Resign AGR for mental health reasons - Is it possible?

lew2118

lew2118

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
Hello all,

I'm posting on behalf of my husband who is suffering from moderate to severe PTSD. He was recently put on medication and is seeing a therapist which has been helpful but he feels trapped and I think leaving active duty would help his mental health tremendously... but herein lies my question: CAN he resign AGR if he has a current medical condition? Could they force him to remain in his job due to an active medical condition like PTSD (or he has active spine issues)? He needs out and I want to help him heal but I need to know what happens next and if this is even a possibility for us. He still has 3 years left on his contract as an M Day solider so he would technically still have to be "in" as long as the IDES process takes.

Thanks for your help and any insight on how this could transpire.
 
I would not recommend it. the process is harder once you leave or are "Let Go" from an AGR position. While going through the processes of the IDES Im sure medical and NGB can help. maybe if he could see a military doctor that cannot be overridden NGB and his unit might be able to put him on con leave.... maybe not the entire time but just times to have him destress while going though the process.

read my experience - AGR Then "waiver" To DSG Cluster....
 
lew2118 said:
Hello all,

I'm posting on behalf of my husband who is suffering from moderate to severe PTSD. He was recently put on medication and is seeing a therapist which has been helpful but he feels trapped and I think leaving active duty would help his mental health tremendously... but herein lies my question: CAN he resign AGR if he has a current medical condition? Could they force him to remain in his job due to an active medical condition like PTSD (or he has active spine issues)? He needs out and I want to help him heal but I need to know what happens next and if this is even a possibility for us. He still has 3 years left on his contract as an M Day solider so he would technically still have to be "in" as long as the IDES process takes.

Thanks for your help and any insight on how this could transpire.
Click to expand...

Hi. Sorry to here about what you both are going through. I might be able to help. I am a KY Army National Guard, Med Ret, Dec 2018. There has been a big push for all AGR's to turn in their medical records if they see a civilian doctor. That is to basically in KY to find who has any medical problems and put them into IDES to see if they are fit or unfit. I get it as we all are supposed to be ready to deploy.
So the key in any AGR situation is getting to 20 active service years, and verifying that on his RPAM Statement for 7200 points. For the reason for this is he would qualify for Concurrent Receipt if he is found to be at 50% or more disabled. So for me, they got me at 19 years. So I was found unfit for injuries at 50% by the DOD and I don't qualify for Concurrent. I loose $2100 a month due to this.

So a few questions. How many active years does he have? Don't count total service years. It's different. I have 24 total years but only 19 of them active service.
Has he been using a civilian doctor or military doctor?

I'll wait until I see your reply.
Brian
 
lew2118,

Also on the AGR part. He can resign from the Title 32 program and if he hasn't got more than 20 total years of service, both MDAY and AGR, he might has a service term to still complete. And again if he has 20 active duty years he is good to go. The JFHQ HOR office can do the calculation on his service. They have a clerk in each HOR office at the JFHQ that works on all AGR retirements. They can calculate all his years and they can produce a memo called, 20 year letter, or 15 year letter.
 
Thanks for your help and quick replies. He has 14 years total service and 9 of them are active duty between AGR and deployment. His current primary care manager is through a MTF. A MEB has not been initiated yet, though his PCM intends to initiate after receiving a pending final report from a different physician. He is part of a training site but his drill unit (if resigning AGR) would be the same unit. I don't know how that would effect the MEB process.

I guess my biggest concern is his mental health currently... he desperately needs out and is in therapy with the VA for his PTSD. We can still make it financially if he resigns and moves to drill status only... I just hate seeing him so miserable. He is so much better with his PTSD with his medication and when he gets time and space away from the army.

As far as the concurrent receipt, from what I understand he will likely not be eligible-- but will likely qualify for CRSC for the PTSD. I am just not sure how all of this works if we move from active duty to drill only to get him out (I mean, other than once a month for drill).
 
Have his PCM then see if they can do con leave while in treatment and keep it that way??? the PCM can get approval from NGB/SG on that if it is for long term...
 
That's no problem. I agree with Russ35057 on the con leave. Ask the PCM but also need to talk to the HRO office with the AGR program because they are the ones that is in charge and would cut the DA 31 papers with the PCM/Medical Surgeon at JFHQ G1 Office. So with the MEB pending, IT IS VERY Important that he goes through the IDES and NOT the LDES. Do not select the LDES. I had a soldier that was put into in and it was horrible how they treated him. Myself and the National Guard couldn't help out because when a soldier enters the medical board process it's the soldier "against" the MTF that is assigned his case in the IDES (MEB-PEB).
With his active years being at 9 only then you are correct. Apply for CRSC but also if you want to. He can also apply for SSDI through the Social Security. You'd need to check their website to see if he has paid in enough to meet the 42 points they set in order to qualify. That is a separate fight but the American Legion if he is a member has lawyers on their board at no cost to help fight things.
Another problem that I've seen happen. In order to get put into the IDES (MEB-PEB) gather up any and all medical documents you all can that he has been diagnosed with. If he has his MEPS file, awesome. That will show that he had no medical issues when he joined. Also knew that being on Active Duty orders the regulation states that any medical condition that he gets diagnosed with while on his AGR orders, is covered. Even if he was playing basketball and broke an ankle it's still considered done on active duty.
Also. Do an internet search for the VA Claim form. Have him ensure that the State Surgeon doesn't fill it out for him and send it in to the MEB. The reason is I had another soldier last year that I was helping out, our State Surgeon filled his claim form out and only put one condition on it and he has had a fight to turn in all conditions on a claim.
So Key is: Get a copy of the claim form, maybe go to the local VFW, DAV or American Legion and ask to speak to the Veteran Service Officer (VSO). That person can help ya'll fill out the claim now with all his conditions and any condition he thinks he might have because the VA C & P Exam will look at those things unless its changed.
Another source I used was the AR 635-40. It is a regulation that discusses Medical retirement and separation.
I'm going to try and attach a Claim Form that I got from another Soldier that was in the MEB at Fort Knox. This word memo is good to prefill out with one condition per the memo. This will help the C & P Examiner when doing the exam. Especially if they go through the exam fast that way they will have those forms and medical documents after the exam to reference as they fill out the DBQ's for each condition.
Another helpful thing is the VA DBQ's. If you go to the VA website you can print them off and if your doctor would fill them out, turn that in with the exam, then the VA and the MEB folks will have to accept the DBQ that shows his condition is worse. This is in case the VA examiner doesn't give him credit during the exam due to how extensive his injuries are.
Also, sorry all this is coming back to me, you can research the website: www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com That website was developed by an Army and Air Force surgeons to help us out. You can go to the tab selection and it explains in-depth the whole IDES, medical, VA, MEB and PEB. It also has a tab to click that says Find Your Condition. This is great because it allows you to input a medical condition and allows us to see how the VA will rate that condition. They are updating the VASRD but you'll see what verbiage the VA uses so that way you see exactly how they rate for the condition and you can have your doctor use that verbiage also if you want.
 

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