Received my findings from PEB

Charles Maine

Charles Maine

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
Very happy this week. As many of you saw I have a job lined up and I really needed to get an answer from the PEB so I could move on with my life.

Well it came this week!!

Back ground info real quick. Active Duty E-6 11 yrs 4 months in the Navy.
Here is my timeline:
4/12/11: Went to the ER after suffering what turned out to be a non-convulsive seizure.
6/5/11: Told MEB package was being submitted by Navy Neurologist.
7/11/11: MEB package received for my completion.
7/20/11: Faxed MEB package back w/o non-medical assessment
8/25/11: Met MEB case manager and VA rep reviewed medical record.
9/19/11-9/20/11: Attended 5 VA appointments for claims.
11/6/11: PEB package emailed to me for my review
11/6/11: Package mailed to Washington DC
11/7/11: Package received in Washington DC (not sure how that happened either)
12/15/11: Contacted PEB department in San Diego asking about status. Was told that package was received on 11/7/11, no other update. Told to call weekly for updates.
12/22/11: Contacted PEB department in San Diego asking about status. Was told that package was received on 11/7/11, and "Board Convened" on 11/30/11. Was told to call back the second week in January.
01/07/12: VA received package from PEB
03/01/12: Findings send from PEB to PEBLO and I was notified.

Now for the findings:

Findings: UNFIT Disability Rating: 10% Disposition: TO BE SEPARATED FROM ACTIVE DUTY WITH SEVERANCE PAY

Unfitting Conditions: LOCALIZATION RELATED TO EPILEPSY, SYMPTOMATIC; 8911; 10%

Medical Officer Comments: THE RECORD AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED DOCUMENTS THAT THE MEDICAL CONDITION OR DISEASE DOES INTERFERE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE MEMBER'S ABILITY TO CARRY OUT THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, GRADE, RANK OR RATING.

VA Rating:
EPILEPSY - 10%
LOWER BACK PAIN - 20%
ACHILLES STRAIN - 10%
LEFT FOOT PAIN - 10%

Overall VA Rating - 50%

Now I would like to ask some questions and take things one at a time.

SEVERANCE:

For those of you coming up on having to pick you separation date keep this in mind. My PEBLO told me that they do not pay for partial years. They round down if less than 6 months (i.e. 5 year 3 months service would be rounded down to 5 years) and over 6 months they round up (i.e. 9 years 8 months service would be rounded up to 10 years). I almost made a huge mistake and he caught it. I entered the Navy on 10/17/2000. I initially picked 4/16/2012. Some quick math and you would see that I was about to get out 1 day prior to my 6 month mark. I changed this of course and avoided what I estimate was about a $5,500 mistake.

Severance Calculation: $3,243.30 (Base Pay E-6 Over 10) x 2 = $6,486.60. $6,486.60 x 12 (explained why 12 above) = $77,839.20
$77,839.20 x .72 (Uncle Sam's 28% he wants) = $56,044.22 Deposited into my account

VA Compensation: 50% Disability married with 2 children under the age of 18 = $969. Now considering I had 1 unfitting condition rated at 10% they will keep back $127. So I will actually begin receiving $842 when I separate.

One other little perk that my PEBLO mentioned that I cannot seem to find anywhere is my final move of HHG. He said that because I am being separated involuntarly that I can have my household good shipped anywhere in the country. Is this true?

PLEASE IF YOU SEE ANY ERRORS LET ME KNOW, THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE TRUE AND DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANY BAD INFORMATION OUT THERE.
 
No I was not able to because my EAOS was within a year (November 2012). If you have 3 years I think it is left on your enlistment then I believe you can.
 
How long did they give you to get out? or is it different by branch? id like to get out ASAP and back home to a great VA in Ann Arbor Michigan
 
I believe it is the same for all branches. You can pick a day between 30 and 60 days from the day you are given your findings (used to be 30-90, that recently changed I think). Now with that being said you have to allow time for your message to be released. I was told 2-3 weeks and I will have my message/orders after I sent back the memo stating I agreed. I picked a day that was like 55 days from the day of my findings. That allowed me to take all 22 of my leave days. Also take the 10 free days for House/Job Hunting. That leaves me with like 23 days until I leave. I did that to make sure my message comes back in time. Lets say you pick a day that is like 40 days from your findings and it takes 20 days for your message/orders to come in. That means if you take the House/Job 10 days then you can only take 10 days of leave and have to sell the rest back. I wanted to get out as soon as possible but on the same token not mess everything up by saying I was taking all the leave and then at the last minute having to change it to selling some. Now if my orders are not here by the 26th of March then I too will have to start selling back leave or not take the TDY 10 days.
 
Can someone please take a look at my opening post and let me know if you see any errors or if it seems to be all correct? Thank!!
 
It is hard to say without seeing all the case inoformation. Do you believe any of the other conditions contributed to unfitness? Was your unfitting epilespsy rating correctly per the VASRD? What did the NMA state about the other conditions' impact on your duty performance?

Mike
 
I believe all that is fine. I have no issues with the findings or %'s. I may be wrong but either way I am good with it. I am however concerned with for lack of better terms "knowing what to expect" with the following statements:

Severance Calculation: $3,243.30 (Base Pay E-6 Over 10) x 2 = $6,486.60. $6,486.60 x 12 (explained why 12 above) = $77,839.20
$77,839.20 x .72 (Uncle Sam's 28% he wants) = $56,044.22 Deposited into my account

VA Compensation: 50% Disability married with 2 children under the age of 18 = $969. Now considering I had 1 unfitting condition rated at 10% they will keep back $127. So I will actually begin receiving $842 when I separate.

One other little perk that my PEBLO mentioned that I cannot seem to find anywhere is my final move of HHG. He said that because I am being separated involuntarly that I can have my household good shipped anywhere in the country. Is this true?


What are you thoughts on that??
 
Hey Charles, you are right on all your stuff. The DoD holds onto 20% of your severance for their audit, but if you don't owe anything you will get it back in 3-4 months. If my calculations are correct, they hold onto 20% of the AFTER taxed amount. When you get your DD214, give a copy to the VA so they can process your disability. It takes a month for them to do this. From personal experience I can tell you that they only take the % of your unfitting condition to repay the severance. I am not sure about the HHG move because I did not move out of the area. PSD might have some more information on that. They do round up/down the months so it is great that you are 6+ months and get that extra year of severance pay. I got paid the severance pay 13 days after I got out, but it's been 3 months since my EAOS and I have not received the other 20%. As for my message, it did take almost a month for me to get it, but I started my terminal leave before it came down :) I knew it wouldn't be more than a month because they also have a time crunch they have to follow. Good luck and God Bless.
 
Charles, I work for TMO, if you were separated and put on the retired list you can move your hhg anywhere. If you are just separated, you rate to move at a maximum to your home of record only. You can move anywhere you want, but the max miles without paying out of pocket would be the miles from your home of record to your last duty station. If you are exceding your miles, I would reccomend doing the move yourself, this way you get compensated for moving, the money is usually pretty decent. An e6 with dependants rates 11000lbs, and if your home of record is accross the country, you can expect aroun $9-10k if you max out your weight. Check out move.mil and create an account, then put the estimated weights in. The website may seem a lil confusing, but it tells you everything. And you can get a $ amound estimate for your move.
 
I thought this was the calculation <=20% = Years in service X base pay X 2 = severance pay (- taxes). Now i am just confused thats why i am asking.
 
Charles Maine said:
Findings: UNFIT Disability Rating: 10% Disposition: TO BE SEPARATED FROM ACTIVE DUTY WITH SEVERANCE PAY

Unfitting Conditions: LOCALIZATION RELATED TO EPILEPSY, SYMPTOMATIC; 8911; 10%

Medical Officer Comments: THE RECORD AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED DOCUMENTS THAT THE MEDICAL CONDITION OR DISEASE DOES INTERFERE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE MEMBER'S ABILITY TO CARRY OUT THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, GRADE, RANK OR RATING.

VA Rating:
EPILEPSY - 10%
LOWER BACK PAIN - 20%
ACHILLES STRAIN - 10%
LEFT FOOT PAIN - 10%

Overall VA Rating - 50%

...


Severance Calculation: $3,243.30 (Base Pay E-6 Over 10) x 2 = $6,486.60. $6,486.60 x 12 (explained why 12 above) = $77,839.20
$77,839.20 x .72 (Uncle Sam's 28% he wants) = $56,044.22 Deposited into my account.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that, because the VA rated you for the same condition that you were found unfit for, you will get all of the taxes that were withheld returned to you when you file your income taxes. See the post on this site about this at --> http://www.pebforum.com/site/threads/severance-pay-tax-info.10116/
 
Charles Maine said:
I believe it is the same for all branches. You can pick a day between 30 and 60 days from the day you are given your findings (used to be 30-90, that recently changed I think). ...
Click to expand...
Does anyone know where this 30-60 days comes from? I'm trying to take some classes while my PEB processes, but the CO's TA representative denied my request because I might not still be active duty when the class finishes.

I just talked to the PEBLO yesterday, and the paperwork from my VA medical exams had not been received from the doctors. She says there is no chance that I will be out of the Navy by 06AUG2012. However, the TA rep wants something IN WRITING.

Any suggestions?
 
SECNAVINST 1850.4E:

"1009 Disability Evaluation System (DES) Processing Time Standards
(c) (2) Hearing-based Disability Determination. Upon PEB receipt of the
member’s decision to demand a Formal PEB hearing, the processing time to the date of the
determination of the final reviewing authority normally should be no more than 90 days."

DoDI 1332.38:

"E3.P1.4.5. Pre-Separation Counseling. Service members on a call to active duty of more
than 30 days shall not be separated or retired because of physical disability prior to completion of
pre-separation counseling under reference (h). Though counseling is normally accomplished 90
days before separation, the date of separation or retirement of members determined unfit need
not be extended to provide a minimum of 90 days between counseling and separation or
retirement."

For Department of the Navy, those were the only specific guidelines I could find with a cursory look. The other services have more specific guidelines. (AF: AFI 36-3212: ".19.3. HQ AFPC/DPPD will establish disability separation and retirement dates as follows:
5.19.3.1. Date of separation or retirement will be established not to exceed 90 days from date of Secretary of the Air Force (SAF) Memorandum approving the separation or retirement. For the purposes of Benefits Delivery at Discharge, the date will be established as a day during the last week of the month which does not extend the DOS beyond 90 days from SAF Memo. For example: If 90 days would place the DOS at 15 May, the DOS will be 29 April. Any unsellable leave must be taken prior to member’s separation or retirement date.

5.19.3. HQ AFPC/DPPD will establish disability separation and retirement dates as follows: 5.19.3.1. For members serving at CONUS locations, date of separation or retirement will be established as 40 days from date of Secretary of the Air Force (SAF) Memorandum (SAF) approving the separation or retirement; 5.19.3.2. For members serving overseas, date of separation or retirement will be established as 60 days from date of SAF Memo; 5.19.3.3. For ARC members, date of separation or retirement will be established as 27 days from date of SAF Memo."

For Army, my understanding is that the actual date of separation/retirement will be determined by the interface between TRANSPOC and the transition point.

To be honest, I have never really dug too deep into the date of separation issue once a determination is made as this is not an issue that is ordinarily "challengeable." I suppose it could be an important issue for those just shy of 20 years, but this is a rare occurrence that has not come up in any of my cases.
 
Charles Maine said:
Very happy this week. As many of you saw I have a job lined up and I really needed to get an answer from the PEB so I could move on with my life.

Well it came this week!!

Back ground info real quick. Active Duty E-6 11 yrs 4 months in the Navy.
Here is my timeline:
4/12/11: Went to the ER after suffering what turned out to be a non-convulsive seizure.
6/5/11: Told MEB package was being submitted by Navy Neurologist.
7/11/11: MEB package received for my completion.
7/20/11: Faxed MEB package back w/o non-medical assessment
8/25/11: Met MEB case manager and VA rep reviewed medical record.
9/19/11-9/20/11: Attended 5 VA appointments for claims.
11/6/11: PEB package emailed to me for my review
11/6/11: Package mailed to Washington DC
11/7/11: Package received in Washington DC (not sure how that happened either)
12/15/11: Contacted PEB department in San Diego asking about status. Was told that package was received on 11/7/11, no other update. Told to call weekly for updates.
12/22/11: Contacted PEB department in San Diego asking about status. Was told that package was received on 11/7/11, and "Board Convened" on 11/30/11. Was told to call back the second week in January.
01/07/12: VA received package from PEB
03/01/12: Findings send from PEB to PEBLO and I was notified.

Now for the findings:

Findings: UNFIT Disability Rating: 10% Disposition: TO BE SEPARATED FROM ACTIVE DUTY WITH SEVERANCE PAY

Unfitting Conditions: LOCALIZATION RELATED TO EPILEPSY, SYMPTOMATIC; 8911; 10%

Medical Officer Comments: THE RECORD AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED DOCUMENTS THAT THE MEDICAL CONDITION OR DISEASE DOES INTERFERE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE MEMBER'S ABILITY TO CARRY OUT THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, GRADE, RANK OR RATING.

VA Rating:
EPILEPSY - 10%
LOWER BACK PAIN - 20%
ACHILLES STRAIN - 10%
LEFT FOOT PAIN - 10%

Overall VA Rating - 50%

Now I would like to ask some questions and take things one at a time.

SEVERANCE:

For those of you coming up on having to pick you separation date keep this in mind. My PEBLO told me that they do not pay for partial years. They round down if less than 6 months (i.e. 5 year 3 months service would be rounded down to 5 years) and over 6 months they round up (i.e. 9 years 8 months service would be rounded up to 10 years). I almost made a huge mistake and he caught it. I entered the Navy on 10/17/2000. I initially picked 4/16/2012. Some quick math and you would see that I was about to get out 1 day prior to my 6 month mark. I changed this of course and avoided what I estimate was about a $5,500 mistake.

Severance Calculation: $3,243.30 (Base Pay E-6 Over 10) x 2 = $6,486.60. $6,486.60 x 12 (explained why 12 above) = $77,839.20
$77,839.20 x .72 (Uncle Sam's 28% he wants) = $56,044.22 Deposited into my account

VA Compensation: 50% Disability married with 2 children under the age of 18 = $969. Now considering I had 1 unfitting condition rated at 10% they will keep back $127. So I will actually begin receiving $842 when I separate.

One other little perk that my PEBLO mentioned that I cannot seem to find anywhere is my final move of HHG. He said that because I am being separated involuntarly that I can have my household good shipped anywhere in the country. Is this true?

PLEASE IF YOU SEE ANY ERRORS LET ME KNOW, THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE TRUE AND DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANY BAD INFORMATION OUT THERE.
Click to expand...
This may seem off topic, but I see you got 20% for low back pain. If you don't mind me asking, did you ever have any back related complications? (I had a herniated disc requiring emergency surgery, left me with leg and foot pain and bladder issues), I've been trying to estimate what I might get disability wise for this, so that's why i'm wondering what your situation is with your back pain.
 
Not meaning to jump on his post and interupt, but do you recieve severance pay if found fit, after being out of the service for over 11 years....Im just now getting a chance for a PEB.
 
dmj2345 said:
Not meaning to jump on his post and interupt, but do you recieve severance pay if found fit, after being out of the service for over 11 years....Im just now getting a chance for a PEB.
Click to expand...
No, once it is determined that you are indeed eligible for military disability benefits, the severity of your medical condition(s) will determine whether you receive disability retirement or are separated with severance pay.

As such, military service members with a 0%, 10% or 20% disability who have less than 20 years of military active service or 7,200 points of combined military service, will be separated from the military with severance pay. It's important to note that there is no difference between a 0%, 10% or 20% rating in the calculation of the amount of severance pay received; the rating is not a factor in determining severance pay.

Otherwise, military service members rated at 30% or more or who have 20 or more years of military active service or 7,200 points of combined military service, shall receive a military disability retirement.

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

Best Wishes!
 
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