Hello All,
I just found out today (8/1/19) that I have been denied my PDBR. Apparently, I was denied last November, but they didn't tell me until now (and I've been in the same house for 10 years).
My injury: Nasty sports injury on my right knee. I was sent into surgery, multiple screws in my right knee, limited duty, and discharged. I was rated 10% and warned by my superiors not to fight it.
Like many others, I got the PDBR letter in the mail telling me that I was a part of a group of medically separated vets who were given lower ratings than we should have been. And like many others, I went to my VSO and we filled out the form together. He attached a couple of medical records of mine and we sent it off.
Let me say this up front; I love my VSO. Don and I are good friends. We hang out outside of the office. BUT, he had never heard of a PDBR and didn't really know how to go about it. So we filled it out and mailed it in.
After getting into the process and receiving the letters along the way, I realized that I'd messed up. I tried contacting multiple lawyers that I found on this forum AFTER my claim was in process. All of them told me that they couldn't help me and that I should have contacted them before hand. That was it, no help.
My advice: Do not apply for the PDBR without the help of a lawyer! I know you're excited to get the process started and also that you want it in the pipeline so that you're not waiting years for a response. But trust me, you want someone who knows this process. I blindly sent my application in, and it bit me. Now I can't appeal.
Like others, I got my hopes up. Major surgery, screws, I was discharged and lost my career. I'd questioned my low rating but didn't fight it because I was young and didn't know any better. So I thought this might be the way to make it right. How naive I am.
DO NOT GO INTO THIS PROCESS WITHOUT A COMPETENT LAWYER HELPING YOU WITH THIS!!!!!!
This process was made non-transparent, non-communicative, and unhelpful by the congress and pentagon for a reason. They want to grease people through, deny them, and then say that they 'tried'. We vets are used to this treatment.
If you are reading this before filling out your claim, STOP! Get a lawyer. I know that they are expensive; and most take half of your benefit as compensation (so if you get $20,000 in back pay they get $10,000 of it). Trust me, this is nothing compared to what you will get in return.
Good luck to all. I'm signing off.
-John
I just found out today (8/1/19) that I have been denied my PDBR. Apparently, I was denied last November, but they didn't tell me until now (and I've been in the same house for 10 years).
My injury: Nasty sports injury on my right knee. I was sent into surgery, multiple screws in my right knee, limited duty, and discharged. I was rated 10% and warned by my superiors not to fight it.
Like many others, I got the PDBR letter in the mail telling me that I was a part of a group of medically separated vets who were given lower ratings than we should have been. And like many others, I went to my VSO and we filled out the form together. He attached a couple of medical records of mine and we sent it off.
Let me say this up front; I love my VSO. Don and I are good friends. We hang out outside of the office. BUT, he had never heard of a PDBR and didn't really know how to go about it. So we filled it out and mailed it in.
After getting into the process and receiving the letters along the way, I realized that I'd messed up. I tried contacting multiple lawyers that I found on this forum AFTER my claim was in process. All of them told me that they couldn't help me and that I should have contacted them before hand. That was it, no help.
My advice: Do not apply for the PDBR without the help of a lawyer! I know you're excited to get the process started and also that you want it in the pipeline so that you're not waiting years for a response. But trust me, you want someone who knows this process. I blindly sent my application in, and it bit me. Now I can't appeal.
Like others, I got my hopes up. Major surgery, screws, I was discharged and lost my career. I'd questioned my low rating but didn't fight it because I was young and didn't know any better. So I thought this might be the way to make it right. How naive I am.
DO NOT GO INTO THIS PROCESS WITHOUT A COMPETENT LAWYER HELPING YOU WITH THIS!!!!!!
This process was made non-transparent, non-communicative, and unhelpful by the congress and pentagon for a reason. They want to grease people through, deny them, and then say that they 'tried'. We vets are used to this treatment.
If you are reading this before filling out your claim, STOP! Get a lawyer. I know that they are expensive; and most take half of your benefit as compensation (so if you get $20,000 in back pay they get $10,000 of it). Trust me, this is nothing compared to what you will get in return.
Good luck to all. I'm signing off.
-John