Alright;
A little bit of background, I was discharged with 90% in July 2013 and was injured Sept-2011; The alleged onset date was the 12th of December, 2011 (the day I went and seen my spine specialist and he limited my activity) So, fast forward to almost 2.5 years later, I get my SSDI date (4Mar14).... I was SCARED...lol, to say the least. TSgt Twitch informed me of a website that told me the statistics (approved/denied/dismissed) cases of SSDI for my particular judge and it just so happened he had the least favorable ratio in the state of oklahoma. (Good thing for fakers/cheaters/free loaders)
Onto the meeting today! After a long night of being unable to sleep and waking up before my alarm clock I headed to my 0915 hearing; Meet with the attorney and the optimism she has just ONE day prior was replaced with skepticism. (Maybe she was playing devils advocate) Meet with the judge and INSTANTLY he started tearing down the SGA with the argument "He was receiving full pay. Even if he worked just 4 hours a day, that would mean he is above SGA" and I thought I was doomed right there; But the attorney quickly retorted with the regulations and the SSA guidelines specifically exempting medical hold status active duty military. He seemed subdued but not without his reserves.
The typical question / answer forum began asking me my demographics and what not; Then he turned it over to my attorney to question me, that went well....... Then the scary part, the Vocational Specialist.... He started rattling off jobs like it was nobodies business and the judge shut him off...lol again I thought i was doomed; So the judge started looking at my military career and looked up the equivalent.... There was some off the WALL equivalents such as doing AUTOMOBILE SALES was comparable to my GENERATOR MECHANIC background...lol but the kicker in all this has nothing to do with my case; The job "Reefer Mechanic" came up; Now I know someone on here knows what that is, but we all just paused and looked around the room before he chuckled and said "I hope thats not THAT reefer"....I couldnt help myself and quipped, "Sir, they only have those in colorado." The reporter present almost lost her shit. She was holding back a laugh so much so that it was obvious....but the judge was all bearing... Thats fine, I was just being friendly, nothing hidden.
At the end, the vocational specialist declared that due to my "interruption" of a continuous work schedule he would not recommend me for any work that was listed. The judge thanked him and continued on.
All in all, I went in very apprehensive and very reserved; The judge seemed pleasant and seemed fair in regards too looking at the whole picture; (That is probably why people don't like him, he is a global thinker) I held onto my integrity and did not play up my symptoms at all; I held to the truths and gave comparisons of good days versus bad days. In the end, I BELIEVE that the ruling will be in my favor, however, if it is not, at least I can say that I was honest and stayed true to my integrity.
Additionally.....On the integrity note, I only asked for a closed period (Being disabled from 12Dec11 - 25Feb14) and he actually denied that almost straight out. He stated that there is no medical evidence to support getting better enough to not be considered disabled. If I was to be found disabled, it would be for an open period and that I could just donate the check if I seen fit. This flabbergasted me!! Here I am, with all my pride, ego, and manliness saying no to the easy way out and the Judge acknowledging that "Pride doesn't put food on the table". I had to fight back tears on this one. This in itself made me respect that judge more than anything, because he was a global thinker that was thinking beyond the here and now;
If you are legitimate, honest, hardworking, and a man of character. This is the judge you want. If those qualities are not yours or you intend to stretch the truth at all; This judge will tear you apart (rightfully so).
A little bit of background, I was discharged with 90% in July 2013 and was injured Sept-2011; The alleged onset date was the 12th of December, 2011 (the day I went and seen my spine specialist and he limited my activity) So, fast forward to almost 2.5 years later, I get my SSDI date (4Mar14).... I was SCARED...lol, to say the least. TSgt Twitch informed me of a website that told me the statistics (approved/denied/dismissed) cases of SSDI for my particular judge and it just so happened he had the least favorable ratio in the state of oklahoma. (Good thing for fakers/cheaters/free loaders)
Onto the meeting today! After a long night of being unable to sleep and waking up before my alarm clock I headed to my 0915 hearing; Meet with the attorney and the optimism she has just ONE day prior was replaced with skepticism. (Maybe she was playing devils advocate) Meet with the judge and INSTANTLY he started tearing down the SGA with the argument "He was receiving full pay. Even if he worked just 4 hours a day, that would mean he is above SGA" and I thought I was doomed right there; But the attorney quickly retorted with the regulations and the SSA guidelines specifically exempting medical hold status active duty military. He seemed subdued but not without his reserves.
The typical question / answer forum began asking me my demographics and what not; Then he turned it over to my attorney to question me, that went well....... Then the scary part, the Vocational Specialist.... He started rattling off jobs like it was nobodies business and the judge shut him off...lol again I thought i was doomed; So the judge started looking at my military career and looked up the equivalent.... There was some off the WALL equivalents such as doing AUTOMOBILE SALES was comparable to my GENERATOR MECHANIC background...lol but the kicker in all this has nothing to do with my case; The job "Reefer Mechanic" came up; Now I know someone on here knows what that is, but we all just paused and looked around the room before he chuckled and said "I hope thats not THAT reefer"....I couldnt help myself and quipped, "Sir, they only have those in colorado." The reporter present almost lost her shit. She was holding back a laugh so much so that it was obvious....but the judge was all bearing... Thats fine, I was just being friendly, nothing hidden.
At the end, the vocational specialist declared that due to my "interruption" of a continuous work schedule he would not recommend me for any work that was listed. The judge thanked him and continued on.
All in all, I went in very apprehensive and very reserved; The judge seemed pleasant and seemed fair in regards too looking at the whole picture; (That is probably why people don't like him, he is a global thinker) I held onto my integrity and did not play up my symptoms at all; I held to the truths and gave comparisons of good days versus bad days. In the end, I BELIEVE that the ruling will be in my favor, however, if it is not, at least I can say that I was honest and stayed true to my integrity.
Additionally.....On the integrity note, I only asked for a closed period (Being disabled from 12Dec11 - 25Feb14) and he actually denied that almost straight out. He stated that there is no medical evidence to support getting better enough to not be considered disabled. If I was to be found disabled, it would be for an open period and that I could just donate the check if I seen fit. This flabbergasted me!! Here I am, with all my pride, ego, and manliness saying no to the easy way out and the Judge acknowledging that "Pride doesn't put food on the table". I had to fight back tears on this one. This in itself made me respect that judge more than anything, because he was a global thinker that was thinking beyond the here and now;
If you are legitimate, honest, hardworking, and a man of character. This is the judge you want. If those qualities are not yours or you intend to stretch the truth at all; This judge will tear you apart (rightfully so).
