Snake Eater

Well, after nearly six years there giving me the boot. I am still getting an Honorable Discharge which I guess is nice. The reason I'm being booted is what makes me a little upset. I badly injured my shoulder Apr last year. I've been on Limited Duty since then and not able to PT. I had sergury on it in Feb to repair all that was messed up with it. The sergury actualy made it worse and more painfull. My regular enlistment ended in Jan this year and I was stuck on medical hold for treatment. I still have another sergury to go and 12+ months of Phys therapy to have a chance of being better. So far the best "guess" is I may be back to 80% one day. Well 2 weeks ago I got word I was being Admin Seped for being 2% over body fat standards. What do they expect, I have been laid up over a year. Before I got hurt I was the ACFL (command fitness leader) and all was great. From what the Navy says, I should have stayed in standards somehow and my medical condition makes no difference. So next Wed is my last day, then I go on Sep Leave(paid vacation basicaly). As far as my shoulder and the ongoing medical problem, I guess I have to talk to the VA.

One more "screw you" from the Navy is now I get no money from them. I was going to be medicaly seperated this coming Jan and that would have been @ $28000 up front. Now I get nothing. Also if your in over 6 years you get severance pay which would be over $20K. My last offical day in the Navy is July 30th. My 6 year mark is Aug 15th. I am 2 freaking weeks short and get nothing!!!! I tried to get them to extend me till after then but "the instructions say you cant be extended for admin sep reasons". I am getting $7k to move me and my family back to Texas and thats it. After that I have to find a job with my screwed up arm. My final madical evaluation showed I had about half the normal range of motion and was over 70% weaker in that arm, and its my dominant arm.

Now on to the GM related stuff. I am looking at a 24'x8.5' trailer to tow all my stuff back. The loaded weight of the trailer will be over 10K I'm sure. Anyone grossed 17-18K in a half ton before? I will be watching the trans temp and will probibly lock the conv in 3rd to keep heat and slip down. I bet my mileage drops into single digits.

Any helpful hints or tricks? The whole 2200 miles will be pretty flat, no major hills.

Mr. Sandog

Sounds like a lot of BOHICA. I would be getting myself a nice bulldog lawyer.

BlackGMC

iTrader: (31)

Call a news reporter for a major news agency. With all the stuff going on now with the war and stuff, I am sure they would love to hear about your situation and exploit it enough to get the situation resolved.

That sucks, military people have my upmost respect and should be treated with respect.

dewmanshu

iTrader: (4)

I feel ya bro. In their meetings to decide how to handle you it was meticulously thought out. You just saved their command budget by not meeting your anniversary date. In the long term, you are gonna get even more screwed with trying to get into the public sector with an injury. The VA will more than likely help some, but ugh. I forgot the "chit" process but you should be able to file a command petition and get a group of officers to vote on your scenario besides a bunch Yeoman First Classes. The local news or even better network nes thing will certainly make them take a second look.

silver-mod-o

iTrader: (15)

dude, I was close to getting the boot from the MC about a year and a half ago... I feel ya... the way the military handles things most of the time makes no sence to me at all. make sure you get all the disability possible with that injury.... stick it to the man IMO...

Okie5.3

iTrader: (1)

something doesn't sound right. not doubting anything you said, but something isn't right there. you had a shoulder injury, service-connected i take it. limited duty for a while, then surgery to correct, but made it worse. did they say you were good to go and release you back to full duty, or are you still on limited duty?

if your shoulder is still not 100% and you are on limited duty because of it and not able to meet the physical requirements of your job, then they have to MRB (Medical Review Board) you. i know, i have been there after 10 yrs in. the MRB determines if the injury sustained is/will be of a permanent nature and what percentage of disability (not VA), if any, you are awarded. </=20% you are severenced out and will get lump sum cash. >20% you are placed on the TDRL (Temporary Disability Retirement List) for 5 years, paid 50% of your base salary monthly during that time frame, and you go home. you can apply for VA disability benefits and receive them if your case is approved and get a rating. the base salary would be offset by the amount being received from the VA, but that's fine because it is not taxed. at the end of the 5 years on the TDRL if they determine your not fit for duty your placed on the PDRL (Permanent) list and you're done for good.

if you are still on limited duty for the shoulder i would ask the hard questions about being on limited duty for a service connected injury and getting admin separated for body fat. that is absolute BS!!! you should get a copy of your medical record when you leave. take that and go to the DAV and have a counselor write up a case for you and submit it to the VA. hopefully they will grant you a rating. good luck.

ZR1 DREAMING

iTrader: (28)

I agree, something is missing from the equation. I'm not saying it's you either, but possibly the way your command is handling the issue. I would head to my base legal if I were you and get the exact reasoning of everything

poteet

Marine Corps did the same thing to me 10 years ago. I've had two more sugeries on my shoulder since and it's still not worth a #@$%. The only benefit I could get was life insurance. Got a letter from the Vets Admin. Last week telling me that information about me and my family might have been stolen from the VA and sold to telemarketers or the like. Really nice! I hope things go well for you in the civilian world.

Snake Eater

Yes I am still on LIMDU med hold. BUT the instruction says you WILL still be adseped on LIMDU unless your MRB paperwork was initiated first. My paperwork was set to go in at the end of this month, but the adsep paperwork was filed at the begining of this month. SO since the adsep was filed first, I cannot request a MRB. Also since I have not been in 6 full years I am not even eligable for a seperation board to plead my case. Trust me, first thing I did was get an attourney and go over EVERY SINGLE instruction trying to find a loop hole. There isnt one. Its the MILPERSMAN instruction for seperation, there is no higher athority at this point. I will be writing my congressman and possibly calling some media. I cant sue the Navy no matter how bad they screw me, its in your enlistment you sign a paper saying you cant ever sue them. I'm basicaly in a rock and a hard place with a family of 5 to support.

As far as work, I have been on Oxycotton 10mg since last year. Even sitting still sometimes my arm kills me. Right now with me packing and lifting boxes I'm eating them like skittles. How do I do my day-to-day when I get out? I already filed with the VA. Even if I hit 40% and they pay me for my wife and kids, thats only about $700 a month. My Yukon payment is almost that. I have a friend thats been LIMDU as long as me and just had his second spine sergury. He is getting seped just like me, but he can bairly walk. He has only been in 4 years and is getting nothing also. I worry more for him. He was definatly going to get medicaly retired, but now he gets nothing. VA will give him 100% I'm sure, but thats still not enough to live on since he is a single guy. He's only 23 too. I hope these instructions are an oversight and not a deliberate way of screwing people. Hopefuly once congress learns about it things will change.

quicksilverado

iTrader: (8)

Write a letter to your senator or congressman. They can intervine (sp) and sometimes be a big help.