Question on being found fit or unfit

Hi, I have been on here quite a few times searching the forums for all kinds of questions and have founds lots of answers. I am in the Air Force and I am being meb'd for l4/l5 petruding/bulging disc in my back. It all happened in July 2012. I have already been through my c&p exams and just signed my NARSUM yesterday. My peblo said my paperwork got sent up to IPEB yesterday as well. My question is, I know it's not a guaranteed thing, but what do you guys think. Since it has already went through once and found unfit at the small board and is being sent up a second time will it be found unfit? or will I be sent back to duty with a code. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks.
 
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N7crapbob said:
Hey I'm also Air Force and I had the same problem as you. My PEBLO refuses to check the VTA and she refuses to do her job. This forum is really the best advice. Here's how I've learned to do things. So for you, and everyone else who reads this, I'm going to tell you the legit way of finding out. I've learned with the VA it's not what you just say but it's how you word it. So this is what I did:

Step 1: Call the VA at 1-877-827-1000
Step 2: When you dial press 1 then 0 then 1 to get a hold time for them to call you back. (Listen for male recorded voice to assure you'll have a call back time. Female voice on the second one means they're busy)
Step 3: Press 1 when the VA calls you back and
Step 4: Immediately tell the VA person you are looking to verify/make sure that the air force has sent (verbatim) "Findings and recommended disposition of USAF Physical evaluation board," and that (insert condition here) is under CAT I. Tell them number 12 on the form says unfit on it.
Step 5: Tell them that you wanted to make sure that the Air Force sent it to them/ uploaded it to the VA.
Step 6: End conversation with them and go to the IRIS https://iris.custhelp.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTM4NDQ4OTAyNy9zaWQvdzZQaHhuRmw= and put down in your claim that you wish for your regional office to mail you the findings of the IPEB and you want a copy of the records sent to your house. (It included my 356 in the mail. I know because I did this.)
Step 7: If they ever tell you to ask your PEBLO reply with "My PEBLO is Clueless" which is why most of us are here and reading all of this in the first place.
Then mission complete!!

Here's an uploaded clean copy of the 1st AF 356:

Also I noticed from all this that for Air Force, when they do the initial RILO, they either pick RTD or medboardable conditions. If AFPC picked condition is boardable, there's a very very very strong chance that the result is UNFIT. The Air Force is too overmanned to retain you. I'm in a control afsc too and they still put unfit. Even on mine when they did a med board my base put down RTD and said I had this condition prior to joining and the IPEB still put unfit and compensatable. The med board from your base means squat. Basically during that stage I would submit letters from your supervisor though to endorse your desired outcome. And still appeal the MEB if you disagree with them. I can upload my impartial review and rebuttal if needed to anyone reading this. Just PM me.

Hope this helps I've been in this for about a year now thanks to the doctor putting me in at the wrong base for a few months. Good times....please all ask any questions you have to me and I'm always happy to respond. I'll also make a post of how to for this.
Cheers!
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Oh crap correction 18008271000.
 
acoolusername said:
Holy crap thanks for taking the time to type that out. I just called and left a message for them to call back, I hope that they have received that form. Your post should be a sticky on the forum but the number to the VA is 1800 not 1877, lol I called that and it was some dating site or something.
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Crap just changed it. I'll see if I can get Jason to edit it.
 
acoolusername said:
They called back, he said they have not received that form yet and I should ask my PEBLO more about it. He said that they won't do anything until they get the dd214.. I don't know what to believe.
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If they're saying that then it has to be there. Some of the reps don't understand IDES which is why I just keep calling until one of them finally answers. Just keep calling and play it stupid on when they ask about the peblo if the other suggestion doesn't work. There will be one va rep that will finally tell you. And the IRIS is the good way to request it and have it mailed. They can't deny you that. And I called for a straight week once a day and finally one of them just answered my question.
 
Frank4747 said:
Playing the lottery is a great comparison to the the representatives on the phone for the VA. Very few are experienced enough to handle IDES calls, and even so they still lack knowledge to fully explain things. I find that by calling the VA it does nothing but raise my anxiety even more than it already is. I can't believe they don't have a better system in place to keep veterans informed on their claim status. It's simply unacceptable to say the least, all we can do is keep each other educated through this site and compare our situations with others to gain better knowledge.
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I think they should allow us access to the VTA. It makes no sense to have us all uninformed.
 
N7crapbob said:
If they're saying that then it has to be there. Some of the reps don't understand IDES which is why I just keep calling until one of them finally answers. Just keep calling and play it stupid on when they ask about the peblo if the other suggestion doesn't work. There will be one va rep that will finally tell you. And the IRIS is the good way to request it and have it mailed. They can't deny you that. And I called for a straight week once a day and finally one of them just answered my question.
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I'll keep calling lol, I mean but do you think it is really there since it just got shipped to afpc 2 weeks ago? I mean it says on the site review of evidence so something has to be going on..
 
acoolusername said:
I'll keep calling lol, I mean but do you think it is really there since it just got shipped to afpc 2 weeks ago? I mean it says on the site review of evidence so something has to be going on..
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For your case if you haven't received anything after 10 days then you're definitely unfit. No mine took a month for them to send it to the va, but I've heard of others being able to see it sooner on the VTA which can be accessed by your peblo or the DAV or just going to your regional office beside the providence one (the real one.) But yours is probably already in the ratings stage in my opinion. I was stuck in gathering of evidence forever.
 
I talked to my PEBLO again just for giggles and she said she doesn't know anything about Ebenefits and she said it was a joke and gave me the same ole response "you just have to be patient it can take about 4 months.." I have been seeing on here where you should see something from the PEB on your ebenefits under "stuff we have recieved and mine only says va stuff or something unless I'm not looking in the right place.
 
acoolusername said:
I talked to my PEBLO again just for giggles and she said she doesn't know anything about Ebenefits and she said it was a joke and gave me the same ole response "you just have to be patient it can take about 4 months.." I have been seeing on here where you should see something from the PEB on your ebenefits under "stuff we have recieved and mine only says va stuff or something unless I'm not looking in the right place.
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Ebenefits is only useful if it's updated by the person rating your claim, if they don't update it then you won't see any updates, and yes it can take up to 4 months and even longer, if you wrap your head around it taking that long it'll cause less stress, just plan for the worse
 
acoolusername said:
Dang! This thread has 931 views! That's the highest I've ever had on a forum lol.
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Indeed, a very interesting topic with supporting information! :cool:

Hmm, try viewing the "Seattle Regional VA Timelines:" thread; it has over 102K in views! ;)

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
I had a notice on mypers , it said when the peb received my package,status said received. Today the status says transferred. So maybe that means transferred to va?
 
whitwhit said:
I had a notice on mypers , it said when the peb received my package,status said received. Today the status says transferred. So maybe that means transferred to va?
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Are you talking about the AF mypers website?
 
whitwhit said:
Yes
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Where did you find this info? Is this something that AF members who recently entered IDES can use to track their cases? I ask because as soon as I saw your post I went and checked my MyPers account and I didn't find anything.
 
I'm not sure, I asked for an update on my meb and they told me to check my pers. yesterday was the first timeanything showed up. It's under incidens when the status said received it allowed me to open my package, today it was gone with status transferred. It's been two weeks since my package was submitted to find out if I'm fit or unfit. They should really inform us on their decision as soon as its decided. I'm almost 100% sure I will be found unfit but not knowing for sure is killing me.
 
whitwhit said:
I'm not sure, I asked for an update on my meb and they told me to check my pers. yesterday was the first timeanything showed up. It's under incidens when the status said received it allowed me to open my package, today it was gone with status transferred. It's been two weeks since my package was submitted to find out if I'm fit or unfit. They should really inform us on their decision as soon as its decided. I'm almost 100% sure I will be found unfit but not knowing for sure is killing me.
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I looked on MYPERS and it said full meb package "pending action" it just had a confirmation number for being sent to the peb..but it was sent a month ago.
 
So I called the VA last night and ends up they received my 356 on the 23rd and it states under section 12 "unfit" and they are in the proposed rating stage. So I'm guessing that is the answer I have been looking for.
 
If you are fit then you can do your service or extend it ,Plus if you are found Unfit then its better to take a voluntary retirement and if you have any retirement schemes then that would be much better.
 
acoolusername said:
So I called the VA last night and ends up they received my 356 on the 23rd and it states under section 12 "unfit" and they are in the proposed rating stage. So I'm guessing that is the answer I have been looking for.
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Good deal albeit maintain your positively proactive nature while within the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process!

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
Okay so I faxed a letter to the VA and I requested my 356 be mailed to me since they have it apparently and doing proposed ratings..my ebenefits changed in the historical claims area and it says "Freedom of Information Act / Privacy Act Request, date closed 12/2/13,
Appeal is Possible
Decision Notification Sent
Development Letter Sent"

Is this talking about the 356 being mailed to me with what I requested? Or is this talking about my full package being sent back to my PEBLO so I can see my ratings and everything?
 
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