BLUF: 15+ Good years in Army Guard, currently Combat Engineer, have been having trouble physically passing APFT (on a 2.5mi walk profile currently) and participating in regular duties due to injuries sustained in combat in 2004. Currently rated 70% by VA, with reviews and appeals ongoing. Serious concerns from multiple doctors that if i exacerbate my injuries (multiple spinal and joint) i could end up in a wheelchair or worse which would cause me to lose my civilian side career as well.
I am concerned that i am currently no longer "fit to fight" and would be a detriment to my unit, ive tried to gut through it for years but things are getting worse and i'm kinda falling apart. I was rated at 70% in Dec '17, and will probably be ending up 80-90% at the end of the day (without a sleep apnea rating, ha!). How do i go about getting med-boarded to medically retire? I want to actually retire after my 15+ years of hard-fought service, not just not re-enlist. Where do i go from here? My command is actually concerned about my physical health and at times ive been ordered to not participate in ruck marches, combat manouvers etc because they're worried i'll get hurt worse (even though i bitch about it and try to do it anyway because i dont like being that guy). But at the end of the day i realize i'm not a kid anymore and ive got some serious issues that could leave me partially paralyzed for life, or having to deal with "dead limbs" and possibly amputations due to lack of nerve activity etc. Where do i go from here? just tell a medic i can't "do it" anymore? I'm just a knuckledragger so a lot of these acronyms that get thrown around might as well be mandarin to me.
I am concerned that i am currently no longer "fit to fight" and would be a detriment to my unit, ive tried to gut through it for years but things are getting worse and i'm kinda falling apart. I was rated at 70% in Dec '17, and will probably be ending up 80-90% at the end of the day (without a sleep apnea rating, ha!). How do i go about getting med-boarded to medically retire? I want to actually retire after my 15+ years of hard-fought service, not just not re-enlist. Where do i go from here? My command is actually concerned about my physical health and at times ive been ordered to not participate in ruck marches, combat manouvers etc because they're worried i'll get hurt worse (even though i bitch about it and try to do it anyway because i dont like being that guy). But at the end of the day i realize i'm not a kid anymore and ive got some serious issues that could leave me partially paralyzed for life, or having to deal with "dead limbs" and possibly amputations due to lack of nerve activity etc. Where do i go from here? just tell a medic i can't "do it" anymore? I'm just a knuckledragger so a lot of these acronyms that get thrown around might as well be mandarin to me.