What would make the IDES process better?

kr808

New Member
Registered Member
Hi all. I wish I had found this board earlier in my own board, but I'm glad I have now. I'm pretty frustrated with how stressful the IDES process is for wounded, ill, and injured service members and am writing a white paper on what should change. In an effort to make this more than my own diatribe, from my own perspective, what are some things that would make this process more conducive to actually helping wounded warriors continue to heal, instead of putting them through one of the most stressful processes of their entire lives when their health is already compromised? Extra brownie points for being realistic with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars (i.e. unfortunately, we can't keep everyone on AD forever, if their health isn't likely to improve).

A couple thoughts I've had:
1. Affording members found unfit 6mos to out-process, so they have more time AFTER their board to out-process and line up civilian employment.
2. Doing away with the formal board. Why are we treated like we're being NJPed?
3. Re-defining the term "elective" in "elective surgery".... I was a victim of being denied a necessary and very NOT-elective surgery because IDES was started.

Thanks for your thoughts
 
Hi all. I wish I had found this board earlier in my own board, but I'm glad I have now. I'm pretty frustrated with how stressful the IDES process is for wounded, ill, and injured service members and am writing a white paper on what should change. In an effort to make this more than my own diatribe, from my own perspective, what are some things that would make this process more conducive to actually helping wounded warriors continue to heal, instead of putting them through one of the most stressful processes of their entire lives when their health is already compromised? Extra brownie points for being realistic with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars (i.e. unfortunately, we can't keep everyone on AD forever, if their health isn't likely to improve).

A couple thoughts I've had:
1. Affording members found unfit 6mos to out-process, so they have more time AFTER their board to out-process and line up civilian employment.
2. Doing away with the formal board. Why are we treated like we're being NJPed?
3. Re-defining the term "elective" in "elective surgery".... I was a victim of being denied a necessary and very NOT-elective surgery because IDES was started.

Thanks for your thoughts
Good points made here. I do think you should have the option to continue past 90 days base upon employment, housing and your life being up in the air for quite sometime. Here are my suggestions:

1) FIT/UNFIT determination should be done upfront. I did so many SFLTAP and retirement briefings before I received my UNFIT memo. We knew there was a possibility that I could be found FIT and I wasted tax payer dollars for nothing. This would also give us more time for post retirement or separation planning.

2) Real-time updates. It’s so frustrating playing the waiting game. I believe there should be a tracker that gives us real-time updates. Ebenefits, VA.gov and IDES dashboard all suck!

3) SOP for Soldiers going through the process. I’ve spoken about this before. I was, and still am, being utilized for long term projects even though i have been found UNFIT. If the FIT/UNFIT determination is done upfront, it is easier to utilize that person as ancillary personnel. I currently have expectations to deliver change while I’m job hunting/house shopping. I will work until my last day but there needs to be some give and take. I have individuals in my command that are MIA the entire MEB process. I have others (myself) that are fully prominent in the workplace. I think it should be somewhere in the middle.

I’m sure there is more that I would change but that’s what I felt would have been most impactful in my situation.
 
Would also be nice if the CMS site actually updated in a timely matter. Mine has been on the MEB state for 60 days but I am currently in the PEB phase. My PEBLO even told me that the CMS site is garbage and does not update. Another note to the CMS site would be making it so it can be checked on a non G-6 network as a lot of Guard/Reserve soldiers have to commute to simply check a site that does not function properly and are left in the dark.

On a note with the VA it would be helpful if you had better repressentation to inform you the steps of what is going on during that phase as it seems to just be getting slower and seems to be 90% of the frustration for service members.

My final thought would be that people/departments are actually held accountable for missing deadlines set out in the process. As stated above these service members are either injured/ill and trying to progress with their lives and this process is not a helper in that. Yes, it does help them after retirement but not knowing discharge dates makes it hard to line up employment/housing which is always a great sturggle. Being that most service members are moving to another state upon their discharge.
 
Would also be nice if the CMS site actually updated in a timely matter. Mine has been on the MEB state for 60 days but I am currently in the PEB phase. My PEBLO even told me that the CMS site is garbage and does not update. Another note to the CMS site would be making it so it can be checked on a non G-6 network as a lot of Guard/Reserve soldiers have to commute to simply check a site that does not function properly and are left in the dark.

On a note with the VA it would be helpful if you had better repressentation to inform you the steps of what is going on during that phase as it seems to just be getting slower and seems to be 90% of the frustration for service members.

My final thought would be that people/departments are actually held accountable for missing deadlines set out in the process. As stated above these service members are either injured/ill and trying to progress with their lives and this process is not a helper in that. Yes, it does help them after retirement but not knowing discharge dates makes it hard to line up employment/housing which is always a great sturggle. Being that most service members are moving to another state upon their discharge.
Well said!
 
I'm still going through the IDES right meow, but below are a few of my parting shots I would like to throw out there.

- As a guardsman, i could not imagine having to navigate this process as an A1C or SrA. I am old enough to know how to advocate for myself and read regulations. There should be a better briefing for people entering into MEDCON, what to expect and potential timelines. What happens if my condition gets worse, what does the next part of the process look like? I was told virtually nothing once my condition started exhibiting unfitting symptoms.

- As a guardsman, it needs to be briefed early in people's careers, how important it is that they visit medical with any issues they have while on orders. I have seen people complete 20 years of service and don't qualify for any VA benefits what so ever because they never went to the med clinic while on orders. They would always say "Screw it, I will just go see my civilian doctor when I get home".

- Once in the IDES process, the tracking is horrendous. There should be a DoD level tracker that shows expected timelines, and once that timeline expires, a contact number will appear that you can call someone who is dealing with your case. I am a fan of the "idea" of IDES over LDES, but you have to find a way to integrate all of the systems so this tracker can be in real time. If it isn't, don't waste my freaking tax dollars on it. Real-time or leave it as it is.
 
Bravo !

Ron
 
The tracking and time standard is the same across the board VA, SSA, IDES most take far more time than it should I believe a goal of 90-180 days for final completion is a worthy goal.

Eliminating the formal board would be eliminating due process which I strongly oppose we have had many members here receive justice and a deserved retirement when appealing to the formal board. The only issue I have with it is they are allowed to reduce or reverse the informal boards decision making any service members decision to appeal risky. Appellate review should never carry such a risk they should either be able to continue the decision or raise it only.

Having either lazy, incompetent, uncaring or difficult to reach PEBLO's is another serious situation that should be addressed.

Unfortunately, don't be surprised if commands get a say in the matter as well preventing service members from initiating a MEB when either adversarial or admin chapters have been initiated first is something I could see them pushing.
 
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Has anyone tried to check the status of their PEB on IDES lately? Site was down last week and now they have completely changed it.
 
Has anyone tried to check the status of their PEB on IDES lately? Site was down last week and now they have completely changed it.
What is the IDES website?
 
I say give people a more flexible timeline once found unfit. For example, once completed (Army) and your name hits the Transpoc list, you have 90 days or less to be retired/out. How about making that 90-180 days to allow the Soldier time to find a job, housing, etc. some will want out in 2 weeks, some will take the six months to get to 20, or find work, etc. throwing someone out in less than 90 days sucks, especially when that person have 100% for say 17.5 year like I did. It wouldn’t kill the services to give us a little more transition time at the end of IDES.

I mean seriously, I was able to extend assignments on active duty simply because I wanted to PCS in the summer so my kids wouldn’t be changing schools in the middle of a school year. If they can do that, they can do it for disabled retirees too! Definitely not too much to ask.
 
Love this idea!

With regards to removing your opportunity to plead your case at the formal board, this shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing. It's actually critical, and your only chance to interact with those actually making the decisions. If you're being screwed somehow, tell them. If you want to stay in and can work around your issues, tell them. Getting rid of this would be an extreme disservice.

Having dealt with this myself, I totally agree that the term "elective surgery" needs to be removed, and rewritten. If your neurosurgeon is telling you to have back surgery, you should be able to have back surgery. Period. Elective surgery should only include medically unnecessary elective operations, like getting ass implants. Being in severe pain just because a piece of paper says you cant get surgery is complete BS and needs to change.

My input on the biggest change that needs to take place is getting every single individual going through this process legal representation from day 1. The only form that should be signed by a servicemember should be a form agreeing to legal council. Before ANYTHING else is signed, everyone should consult with their assigned attorney. Not sure how it is in other services, but the Office of Airmans Council was a joke, and was unwilling to provide assistance prior to receiving a decision from the IPEB. There are a lot of moving parts before that, which they could really help with. Not saying that we need someone to hold our hands, but when you're already going through hell everyday, the last thing you should have to worry about is learning the legal side of things so you dont get screwed.
 
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