Finished!

sean6860

sean6860

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
Registered Member
Gentlemen, the day has come at last. I received orders today and start clearing this week. My final out fo the Army is on 29 June with retirement date of 13 September. A word to the wise: Understand the process and where you packet is in that process. two times my case was literally sitting on someone's desk and moving nowhere. Here is my timeline (I will identify where each hold up was and who I called).
(all injuries were to the right knee)
August 2007 First injury torn ACL/MCL and meniscus
Novemeber 2007 Repaired ACL with section of hamstring, perferated MCL to scar down tighter and sewed together meniscus
April 2008 Tore ACL again
June 2008 1st ACL revision with cadaver
June 2009 tore ACL again in Ranger School
August 2009 2nd ACL revision
Septemeber 2010 3rd ACL injury during live fire excercise
7 December 2010 3rd ACL Revision
2 January 2011 developed deep tissue MRSA infection at surgical incisions (The specific Army hospital had a history of them for one reason of another)
7 January 2011 Surgery to clean infection, started on heavy antibiotics
14 January 2011 2nd surgery to clean wound and install wound vac
21 January 2011 final surgery to clean wound and uninstall wound vac and started 3 month course of Vancomyacin intravenously
April 2011 finished Vancomyacin and had picline removed from arm
2 June 2011 Surgeon recommended med board and referred to IDES process
7 June completed all paperwork and attended MEB brief, turned paperwork into PEBLO
26-29 July all VA exams
August 2011 my PEBLO quit and my case was transferred to another PEBLO
October 2011 interested as to why my case had made no progress I walked into PEBLO's office to discuss the hold up and as it turn out all my paperwork had been lost (Commanders statement, ACAP certificate, etc)--the first time my case stagnant
15 October 2011 completed all paperwork again and hand carried to PEBLO again
7 November 2011 received VA exam results
12 Novmeber 2011 met with MEB Doctor to formulate NARSUM
15 December 2011 Signed NARSUM
7 January 2012 VA received Packet
27 January 2012 Found unfit and MEB forwarded to PEB
5 April 2012 ratings returned and requested a formal board to ensure 10C designated on 199 that it was combat related (simualted combat in Ranger school)
15 April 2012 PEBLO mistakenly sent case to PDA, PDA replied the next day asking where my formal board results were since I elected to have a formal board.
17 April 2012 PEBLO has me re-sign the 199 and associated paperwork asking for formal board
7 May 2012 Formal Board request granted for 22 May 2012
8 May 2012 went to MEB outreach counsel on post to form rebuttal and contacted lawyer at Fort Sam
15 May 2012 sent MEB Lawyer sworn statements for Formal Board
21 May 2012 MEB reverses decision after reveiwing documentation (I get the phone call in transit on the way to Fort Sam)
23 May 2012 Sign and agree to Ratings
11 June 2012 Frustrated I have received no word for orders I begin calling PDA over and over until I get someone on the phone. a Mrs. Boyd states that my case was still at Fort Sam Houston. I google Fort Sam Houston PEB phone number and called a random number from a pdf file, lol. Surprisingly I called James Hornsby who has the ability to expedite the case. He apologized for the delay and said the case would be at PDA the following day (the second time my case was stagnant)
12 June 2012 Called Mrs Boyd again at PDA. She said they had received my case but it would still be about 3 weeks due to the backlog, unless they expedite my case. I told her that I needed to get my DD214 to get my GI Bill finalized and that I need to move-in to College in July. Also my lease was up on the 30 June. She had me email her all the specifics and she said she would do what she could.
13 June 2012 Called Mrs Boyd to follow up and was put on hold for 30 minutes. She then picked up the phone and apologized for forgetting about me. She also said she did not receive my email. I then emailed the same email to her ten times.
15 June 2012 received phone call from Fort Polk Transitions, retirement and seperations to come and pick up my final counseling and requested a final out date.
18-22 June 2012 Clearing Fort Polk
29 June 2012 Final Out and Dity move home
13 Septemeber 2012 effective date of retirement
Total process from 2 June 2011 to 29 June 2012 ~395 Days

A word to the wise: Know the system and the location of your case in the pipeline. If your PEBLO doesnt have an answer for you. You can easily look the stuff up on this site or others. Try and get a feel for how long (on average) your case should remain in each phase and if something doesnt feel or sound right, start calling people. Two seperate times my case could have literally sat on a desk indefinitely and I would still be going through the process. Anyways off to NYC to start GRad School in the fall at Columbia. Thanks for all the help and information guys.
 
Go to the VA and request Voc Rehab. You can get your schooling paid for and also a housing allowance (BAH).
 
Should I go here on post? like in the hospital? Not sure which VA office to got to.
 
Recommend going to your VA office on post...they will be able to process the VA Form 28-1900 for you. Best of luck! Good to hear your military medical fiasco has concluded!
 
Congratulations on finally being done, I know it is a long battle to get through this process, and this is streamlined they say....
So if I may ask, when you received your call from transition did you pick a date for your retirement? I see you retire 13 Sep 12, is this with all your leave and PTDY? I signed my 199 on 11 Jun 12 (Permanent Retirement) and I am waiting on my orders. I started this process back in Aug 2011 and I am ready to be finished. I want to be out as soon as I can so I can find a job and start school. I just want to be done, like most people going through this process. So currently I am at 308 days since I started my Med Board, and we are so ready to start the next chapter in our lives.
 
Brother Burt, the way I understand it is as soon as your orders come down and your transition/in and out processing station receives them, they are supposed to call you (like within 24 hours) to schedule your final counseling. I scheduled my final counseling for the same day (15 June) and from the time she hands you the sheet you have 90 days to be out of the Army. I personally had 83 days of leave (counting the leave days I would earn whilest on terminal leave) and combined with my PTDY, that puts me at 103 days, oh and add on one to two weeks to clear, that puts me at about 116 days from June 15, so consequently I have to sell back 26 days to put me right at 90. The lady at Transitions did all that monkey math for me, but I went home and counted myself just to double check. She writes it on the final counseling that you give to your commander to request a final out date and retirement/seperation date. Mine looked something like this at the bottom of the page:

Final Out of the Army: 29 June 2012
PTDY: 29 June-18 July
Terminal Leave: 19 July-13 September

Oh and I didnt really have the option to choose a date because of the large amount of leave I had saved up, though honestly the longer I would have stayed in the more money I would have received from cashing out, but then calculate my electric bill, rent, cable etc. and mabye I wouldnt have. Either way, I just wanted out ASAP to get on with the next chapter, much like you it seems. Let me know if this answers your question.

She did ask when I wanted to final out, so hypothetically I could have chosen 13 September and sold back all my leave (though you can only sell back 60~hence a hypothetical).
 
Great news Sean. My case is at PDA after I called Sam Houston and talked to someine in the office. Now I am waiting for whatever PDA does to the case. I'm in the same boat @72 days of leave saved up.
 
You can call PDA and see if Mrs. Boyd will expedite it (nothing to lose). Phone number 877 577 3065, press two for retirement and seperations. You might have to call a few times to get her, but she will ask for your social and look your case up. Literally, the day after I called to expedite, I received a phone call from transitions with my orders
 
Get my orders tomorrow and will be selling back 60 days leave as well. Trying to get the earliest date possible to get on out of here! Did the 90 day clock start when you signed your DA 199 or is it based off a different date?
 
Im pretty sure it started when I went in to In/Out processing to sign the final counseling and request a final out date from the commander. (It was June 15) and then my retirement date was Sep 13 ~about 90 days or so
 
sean6860 said:
Im pretty sure it started when I went in to In/Out processing to sign the final counseling and request a final out date from the commander. (It was June 15) and then my retirement date was Sep 13 ~about 90 days or so
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Turns out it didn't really matter. Transition was allowing me to go out to 20 Sept if I wanted to. Ended up choosing 15 Aug as final day in the military. I'll start the terminal leave on 13 Jul. Can't wait!
 
sean6860 said:
Im pretty sure it started when I went in to In/Out processing to sign the final counseling and request a final out date from the commander. (It was June 15) and then my retirement date was Sep 13 ~about 90 days or so
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I tried calling Ms. Boyd, got the old 'First Come, First Serve' stuff. My MEB/PEB tab updated today that they received it on the 25th. I don't know how long they take to process, but I can't wait for orders.
 
Yeah she tried that with me and said there were only certain circumstances. I guess my case met them. She didnt tell me all of them, but I do remember she said something about school or children starting school somewhere else.
Quick question for anyone out there:
I think I saw somewhere that Our Disability pay was not garnishable and I found this United States Code excerpt:

USC, Title 38, Section 5301 reads in part; Payments of benefits due or to become due under any law administered by the Secretary shall not be assignable except to the extent specifically authorized by law, and such payments made to, or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claim of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary.

So, I does this include VA and DoD Disablity payments? Mine is split about 60% of the check will come from Army and about 40% of the paycheck from the VA. The wife and I are going through a divorce and I want to be sure not to include it as a portion of my assets when we go into the hearings, if it goes that far. Thanks
Sean
 
Sean,

I believe that the spouse is only entitled to your retirment if she were married to you for ten years of the time you were in the army. So she would not be allowed to get your retirement on the DOD side.

I am not sure about on the civil side. Good luck.
 
sean6860 said:
Yeah she tried that with me and said there were only certain circumstances. I guess my case met them. She didnt tell me all of them, but I do remember she said something about school or children starting school somewhere else.
Quick question for anyone out there:
I think I saw somewhere that Our Disability pay was not garnishable and I found this United States Code excerpt:

USC, Title 38, Section 5301 reads in part; Payments of benefits due or to become due under any law administered by the Secretary shall not be assignable except to the extent specifically authorized by law, and such payments made to, or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claim of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary.

So, I does this include VA and DoD Disablity payments? Mine is split about 60% of the check will come from Army and about 40% of the paycheck from the VA. The wife and I are going through a divorce and I want to be sure not to include it as a portion of my assets when we go into the hearings, if it goes that far. Thanks
Sean
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Sean,
I got to sign DA 199 tomorrow at 1000hrs. I have 4 kids....do u think I will be able to have them moved and ready for school starting Aug 7, 2012?? (meaning is there anything I can personally do to get my orders and move quicker?? ) or do I just have to sit and wait on orders?
 
I found out on 26 Jun I was on the list from PDA, I did my counseling 26 Jun. I submitted my terminal leave form and PTDY the same day. My leave and PTDY were approved today, they are working on my orders as I type. My last day in uniform is 27 Jul then I have 5 days of terminal leave followed by 30 days of PTDY. My official retirement date is 31 Aug 2012. We are so excited. I turn in CIF next week, and we are already working every angle we can to get as much done as soon as we can so the last days are not so hectic. Funny thing is my first P3 profile was written Aug of 2011, 1 year ago this August. WHat a long process, it seemed like it would never end.
For those still in the process never lose hope, know where your packet is at all times. Don't hesitate to ask your packet status, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 
Mississippi said:
Sean,
I got to sign DA 199 tomorrow at 1000hrs. I have 4 kids....do u think I will be able to have them moved and ready for school starting Aug 7, 2012?? (meaning is there anything I can personally do to get my orders and move quicker?? ) or do I just have to sit and wait on orders?
Click to expand...

I tried to tell her about my kids starting school in another state and getting moved and settled before then, "We'll get to it" was her reply. Maybe she just doesn't like me. Lol.
 
Congradulations again Sean, I'm on 88 days terminal leave myself..... with my retirement date set at 18 SEPT 12.
Good Luck @ Columbia, Do check on Voc Rab... It's taken care of a lot of things... education wise for me and these
days every dime matters. :D
 
Mississippi, Call Mrs. Boyd to see if she has received your packet to ensure that your PEBLO sent it back to your PEB and that the PEB then sent it to PDA (It should literally take about 1-2 days for this step). If she has received your case then try and get it expedited. Explain to her the dire need and that you are dependent on getting out as soon as possible or need to by _____ date (I believe this is where the actual holdup is; when I called she said there was about a two week backlog...not acceptable lol). My advice is to just keep calling people, to be fair I am a CPT so rank might have had some influence on the decision to expedite, even if it shouldn't have.

Congrats Burt, good for you man. How did you get 30 days PTDY instead of the usual 20?

DCMD, thats what I thought man, but I guess that is for the lawyers and judges to decide. Fun fact, she called the Battalion commander today and lied to him and said I had been cheating on her and not supporting her. Good thing I have documentation to prove support. It was a nice going away gift. Conclusion: women are crazy lol

BCwhite, Maybe if you explain some dates or deadlines that you have to meet, then she might reconsider. Give her a hard date and then backpan from that. For instance, School starts August 7, We need to be moved in and enrolled by July 31st, We need a week to move to our new location so July 24th, We need two weeks to clear, July 10th, And a week for processing time, July 6th. Thats next Friday, You cna adjust dates accordingly. This way she has justifiable reasons to expedite your case. The thing is everyone wants there case expedited, so you have to prove your more worthy or have a valid reason to jump the line. Hope this helps.

Braveheart, Get my message? Anyone else know about Vocational rehabilitation? I have already filled out the VONAPP but am still waiting to hear something from the VA. Not sure what comes next. Anyone have some firsthand experience with this? If I dont hear something soon, the schools loans will have to start becoming a reality. thanks
 
BurtRM said:
I found out on 26 Jun I was on the list from PDA, I did my counseling 26 Jun. I submitted my terminal leave form and PTDY the same day. My leave and PTDY were approved today, they are working on my orders as I type. My last day in uniform is 27 Jul then I have 5 days of terminal leave followed by 30 days of PTDY. My official retirement date is 31 Aug 2012. We are so excited. I turn in CIF next week, and we are already working every angle we can to get as much done as soon as we can so the last days are not so hectic. Funny thing is my first P3 profile was written Aug of 2011, 1 year ago this August. WHat a long process, it seemed like it would never end.
For those still in the process never lose hope, know where your packet is at all times. Don't hesitate to ask your packet status, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Click to expand...

Glad you had that ability to even contact a PEBLO, I still barely know what is going on with mine, at 409 days since start of MEB and still see no end in sight... Supposedly at the VA and awaiting final approval (30 days left... yeah right) then back to PEB... I give the VA another 3 months on that, another 3 months for it to get to the PEB, then 3 more months till PEB gives to PEBLO, another 3 months for notification that they got it... Figure I have another year in the service at the rate my packet is taking... No update on eBenefits or MyPEB since Feb...
 
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