PEB OFFICER UPDATE

Samalex12

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Saw this shared in a FB group so I figured I’d share it here as well.
 

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I hope we start seeing things speed up but it doesn't seem like it has gotten any faster in the last week. Good luck ya'll
 
My thoughts exactl
Basically the memo says “I know more than a medical officer (MD, DO, PsyD, PhD, DPM, PA, APRN-“numerous abbreviations” and I waive a review by them. It includes any licensed medical provider. ANY ONE! DO NOT FALL FOR THIS!!!
 
I don’t think it’s an option. I read it as this is the option they are choosing to enforce right now and they are just letting us know…am I wrong?
 
Oh it is an option, as my mother who was a English teacher said, "read and understand the words that are on the page."..there are many sentences that included the word "You" which means the legal responsibly falls on the officer "YOU" to ensure that all the legal checks are followed and if not, then you are screwed....DO NOT fall for this trap!!! I am not an attorney, but I can read between the lines of this memo that basically says "you are going to F-yourself is you agree to this". But the word "You" means that your are relieving the government of any responsibility, no matter how "smart" you think you are.

PLEASE contact you service provided attorney or your private counsel if you want to agree to the procedures in this memorandum before you agree to these terms.

I am living a tax free DOD retirement because I listened and understood to the advice of the attorneys...the short game is not necessarily better than the long game. That job offer can wait for that free TRICARE you will get with above 30% DOD.
 
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I don’t think it’s an option. I read it as this is the option they are choosing to enforce right now and they are just letting us know…am I wrong?
It isn't an option, and the "you" the Memo is referring to is the President of the PEB. Simply put, it gives him the authority to delegate line officers to review our cases without the supervision of a Med Officer. This is the way that big government can say "we hear your complaints about the backlog, here is our solution". Should you be worried? Only if you receive an adjudication from the PEB that you do not agree with. I'm new to this forum, my recommendation is to just be patient because until you actually get your results from your PEBLO, there isn't much you can do. I'm right there with you though, I've been waiting for over 5 months.
 
It isn't an option, and the "you" the Memo is referring to is the President of the PEB. Simply put, it gives him the authority to delegate line officers to review our cases without the supervision of a Med Officer. This is the way that big government can say "we hear your complaints about the backlog, here is our solution". Should you be worried? Only if you receive an adjudication from the PEB that you do not agree with. I'm new to this forum, my recommendation is to just be patient because until you actually get your results from your PEBLO, there isn't much you can do. I'm right there with you though, I've been waiting for over 5 months.
That’s exactly how I read this as well. It wasn’t sent just to me. It was for the president of PEB. Thank you! I’ll try to be as patient as I can. Good luck!
 
So this is only granting adjudication of informal boards to these line officers. It does not give them adjudication abilities over formal boards so I assume those rights still remain with original medical officers. Personally if the board comes back with something I feel is acceptable for my conditions and is aligned similarly to the VAs rating of the same condition. I don't care who adjudicated it. However, if I do not agree I will defiantly be requesting a formal board. I am happy they are taking steps to fix the backlog (granted they got themselves into the mess) this letter probably relieved a lot of peoples uncertainty and doubts of a timely response from the board and serves as a little bit of a moral boost to people who have lost hope. I am skeptical of consistency between the new officers and the ones who's job it really is but we will just have to see how this month goes and if people notice a difference in ratings with this change.
 
So this is only granting adjudication of informal boards to these line officers. It does not give them adjudication abilities over formal boards so I assume those rights still remain with original medical officers. Personally if the board comes back with something I feel is acceptable for my conditions and is aligned similarly to the VAs rating of the same condition. I don't care who adjudicated it. However, if I do not agree I will defiantly be requesting a formal board. I am happy they are taking steps to fix the backlog (granted they got themselves into the mess) this letter probably relieved a lot of peoples uncertainty and doubts of a timely response from the board and serves as a little bit of a moral zboost to people who have lost hope. I am skeptical of consistency between the new officers and the ones who's job it really is but we will just have to see how this month goes and if people notice a difference in ratings with this change.
Yep, I was wrong and totally missed
missed the that the memo was for the PEB president. My bad…

Says the PEB can conduct an informal board without the medical officer. But it doesn’t say for a formal board, which by I assume Navy regulation has to have a medical officer on. Sounds like the Navy doesn’t have the personnel strength of medical officers to support IPEBs (probably dealing with COVID).

But always check with your attorney (govt or private) before agreeing to anything from the PEB. Good luck everyone and I hope you get the results you desire!
 
For real! This was from my attorney. I can’t even get the PEBLO to respond at this point.
I agree the unknown is frustrating. But, they’ve been trying to mitigate the backlog of cases by doing the proposed VA disability before the PEB to cut back on the time after the IPEB or FPEB adjudication and are now training new medical officers to cover the deficit in manpower and training line officers to be able to adjudicate an IDES case. The presiding, line and physician all have the same amount of power. By giving the line officer the option of adjudicating the case without a medical officer, this helps alleviate part of the bottle neck and you still have a potential option for an appeal if need be.
 
We are our best advocate and we should be proactive with our case, yes. But, we also need to remember there are others that are behind us as well. This in all will at least stabilize some sort of flow in the IDES Timeline.
 
I agree the unknown is frustrating. But, they’ve been trying to mitigate the backlog of cases by doing the proposed VA disability before the PEB to cut back on the time after the IPEB or FPEB adjudication and are now training new medical officers to cover the deficit in manpower and training line officers to be able to adjudicate an IDES case. The presiding, line and physician all have the same amount of power. By giving the line officer the option of adjudicating the case without a medical officer, this helps alleviate part of the bottle neck and you still have a potential option for an appeal if need be.
I don't think proposed VA ratings coming in before the IPEB is by their design. The VA and them are on two independent timelines. Proposed ratings are coming back before the IDES because the IDES has created and harbored deficiency after deficiency primarily in the manpower department.

They blame COVID for some of it when needing to work from home. Which is a good scapegoat when study after study has shown that productivity in professional careers has actually increased when working form home but I digress.

Why should the backlog have reached into the thousands before mitigation efforts like the one implemented on the first of this month? I don't know the command climate over at the PEB but it must be really relaxed. My FitRep would get printed out and used as toilet paper by my RO if I told him I was MONTHS behind on my work.

There is no amount of "we're doing the best we can" that can excuse them from their negligence over the past year. Peoples lives are affected by this. People can't put in reenlistments, people get extended past their EAS, people turn down jobs, spouses turn down jobs, the amount of planning an individual has to to to account for due to their unpredictability is insane.
 
I don't think proposed VA ratings coming in before the IPEB is by their design. The VA and them are on two independent timelines. Proposed ratings are coming back before the IDES because the IDES has created and harbored deficiency after deficiency primarily in the manpower department.

They blame COVID for some of it when needing to work from home. Which is a good scapegoat when study after study has shown that productivity in professional careers has actually increased when working form home but I digress.

Why should the backlog have reached into the thousands before mitigation efforts like the one implemented on the first of this month? I don't know the command climate over at the PEB but it must be really relaxed. My FitRep would get printed out and used as toilet paper by my RO if I told him I was MONTHS behind on my work.

There is no amount of "we're doing the best we can" that can excuse them from their negligence over the past year. Peoples lives are affected by this. People can't put in reenlistments, people get extended past their EAS, people turn down jobs, spouses turn down jobs, the amount of planning an individual has to to to account for due to their unpredictability is insane.
Allllll of this.
 
I don't think proposed VA ratings coming in before the IPEB is by their design. The VA and them are on two independent timelines. Proposed ratings are coming back before the IDES because the IDES has created and harbored deficiency after deficiency primarily in the manpower department.

They blame COVID for some of it when needing to work from home. Which is a good scapegoat when study after study has shown that productivity in professional careers has actually increased when working form home but I digress.

Why should the backlog have reached into the thousands before mitigation efforts like the one implemented on the first of this month? I don't know the command climate over at the PEB but it must be really relaxed. My FitRep would get printed out and used as toilet paper by my RO if I told him I was MONTHS behind on my work.

There is no amount of "we're doing the best we can" that can excuse them from their negligence over the past year. Peoples lives are affected by this. People can't put in reenlistments, people get extended past their EAS, people turn down jobs, spouses turn down jobs, the amount of planning an individual has to to to account for due to their unpredictability is insane.
It may not be by their design alone. But, it does help the process as it is a part of IDES as a collaborative effort to both benefit the thousands of service members and the IDES personnel involved - not insinuating that I'm trying to take away from our livelihood's importance or an indifference to your opinion.

I agree with you on the shortfalls and the stressors. I am not savvy on the legal/administrative workloads that all transpire and I can't help but have an empathetic approach towards the PEB personnel - not all and this isn't being naïve - I can't imagine having that large of a workload and the stress that's involved for the people who have no control over the choices that have been made.

I understand no one likes unpredictability - especially us - were are in limbo state and it's not reassuring being at the mercy of a design that has failed due to manpower negligence. I don't understand why it happened the way it did and I'll probably never know.
 
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