taken to get the PBDR rolling. When I lived in Iowa Senator Harkin was all over veterans rights and benefits. Orinn Hatch has done alot for me to, contacted DOD Undersecretary for me with regards to severance pay. This time I wrote to him not as myself, but for all veterans awaiting a PBDR. We'll see how it goes.
 
I am not happy that they have taken this long (and counting) to get the ball rolling on this. The law directed them to stand this up months ago and I see no excuse for the delay.

The reason, however, (and I am taking this from the health.mil website's FAQ's) is that they are waiting for the DD 249 form to be approved by OMB. Not a valid reason, in my opinion, because they should have either got this submitted earlier, or else have fast tracked the form approval process (though , admittedly, I have no idea what goes into approving a form on the OMB side of the house).

As far as the window closing on review, my read of the Dec. 31, 2009 deadline is only for whether or not your separation qualifies, and not a deadline for application. That is, if you are separated on 31 DEC 09, you can apply after that date (there is no closing date for the board). Come 1 JAN 2010, you may not.

I will be posting updates as soon as I hear anything.
 
Yea, I saw the OMB approval excuse as well. I'm surprised Congress has not been following this? But whatever, it dos not make a difference I guess. And thanks for explaining the time limit for me. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm better off doing a BMCR, but I'm unsure.

Thanks for all your help you guys. Great community.
 
Is December 8 and still no DD 294 has been "Approved". I sent an email to DoD asking about the form and this is what I get in return on 12/2.
"DD Form 294 is still in draft status, awaiting OMB approval. This
usually takes a couple of months. The form should be finalized soon and
will be promptly made available on the Web, but we can't give an exact
date yet.
DoD Forms Management Program
WHS/ESD/IMD
Forms Program Home Page

If this new Board is starting with the wrong foot. Just imaging what they will do as they go over each case.
 
News on health.mil as posted by whoever it is responds to posts says the form is now delayed to January 2009. Thanks for taking care of us DOD.
 
MHS - Medical Enlisted Community - Publications

MHS Webmaster at 2008-12-10 10:29:45 wrote:

Quote
Originally Posted By D. Antonio on 2008-12-09 16:44:05 :
I'm looking for the new DD Form 294. Has there been any updates on the release of this form?
Mr. Antonio,

Publication of DD 294 has been delayed. More information will be prominently displayed on this Web site Welcome to the Military Health System Website. I would look for the publication of this form in January, 2009.



WHAT TOTAL BS
 
MHS - Medical Enlisted Community - Publications

MHS Webmaster at 2008-12-10 10:29:45 wrote:

Quote
Originally Posted By D. Antonio on 2008-12-09 16:44:05 :
I'm looking for the new DD Form 294. Has there been any updates on the release of this form?
Mr. Antonio,

Publication of DD 294 has been delayed. More information will be prominently displayed on this Web site Welcome to the Military Health System Website. I would look for the publication of this form in January, 2009.



WHAT TOTAL BS

I received this letter from the VA and I was wondering if its regarding the PDBR. Its not very detailed, but if its the same thing, would I still need to send in the DD Form 294?

"The President has signed into law an Act of Congress increasing rates of Disability Compensation for disabled veterans, and of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for the survivors of deceased veterans effective December 1, 2008. We are reviewing your award to determine what rate you will be entitled to receive. -------
Should your award require adjustment, we will advise you of the new monthly rate.
Please advise us immediately if you return to or if your address or marital status changes. additional benefits for dependents, notify us change in their status.
active military service If you are receiving immediately of any
VA will match benefit information from your records with the following agencies for the purposes described below:
1. Department of Defense: to verify a return to active military service.
2. Department of Defense: to identify veterans receiving disability compensation who are also receiving military pay and allowances (drill pay) as members of the National Guard or Reserves.
3. Social Security Administration: to identify veterans in receipt of substantial earned income who are also rated totally disabled based on unemployability for VA purposes.
4. Social Security Administration: to assist in determining eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program.
5. Social Security Administration: to verify a beneficiary's self-certification of eligibility for prescription drug subsidy assistance under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003."
 
No, thats just a letter telling you your VA pay will be increased. Its the cost of increase letter, nothing to do with the PBDR.
 
while reading the health.mil artical on the PDBR topic, a link on the page describes the process for making a claim.
How do I request this review?​
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Applications should be submitted to the Central Intake and Tracking Unit (CITU) located at Randolph AFB, TX on a form, DD Form 294, [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Application for Review of Physical Disability Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman](currently pending approval), or computer- generated equivalent. The applications may be mailed to the following address: SAF/MRBR, 550-C Street West, Suite 41 Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4743. Due to the need for an original signature, applications may not, as of this date, be submitted electronically. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman] i am wondering what form the equivalent is. if we can get this accepted then they can push back the 294 form all they want. at least we can get something like it. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]im also wondering why they delayed the form. i have a guess at why. its probably becouse someone objected to it becouse they didnt want to confess that soldiers like us were cheated out of a rightful and fair rating. i recieved a 10% rating for a L5-S1 disk bulge playing around with the nerve in that location (according to my Medical Board findings). i decided to look this up and found out that it is a lot worse then it sounds. they can do surgery for this condition but at High Risk which i wouldnt go for. i was told the procedures for this and both sound like it would be a waist of time since both would cause problems later on down the road meaning anyone with the same problem would be messed up no matter what. from what i read and what i am experiancing, i should have recieved a minimum of 60%- 80%. the military just gives soldiers low ratings becouse they dont want to admit the fact that soldiers are broken and dont want to help soldiers and leave them to fend for themselves. from what i calculated, with my situation, any employer will see me as being a liability and want to hire someone who has less restrictions. right now i am just waiting for the results of my VA rating and Social Security to decide on me. if the results are not satisfactory i got a nice little 5 page letter i can submit to national news stations and local news stations to address this problems for soldiers in this situation. i am certain the military Medical Boards will be in the spotlight if i were to send that out. then they will be more then forced to start giving soldiers a better, reasonable, and more fair disability rating from then on.
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