I am looking for guidance, I was sent to an audiologist after my last hearing test, they conducted a SPRINT test, I failed horribly @ 4%. I have been reading this (army audiology sites) that this will be an outcome of separation from service. I have no real idea of what I am "looking forward to", my CoC is giving me a bit of a hard time over this. please any guidance or advice is welcome.
failed SPRINT test, being sent to MEB
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Welcome to the PEB Forum!
I am saddened to read about your current medical condition to include the challenges you are experiencing with the CoC.
From a procedural viewpoint and to aide with building your DoD IDES knowledgebase, the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is explained in detail as follows:
After referral into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process by your military PCM who initiated a permanent physical profile with PULHES of 3 or 4 in any one category, the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) who has approval authority for DoD IDES MEB referrals shall review the originally PCM-initiated permanent physical profile request.
Upon acceptance into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process, during the MEB Phase is when all of your medical conditions are reviewed to determine which are "medically unacceptable" or "medically acceptable" conditions. The MTF will assign a PEBLO to develop the MEB case file for the MEB phase of the DoD IDES process.
To that extent, the MEB Physician is supposed to review all applicable medical condition(s) associated with a PULHES category of 3 or 4 in the AHLTA EMR database system, and then make an informed objective medical evidence determination to either maintain, down select, or upgrade the specific category code in the PULHES.
Upon approval by the DoD IDES MEB Physician(s) at the MTF of the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile referral, the MEB Physician shall either generate a new permanent physical profile with updated PULHES (most favorable course of action in my opinion) or transpose the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile with PULHES as written (least favorable course of action in my opinion).
In continuation of the DoD IDES MEB process, a Narrative Summary (NARSUM) is dictated after receipt of the DoVA C&P Examination results which outlines in detail all medically unacceptable and medically acceptable conditions.
It's unknown what type of C&P Exam clinician you will get on the day(s) of the evaluation. In my opinion, some DoVA C&P Examination clinicians are good-to-go while others seem not to care about the military service member.
With that said, you may receive good or bad results from either of the aforementioned type of DoVA C&P Exam clinicians; there are no guarantees. Depending on the type of C&P Exam, the clinician will just ask a lot of questions and/or perform a physical evaluation.
If the MEB determines that medically unacceptable conditions exist, then the IDES case file is forward to the PEB for a fit for duty or unfit for duty determination. The MEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 100 calendar days for Active Component (AC) military personnel and 140 calendar days for Reserve Component (RC) military personnel.
If the PEB determines any unfit medical conditions, then the IDES case file is forward to the DoVA D-RAS for ratings of all PEB referred unfitting conditions (e.g., DoD disability rating(s)) and all DoVA claimed conditions. It's important to note that DoD must adopt the DoVA D-RAS rating(s) for each PEB-referred unfitting condition(s).
Upon receipt of the IPEB findings inclusive of DoD and DoVA proposed ratings, the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is generated. The PEBLO has a three day maximum limit to inform you of the IPEB findings and your election options once he/she received your IPEB fitness determination and disability ratings. The PEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 120 calendar days for both AC and RC military personnel, but current timelines are well extended due to the backlog of DoVA disability claims.
When the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is finally signed [e.g. after resolution of a PEB appeal/review and/or an one-time VA Rating Reconsideration (VARR) request, if warranted], then it's forwarded to the Transition Point Processing System (TRANSPOC) II.
Moreover, TRANSPOC II performs transition processing functions in which it generates the DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release from Active Duty or Discharge) document, and schedules the generation of retirement/separation orders from US Military.
In conclusion, the DoD officially published timeline for AC military personnel within the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is 295 calendar days, and RC military personnel is 305 calendar days . But, it's potentially delayed beyond the aforementioned durations due to the massive amounts of backlogged DoVA disability claims.
Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."
Best Wishes!
Some more bits of advice:
Be patient, take your mind off of the process as much as you can. Concentrating on the MEB too much can be really stressful and can possible make you feel sick, or get sicker.
Your CoC can or will not be understanding of the process, DO NOT let them get you to the point of blowing up on them. They are using this trick more and more to screw Service Members out of their benefits.
Follow your profile that is given by the MEB docs to the T. If someone makes or tries to make you break a profile contact your PEBLO immediately, they are supposed to take care of that part.
thank you, I am trying my best to just go in, work then leave with out "speaking my mind" I have been focused on work, I have been given a lot of menial tasks to do, just keeping on them. My paperwork was suppose to be at Ft Drum on the 2nd of Dec but that was pushed to the 6th. I have to wait till the MTF there issues my profile, seems the State surgeon cannot issue the profile, or doesn't want to take the responsibility of doing so.
I was in the same boat back in 2008 (see my "join date"). Went in for my annual hearing test and failed, was sent to audiology and bombed the SPRINT test, got referred to MEB and issued hearing aids. Several doctors asked me if I wanted to stay in/get out, I told them I wanted to stay, and they changed the MEB to a MMRB and I had to reclass out of combat arms.
Granted things are different in 2013, but with only a hearing issue they seemed to be willing to work with me on a solution that was satisfactory to me. Hopefully, if you want to stay in, they will work with you. YMMV
Granted things are different in 2013, but with only a hearing issue they seemed to be willing to work with me on a solution that was satisfactory to me. Hopefully, if you want to stay in, they will work with you. YMMV
My big problem I have is I have a very difficult time hearing in any environment, even a radio being on makes it hard to hear a conversation. I was working as a recruiter with the National Guard, I have been currently moved to a position in the marketing dept. I was told by the audiologist that hearing aids would help for recreational reasons , hunting, giving me a better idea of where the noise is coming from, but not for language. I am nervous stating this info, it does really narrow who is looking for info.