Officer With Issues

trip

PEB Forum Regular Member
Does anyone now how the Army deals with folks with Cushing's Syndrome?

I am a MAJ/O4
10 years Reserve/14 Active/ 24 Total years
Currently a RA Officer on AD.

I am currently assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit waiting to treatment, rehab, possible MEB, and medical retirement ot seperation. I was medically sent here from Korea because they found out that they could not treat my depression effectiviely ib Korea.

My conditions include:
Major Depression - have not been order to work in almost 1 year.
Sleep Apneia- Moderate with CPAP perscribed.
Many back and other ortho issues includung DDD and scoleisis.
Severe Bi Laterial Plantar Ficiatis in both feet.
Arthritis and joint pain in several areas Shoulder, feet, and broken tailbone).
Minior high pitch hearing loos in both ears.

I have gained alot of wright while dealing with all thes issues and I no longer look like or feel like the Army Paratrooper and Jumpaster that I once was.


I have been looking at your forum for a few months and I think you atr doing a great job for all aour brothers and sisters in arms.

Keep up the great work!

v/r
Trip

Does anyone now how the Army deals with folks with Cushing's Syndrome?
 
Cushing's

Trip,

Welcome to PEB Forum! Sorry to hear that you are having these issues.

First, Cushing's has its own diagnostic code under the VASRD section for the Endocrine system. Here is the schedule for Cushing's:

"7907 Cushing’s syndrome

As active, progressive disease including loss of muscle strength, areas
of osteoporosis, hypertension, weakness, and enlargement of
pituitary or adrenal gland ............................................................................... 100

Loss of muscle strength and enlargement of pituitary or adrenal gland .............. 60

With striae, obesity, moon face, glucose intolerance, and
vascular fragility ............................................................................................ 30

Note: With recovery or control, evaluate as residuals of adrenal insufficiency or cardiovascular, psychiatric, skin, or skeletal complications under appropriate diagnostic code. "

So, the question is whether your conditions fit any of the compensable criteria (30% or above) or if you will just be rated on residuals for Cushings.

Outside of the Cushing's, I recommend you look over the threads on PEB Forum discussing your other conditions. Unless you have everything well documented already in regard to how each of your conditions impact duty performance ,you may face difficulty getting rated for everything.

A good thing about your situation is that with more than eight years of service, you won't have an issue with Existed Prior to Service (EPTS) findings. How much time do you have on Active Federal Service? Do you have 20 yrs total for a regular active retirement?

Thank you for the compliment. When I was a Soldiers' Counsel it used to infuriate me when Soldiers would get to the Formal Board and have no idea about how the system works. I also imagined that those earlier in the process were similarly in the dark. And with so much at stake, I thought all Servicemembers deserved better. So, I figured I would do something about it! Remember to share this site with anyone you know who needs the info here.

I hope the disability evaluation process goes smoothly for you. Please let us know any questions and keep posting.
 
Jason:
Thanks for the info. I have 14 years on active duty. I understand a little about how the process works. I think what will work against me is that I have several conditions that alone are not unfitting, but together make serving and life in general very difficult.

I have read almost every posting on here and they have all helped me to better understand the process.

Thanks again
Trip
 
Consider trying to document your other conditions

Trip,

I am glad that you found helpful information here. If you are thinking that you are definitely unfit or will be found so it is to your advantage to try to get documentation of each unfitting condition. You can't change the facts of your case, but if you think some of your other conditions may be unfitting, it is important to get your supervisor/commander to state how each condition is separately unfitting. Everyone's circumstances are different, but if you have a sympathetic chain of command it may be possible to get them to assist you by forwarding a statement explaining how each condition impacts your duty performance. Ideally this will be documented in the Commander's statement, but sometimes they just send a pro forma statement that mirrors your profile. If they understand the importance of including each condition, it can be helpful to getting an accurate rating from the PEB.

If it is just the Cushing's that is ultimately unfitting, you can help your case by addressing with your physician each criteria that you have from the schedule. Sometimes Servicemembers suffer from a condition but do not fully detail the condition with the doctor. In order to ensure an accurate rating, the PEB needs to have evidence of the criteria documented.

As always, post whatever questions you have.
 
Trip and Jason,

Here's how I see things regarding being unfit as a paratrooper. Now, I can't stipulate on whether they are fitting or not based on what Trip's current duties are. My experience is strictly based on my conversations with paratroopers when we were dropping them while I was a C-130 Flight Engineer.

My conditions include:
Major Depression - have not been order to work in almost 1 year. Usually unfitting for anyone with any kind of flying or in-flight responsibilities. This is what I was grounded for in the AF.

Sleep Apneia- Moderate with CPAP perscribed.Definitely would prevent someone from passing any kind of flying physical. There are a lot of issues associated with this condition which would make it unfitting for a paratrooper.

Many back and other ortho issues includung DDD and scoleisis.Again, this would be unfitting if one were still an active paratrooper due to the inability to carry the chute and other combat gear.

Severe Bi Laterial Plantar Ficiatis in both feet.Seems to me this would be a problem for anyone that has a requirement to walk very far, doing a parachute drop would definitely be a problem.

Arthritis and joint pain in several areas Shoulder, feet, and broken tailbone).I doubt this would be unfitting in and of itself unless it were so severe the joints could not be moved.

Minior high pitch hearing loos in both ears.You spent to much time in the back end of a plane. Welcome to the club.

Oh, almost forgot, welcome to the board Trip. Thanks for your service.
 
Interesting points

Brian,

Your post raises some interesting points. Someone can be airborne qualified or assigned to an airborne unit. However, this is not an MOS. It is a skill.

AR 635-40, para 3-1 states,"d. ... Likewise, a lack of special skills in demand, inability to meet physical standards established for specialized duty such as flying, or transfer between components or branches within the Army, does not, in itself, establish eligibility for disability separation or retirement."

So, the inability to perform as a paratrooper will not usually be considered. I don't think it is technically correct for them to consider this at all, but for example, I think it might be worthwhile to argue (because the Board might buy this argument) that an infantry soldier who is assigned to a Ranger battalion who can't jump is unfit, I don't think the inability to be on jump status works- it is likely the overall physical demands of the 11B MOS that will get him to unfit, not the lack of jump status.

All the things you mentioned, if required of his grade and career field, would be relevant. Your very first sentence hit it on the head:
Now, I can't stipulate on whether they are fitting or not based on what Trip's current duties are.
At the PEB he would need to stress how his duties are limited by his conditions.
 
Jason,

Exactly and that is why I brought it up. In the AF, one can be a Crew Chief without being on flying status even though they fly with the plane whenever it leaves home station. While there are also Crew Chiefs that are on flying status. There is no difference in the duties, just in pay.

When I was a Crew Chief I was not on flying status to begin with, but once I started doing a significant amount of TDY with my plane, I was able to get onto flying status for the pay.

If I had gotten grounded for medical reasons, I still could have been a Crew Chief.

Once I became a Flight Engineer it was totally different story, I was a part/member of the Flight Crew. My grounding resulted in retraining me into a different career field. They did try to put me back into being a Crew Chief, but I fought it and won on the grounds that I knew the duties and stated that if I cannot be on flying status, I certainly wasn't going to accept the hazards of flying for free.

The whole point of my post was to highlight the way things "can" be looked at if one were to break them down based on the requirements of being a paratrooper.

In any case, the best thing to do is attempt to get training into something that is not affected by the disabilities and does not cause them to get worse and complete the 20 if at all possible.
 
Jason & Brian:

Great discussion. I have not been on airborne status for 7 years because of various injuries. I have had to turn down several good assignments with airborne and special operations units because of my injuries but since it is an addition skill and not required for all assignments, I don't plan on using this issue to justify not being fit.

My mental health issues (major depression) is what has kept me from working for many months now. My ortho issues have kept me from deploying, taking a PT test, and conduct other Soldier tasks for several years.

I have worked a "desk job" as a Personnel Officer" since leaving the airborne community, but that has even taken its toll since it is difficult for me to sit for a long time because of my back problems.

One other issue I have is that I will have a problem when it come to the Commander's statement since I am assigned to the newly formed Warrior Transition Unit (commanded by an O3) and I have not worked a job since being here ( since APR 07). I guess the only thing he could say is that I have been unable to work and have not been performing the duties of my MOS and grade (O4) because of major depression.

Thanks for your input.

v/r
Trip
 
Consider getting statements from previous chain...

Trip,

You have hit the downside of the WTU's on the head. They often don't observe you that much to begin with, but they definitely don't see Soldiers in a normal work environment. I have seen many commander's letters from WTUs/MED Hold Co. that are pretty useless as far as evidence goes. So long as you have no administrative/UCMJ issues and go to all of your appointments, they typically state that you are performing all of your duties. This is not helpful to you or the PEB at all.

If you have had the same or worse issues due to depression when you were with your last unit, I would consider trying to contact your former Commander or XO/DCO to see if they are willing to write a statement regarding your conditions impact on your duty performance. OERs, AERs, etc., that mention your condition can be helpful, too.
 
Jason:

You are correct. I was medically evaced from Korea to Hawaii in April and assigned to the Med Hold (1st Commander). In June they established the WTU and I was reassigned (2d Commander). In August the WTU changed commanders (3d commander).

I was in Korea less than 90 days where I was assigned to the 8th Army staff...I only met the commander once.

My previous assignment was in Okinawa where I was still performing well but keeping my depression to myself and untreated. As far as my injuries, my chain of command overlooked all of the PT and physical things because I was a great performer as a Personnel Officer for the commander. My lack of ability to participate in PT and other Solider tasks were mentioned on any evaluations. In fact, my evals and awards depict me as a model officer.

This would all be fine if I were able to the final 6 years to get a full 20 years. I just can't keep it up anymore.

Trip
 
Jason:

In my last post it should have said that the issues were NOT mentioned on any evaluations.

Trip
 
Trip,

You said "This would all be fine if I were able to the final 6 years to get a full 20 years. I just can't keep it up anymore.". I'm going to key in on this point because it brings a lot of things to light.

First, if you cannot keep going, what are you going to do when you get out? My point being that if you can't handle a desk job in the Army, it's no different on the outside, believe me, been there got the t-shirt.

Second, if you can't make it/fake it until you reach the magic 20 you'll lose out on a whole lot of benefits. You really need to take a good hard look at this.

At this point based on what you've said the Army will not give you the magic 30% required for retirement. If they do I'd be very surprised, not because you don't deserve it, but because they are a royal PITA.

If you do get that 30%, you'll likely give most of your retirement to the VA in order to get your VA disability compensation from them. There is no concurrent receipt for Ch61 retirees which is what you will be and what I am.

I'm sorry if I come across rough, but hey, I was an NCO, I wasn't required to butter things. lol
 
Commander's letter is only one piece of evidence

Trip,

I don't want you to have the idea that you are definitely hosed by not having good CDR's letter. It would be helpful to your case, but the lack thereof can be made up.

If I understood correctly, you were medevacced for depression issue? This will weigh in favor of unfitness, unless your condition gets much better. Your physical profile is another document that is helpful to unfit finding, if it mentions the condition and places a duty limitation (typically restricted duty hours, restriction of access to weapons, "not to be placed in stressful situations", etc.).
 
On a side note, if you need someone to chat with about the depression issue itself, I'd be happy to do so. I've been dealing with it for over 30 years. Just drop me a mail on this site with your contact info.
 
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