I’m often asked in private messages about the different levels of appeal, since I went through all of them because my initial MEB was based on a misdiagnosis, I literally appealed at every level.... and I even got two different VARRs... but that’s another story by itself!! Anyway, here is the very basic summary of every level of appeal. Anyone who has been through these appeals please
Feel free to add where I might have missed something.
1. Narsum rebuttal basically means you are officially disagreeing with the narsum.
2. IMR is independent medical review and is exactly as it sounds. basically you are asking for a different doctor to review your case... and that doctor will submit their own narsum....
3. MEB Appeal means you disagree with the results of the MEB. You could be disagreeing based on the fit/unfit conditions, or minor mistakes they might have made.
4. PEB Appeal. The initial PEB results almost always agree with the MEB results, basically they rubber stamp whatever the MEB said... of course there are anomalies... but mostly they just go with whatever the MEB said. This is another chance to formally disagree with those results.
5. IPEB/FPEB. This means informal or formal PEB. You get one or the other but not both. Formal basically means you go in front of the PEB to appeal in person, informal means paper appeal. I went in person. There are ups and downs to going in person. Going in person means there are 3 field grade 04-06 officers (one medical, 2 others whose branch is immaterial) at the board. You will go in front of them with your lawyer and be questioned.... they have laptops and are literally looking at your entire career... your evaluations, your medical records (ALTHA notes), test results literally everything. Your story had better make sense or else!! They asked me how I could achieve top block officer evals if I was truly as sick as I said I was. I had a great answer... I was a recruiting company commander and my oers were based mostly on recruiting mission accomplishment. I had stellar NCOs that made the mission ethically. My illness didn’t stop them from making the mission, and as a result of their success, I had success. They loved that answer and it was literally the absolute truth.
6. VARR. This is VA rating review. If you got say 50% for mental health but had evidence that you should’ve been rated at 70% for mental health, this is where you would spell that out in detail.
7. Disability agency review. This is the final level of appeal. This is where you get to make your case to the department of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps.
Feel free to add where I might have missed something.
1. Narsum rebuttal basically means you are officially disagreeing with the narsum.
2. IMR is independent medical review and is exactly as it sounds. basically you are asking for a different doctor to review your case... and that doctor will submit their own narsum....
3. MEB Appeal means you disagree with the results of the MEB. You could be disagreeing based on the fit/unfit conditions, or minor mistakes they might have made.
4. PEB Appeal. The initial PEB results almost always agree with the MEB results, basically they rubber stamp whatever the MEB said... of course there are anomalies... but mostly they just go with whatever the MEB said. This is another chance to formally disagree with those results.
5. IPEB/FPEB. This means informal or formal PEB. You get one or the other but not both. Formal basically means you go in front of the PEB to appeal in person, informal means paper appeal. I went in person. There are ups and downs to going in person. Going in person means there are 3 field grade 04-06 officers (one medical, 2 others whose branch is immaterial) at the board. You will go in front of them with your lawyer and be questioned.... they have laptops and are literally looking at your entire career... your evaluations, your medical records (ALTHA notes), test results literally everything. Your story had better make sense or else!! They asked me how I could achieve top block officer evals if I was truly as sick as I said I was. I had a great answer... I was a recruiting company commander and my oers were based mostly on recruiting mission accomplishment. I had stellar NCOs that made the mission ethically. My illness didn’t stop them from making the mission, and as a result of their success, I had success. They loved that answer and it was literally the absolute truth.
6. VARR. This is VA rating review. If you got say 50% for mental health but had evidence that you should’ve been rated at 70% for mental health, this is where you would spell that out in detail.
7. Disability agency review. This is the final level of appeal. This is where you get to make your case to the department of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps.
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