Fort Lewis PEB

Zeus2033 said:
Yeah and the military sees no reason to expand how many bases have PEBs, only two is an absolute joke...you could have one at every base.
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I sat down one day and did some back of the napkin math. I know that not everyone makes the pay that I do, but lets say we average pay out to be E-5 with 6 years in. That's 2662/month in base pay alone, not counting BAS/BAH/FLPP/Jump Pay/etc...

If one extra person in the system working at the point of backlog (at this point I would say PEBLO office and VA would be the major backlogs) and they are able to process 20 people's paperwork that month that wouldn't have been seen they are looking at personnel costs for the active service components of 2662x20 = $53240/month. Even if every single person is awarded 50% retirement the military is still breaking even if they pay that employee 1/2 of that figure, or $21620/month. Yes I understand that the math is more complicated than this, but I stand by my assertion that it is possible to speed up this process while providing the same level of care to the individual service member and treating all involved in the process fairly.

I'm currently sitting at month 19 of my MEB/PEB process with 1 ratable condition. The condition is not something that is ameliorated by physical therapy, and will not get better with time. My doctor's recognize this, and it is merely a decision on whether or not my current limitations permit me to continue to serve. The PEB sent my information to the VA on 23 Mar 2012. My preliminary ratings were completed by the VA back on 02 May 2012 (70 days ago for those of your playing along at home, and 6 weeks from sending from the PEB), and my final ratings were sent from the Seatlle VA on 18 Jun 2012 (a copy was supposedly mailed to me but has not arrived yet, almost a month later) and the PEB has seen neither hide nor hair from them. All told, we are sitting at a 110 days for the VA's portion alone on turnaround time.

There are definitely areas to iron kinks out of the system, and I have trouble believing that this isn't sending incredible red flags up and down the chambers of power due to the money that is being wasted. If you take into account that my LES readout puts me well above the average pay that I listed for an E5 with 6 years, you could probably hire two full time personnel just to handle paperwork on my salary alone.

Flabbergasted in Monterey, and wondering how much longer I'll be in the Army,

CarlB
 
Talked to my PEBLO before going on leave at the end of June. My PEBLO said Ft. Lewis PEB had recieved my VA ratings around 18 JUNE and the 199 was written and needed to be signed by the PEB President for approval. Should expect to see it around 25 June, still no word on 199 yet. Hopefully soon, PEBLO said 199 takes around 3 weeks to get from PEB.
 
shadow4 said:
Talked to my PEBLO before going on leave at the end of June. My PEBLO said Ft. Lewis PEB had recieved my VA ratings around 18 JUNE and the 199 was written and needed to be signed by the PEB President for approval. Should expect to see it around 25 June, still no word on 199 yet. Hopefully soon, PEBLO said 199 takes around 3 weeks to get from PEB.
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After calling around and locating the two floating PEBLOs who are covering while others are out of the office, I found out that my information which was sent from the VA on the 18th of Jun is at the PEB, it is waiting to be typed up, and then I should get my call for notification for my DA199.

Hopefully your estimate is right with a 2-3 week turnaround time and I can finally find out if I'm being separated or retired.

Any new news on your front?
 
CarlB said:
After calling around and locating the two floating PEBLOs who are covering while others are out of the office, I found out that my information which was sent from the VA on the 18th of Jun is at the PEB, it is waiting to be typed up, and then I should get my call for notification for my DA199.

Hopefully your estimate is right with a 2-3 week turnaround time and I can finally find out if I'm being separated or retired.

Any new news on your front?
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Have not heard anything yet still waiting for the 199. I have seen recently other Soldiers orders being cut after notification within seven days, IAW milper
message 09-067. Seems like the process is improving more in that area as well. Soon as I get notified I will update. Heard there is a backlog at PEB Lewis for 199....not sure if it is because VA is moving faster now.
 
shadow4 said:
Heard there is a backlog at PEB Lewis for 199....not sure if it is because VA is moving faster now.
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From my conversation today with the PEB at Lewis... "I can't give you a turnaround time on your DA199, we only have one typist and I don't know how many people are in front of you."
 
Well that is comforting to know lol. Last update I received "finished with the VA on the 18th of June" ... got told the standard 2-3 weeks bs. This process is far beyond the point of being joke.
 
:mad: This is crappy, I was told the VA sent mine back on the 14th, so I may be just ahead of you two on that front. I am going to MEB office at Madigan tomorrow to see what is up on mine, hopefully I can get some word... Hate this, my BC and CSM ask me for something every other day...
 
CarlB- Any tips for talking to the PEB? When I tried calling them and mentioned I was a soldier they instantly killed the conversation by saying that they do not talk to SM's. Also, could you please PM me the number you called?

I have been getting the run around... VA MSC says the PEBLO has it and the PEBLO says that they don't. I am chalking the 1800 VA number up to being nearly useless (at least for me). Each person I talk to has a different understanding pf the steps that our packets take. One even told me that she "didn't know the process because she was not medically separated when she was in the Army". Call me a professional, but if my job was to talk to inform soldiers, I would take the initiative to educate myself on at least the VA portion of the equation. End rant.
 
Seems like a ton of people here at Lewis are waiting on the darn 199 lol Hubby was able to look at his fingings a few days after the VA was done with them.. However, they wouldn't let him sign it bc they didn't have the time to go over it with him. So, I told him to go back everyday and ask to sign it.. Just sit there and annoy them :) So after about a week and a half of that he signed his 199. lol.
 
Unknown123 said:
CarlB- Any tips for talking to the PEB? When I tried calling them and mentioned I was a soldier they instantly killed the conversation by saying that they do not talk to SM's. Also, could you please PM me the number you called?
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Tips are this: If you're on the phone the only people who will really deal with you are the PEBLOs or their stand-ins. I called the following numbers after getting an out-of-office reply from my PEBLO. From postings from other Soldiers on these boards I gather that the following two people are handling any Soldiers on an ad-hoc basis. I was able to get confirmation at least that the PEB had received my paperwork after handing over my SSN and identifying myself.

For the record, my PEBLO is Mrs. Pilcher @ the Madigan PEB center. This is the email I received from her which gave me the only productive numbers I've had so far:

Due to a MEDCOM tasking, I will be away from my desk through August 3, 2012. For immediate assistance, please contact Ms. Annette Edwards at 968-2542, or Ms. Benisha Coleman at 968-2569. Thank you.


Now, I did have a problem with leaving a message and getting calls back (i.e., I never got called back) but with persistance I was able to get ahold of Mrs. Edwards, who was as helpful as she could be. Take note that if they are helping a walk-in case they will not answer the phone, so dont be afraid to leave a message and call back in 5-10 minutes if you don't get through.

Unknown123 said:
Call me a professional, but if my job was to talk to inform soldiers, I would take the initiative to educate myself on at least the VA portion of the equation. End rant.
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Almost nobody seems to know the full process that these packets take. I've taken in upon myself to exhaustively research how these things are supposed to work and will be giving an NCOPD to my company of senior NCOs next week. We will be covering what gets a person recommended to the MEB/PEB process, what steps the SM can take to control the process, the general flow of the process from start to finish under the IDES system, and the responsibilities of the SM, Unit, MTF, PEB, and VA. Should be a good class and I expect to take the better part of an hour.
 
I went in and talked to Mrs. Coleman this morning as a walk-in she showed me on the computer that my packet was "received" on July 1st by the PEB personnel, so that tells me it sat in the system for 14 days until it was looked at. She basically told me to wait another week or two at most for the phone call for my 199 appointment. So basically it is a 3-4 week period on the 199 type up here at Lewis now.
 
Unknown123 said:
CarlB- Any tips for talking to the PEB? When I tried calling them and mentioned I was a soldier they instantly killed the conversation by saying that they do not talk to SM's. Also, could you please PM me the number you called?

I have been getting the run around... VA MSC says the PEBLO has it and the PEBLO says that they don't. I am chalking the 1800 VA number up to being nearly useless (at least for me). Each person I talk to has a different understanding pf the steps that our packets take. One even told me that she "didn't know the process because she was not medically separated when she was in the Army". Call me a professional, but if my job was to talk to inform soldiers, I would take the initiative to educate myself on at least the VA portion of the equation. End rant.
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I have found the VA Hotline useless so far, they run on a different system than the MSC's and PEB, so they can't truely look at our statuses.
 
grizz13 said:
I have found the VA Hotline useless so far, they run on a different system than the MSC's and PEB, so they can't truely look at our statuses.
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They can tell you that they have your paperwork, that the preliminary or final ratings have been completed, and if they have sent your ratings to the PEB or your mailing address. If you go in just trying to find out that information you can track your packet through the process on its way back to the PEB. Ebenefits.va.gov is for all intents and purposes a lagging indicator for your packet, meaning that it will always tell you that something has happened after the action has occurred so its not in my opinion the best resourse.

My recommended approach would be to keep in touch with your VA MSC rep who scheduled your appointments and will handle your case when it comes back from the VA. They are actually assigned to your case and can give the most visibility in my experience.
 
Exactly that was what I have been telling everyone for the last few weeks, just that much easier to go through your MSC once it hits the PEB status instead of bothering your PEBLO all the time!
 
grizz13 said:
Exactly that was what I have been telling everyone for the last few weeks, just that much easier to go through your MSC once it hits the PEB status instead of bothering your PEBLO all the time!
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Now granted, my VA MSC rep was able to basically confirm that the PEB had my paperwork. That tends to shut down the "we might just not have received it yet" line of answers from the PEB side of the house.
 
Im still waiting on my 3 votes here on JBLM. Then ill go to where ever is next its been about 20 days since i got into the PEB stage and i want it to move fast to i can get on with my life 6+ years in the army 1 divorce, 3 deployments, its time to go home
 
Update, just got my call to go to the PEB office and review the findings! Will be going Monday morning, so CarlB, shadow4 and Matt_k you guys should be getting calls anytime in the next week hopefully. Send me private convos for me to give you directions to the PEB office for your appt. once I get done Monday. Their directions were confusing over the phone.
 
grizz13 said:
Update, just got my call to go to the PEB office and review the findings! Will be going Monday morning, so CarlB, shadow4 and Matt_k you guys should be getting calls anytime in the next week hopefully. Send me private convos for me to give you directions to the PEB office for your appt. once I get done Monday. Their directions were confusing over the phone.
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so you go in today and the PEBLO tells you to wait another week or two....then later today you get the INFAMOUS CALL...classic Army math.....congratulations, hopefully you get what you deserve...I think my packet was a day or two behind you...guess this will show us if they do them in order or if they are coffee coasters on somebody's desk...
 
grizz13 said:
Update, just got my call to go to the PEB office and review the findings! Will be going Monday morning, so CarlB, shadow4 and Matt_k you guys should be getting calls anytime in the next week hopefully. Send me private convos for me to give you directions to the PEB office for your appt. once I get done Monday. Their directions were confusing over the phone.
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Congrats on getting your call in. Throwing a monkey wrench in the works I'm no where near Fort Lewis. I'm stationed down in Monterey CA as a TRADOC guy at the Defense Language Institute. The good side of this is I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find the tiny TMC where the paperwork-losing MEB liason-to-the-MEB lady works. (Really, her job is to make sure that people who fail to meet retention standards get their paperwork started with the MEB. I have a sneaky suspicion that it is her fault that I waited from January when I was told by my Doctor to July to get my exams done last year)

Anyways, chin high - Monday morning and a lot of Soldiers to instruct!
 
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