The issue of mental illness in our military has reached crisis levels, with so many veterans seeking help…. Our firm was founded in in Orlando, Florida. Since that time, we have provided compassionate yet assertive representation for our clients. While we still have our home base in Florida, we represent clients nationwide. Learn more about us. Veterans Disability Claim Contact Us. Orlando, FL: E.
Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer Search this website. Get a Case Evaluation. Are you a veteran if you were discharged in basic training? What Is a Veteran? Case-by-Case Basis Given that active-duty starts on day one of training, some people might be considered veterans even if they were discharged early on. In most respects, they were likely exemplary in their behavior.
However, the member may have displayed poor character or conduct at certain times or otherwise failed to adapt to military life. Other than honorable OTH discharge: This type of administrative discharge is the most severe, and might include serious violations of military code. Drug possession, security breaches, or negative civilian encounters might all result in an OTH discharge. A knowledgeable GI Rights counselor or attorney can review any letter. It is perfectly legal to medically evaluate a member of the military — even when the member is absent without leave AWOL.
In fact, medical evaluation is sometimes an important step toward return to military jurisdiction. The risk of civilain providers being forced to attend hearings or trials is virtually nonexistent. Guidelines for civilan providers preparing evaluations for military use :. The military wants to know whether the patient can perform their duties without causing trouble, embarrassment, or expense.
His or her welfare is distinctly less important. Military authorities do not like civilians to tell them what to do. It is also unwise to directly express criticisms of the military. If the patient requires a special adjustment you suspect the military could not provide, state the requirement. The exception to this rule is if you have previous military medical experience. In this case, cite your experience.
While most military medical discharges are due to physical injuries, mental health concerns also can result in a medical discharge. You can receive a medical discharge for depression or post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD. A Medical Review Board will review your case and determine the most appropriate course of action, including which type of discharge is warranted and whether you should be separated from the military.
A medical discharge is typically a general discharge under honorable conditions, but the severity and circumstances under which the medical condition began can impact the type of discharge you receive. The details of your discharge will be listed on your DD Type of discharge is also a factor in determining disability compensation pay. If you have an illness or injury that you believe was caused or made worse by your active-duty service, you can file a Pre-Charge Claim for disability benefits to 90 days before leaving the military.
This may help speed up the claim decision process so you can get your benefits sooner. This site will also tell you what to do if you have less than 90 days left on active duty.
Get multiple copies of your DD and make sure that you have the proper discharge code upon medical separation. Make sure to have your active duty medical records electronically copied before separation. Make any and all appointments to see medical professionals as needed, and have them document any injuries, illness, and mental illness. Check with your admin or pay office to see what military medical discharge you may be entitled to, and if you are eligible to be medically retired.
This program provides you with information, resources, and tools you and your loved ones may use to help prepare for the move from military to civilian life.
In these cases, outside assistance may be important at the outset, and service differences are significant. In the Army, unlike the other services, disability proceedings often begin with a referral by the commanding officer, specifically asking that a medical evaluation be conducted AR , Section II, Initiation of Medical Evaluation, paragraph The other services are less concerned about referrals by commands.
Informally, treating physicians, particularly specialists, often initiate the process for medical evaluation boards MEBs. Thus, if doctors fail to act on their own, counsel in Army cases may wish to address a letter to the command, providing documentation of the condition and requesting medical discharge. In other services, this request is better addressed to the treating doctor, the head of the treating facility, or medical headquarters.
Unfortunately, many commands, soldiers and even Army doctors tend to assume that commands have greater authority than the regulations allow, and civilian advocates may need to remind both commands and doctors of the requirements of the regulations. Members with medical problems have little or no access to legal help through the military in the early stages of their cases. Military counsel is not normally available to soldiers who are having problems gaining access to doctors, feel they have been badly treated in the medical system, or believe that medical evaluation boards should have been prepared long ago.
Under the IDES system, members should be able to consult with military attorneys when MEB proceedings have been initiated or are contemplated. Military counselors or attorneys can play an essential role in the early stages of cases.
Members are generally not familiar with the medical standards governing discharge, and may be misled by over-worked corpsmen, medics or doctors, as well as unsympathetic commands. Few have any idea of the criteria which might make the difference between a medical discharge without disability benefits for a pre-existing condition or medical retirement with disability benefits.
In many areas, non-physicians serve as gatekeepers; they and medical officers serving in the field may be the most likely to under-diagnose medical and psychiatric problems that should warrant referral to a specialist or even emergency treatment.
Advocates can help members move through this sometimes unfriendly system by bringing pressure on commands, medical treatment facilities or medical headquarters, or by enlisting the assistance of civilian physicians to document problems and urge evaluation and treatment.
The right to medical evaluation and care is not discussed much in military regulations, though it is assumed to be a basic right. Some help can be found in DoD Instruction The Instruction also describes complaint procedures available to patients. With problems that are difficult to measure, including some psychiatric conditions and physical conditions which manifest in such elusive symptoms as back pain or headaches, civilian documentation and pressure from an advocate may be important in ensuring that problems are taken seriously.
Reports from civilian doctors are particularly helpful, making it difficult for commands and military doctors to ignore the condition, and providing documentation for complaints if they do so. Part of this process involves helping soldiers or sailors to be effective patients. Many servicemembers downplay medical problems to avoid ridicule or harassment. They should receive an explanation of the value of full reporting of problems and of repeated visits to sick call or their individual doctors whenever symptoms arise.
Most counselors and attorneys encourage their clients not to present as members wanting their rights or wanting discharge, but rather as patients wanting help with problems. Members also need to be warned that military medical records are not confidential, and that information they provide to military doctors or mental health professionals can be repeated to their commands.
If access to physicians is denied, sometimes informal appeal to the commanding officer by members or their advocates will make access easier. Formal letters from counsel requesting medical evaluation sometimes provide the necessary impetus. Parallel letters and complaints can be made to the commander of the military treatment facility involved and to the surgeon general of the service.
Some counselors and attorneys have found ombudsmen and patient advocates at military medical facilities to be helpful, as well. The regulations offer little guidance on time frames for medical evaluation and treatment.
When cases stall, and referrals to MEBs are not forthcoming, counselors or attorneys may need to recommend a reasonable time and demand that the service justify any delay beyond that point. The issue of how long the service can take before responding to certain requests should be judged under a reasonableness standard. Where members have given the military the opportunity to grant the relief requested or to rectify any unwarranted denial of a request for relief, and have submitted appeals to the secretary of the service, administrative remedies have been exhausted for purposes of federal court intervention.
The military should not be able to avoid the consequences of unreasonable delays by transferring members to a war zone and away from the assistance of their attorneys. When in-service remedies have been exhausted, attorneys may go into federal district court to challenge any denial deemed arbitrary and capricious or without basis in fact. GIs may prevail on a writ of habeas corpus or writ of mandamus in such a forum if they have provided a prima facie case warranting medical discharge or retirement, and the military has failed to disprove the existence of the medical condition identified in the prima facie case.
Previously, the VA performed its own medical evaluations after veterans were discharged and then assigned a VA disability rating and processed the VA disability benefits.
The integration of the military and veterans disability evaluation systems was meant to streamline the medical evaluation process and reduce the amount of time between discharge from the service and commencement of VA benefits. There are many factors affecting the length of time needed to get through the entire IDES process including, but not limited to, lack of adequate staffing, training of personnel on the new system, the number of medical conditions of the servicemember, and an increase in the number of servicemembers in the system.
Servicemembers should expect the process to take nearly one year and possibly longer. It should be noted that military disability ratings and VA ratings may differ because there are some conditions the VA considers and rates as disabilities that the military does not consider unfitting.
These differences are described in DoD Instruction One example is the physical appearance of scarring or other disfigurement that does not interfere with functioning. The Integrated Disability Evaluation System and the process for medical discharge and retirement are governed by statute.
Be aware that these regulations may or may not already be updated for changes resulting from the implementation of IDES through DTM There are variations between services, so it is important to work with individual service regulations as well as the DoD Instructions and Directive.
In addition, there is a significant body of case law on the disability system and the rights of those considered for medical discharge or retirement; unfortunately, almost all of the cases, like the regulations, deal with individuals who have already entered the system through a medical evaluation board.
This graphic was created by IDES program administrators and includes the target number of days for each step in the process. The dark hexagons identify points in the process where servicemembers may rebut or appeal decisions.
Source — DTM, Attachment 9. These include:. MEBs do not formally convene, and they offer members no formal opportunity to testify or present evidence. The regulations set out detailed requirements for MEB reports, including types of testing required for some specific medical conditions. The reports include diagnoses, origin and history of the conditions and descriptions of treatment. The reports state whether the conditions are cause for referral into the physical evaluation board PEB , but should not offer opinions on whether or not members are medically fit or unfit for duty.
These boards do not make recommendations for discharge or retirement, or suggest any percentage of disability. Any MEB listing a psychiatric diagnosis must contain a thorough psychiatric evaluation and include the signature of at least one psychiatrist or psychologist with a doctorate degree in psychology.
DTM, Appendix 5 to Attachment 4, page DTM, Attachment 10, page This is the only formal role commands have in the process once the disability proceedings have been initiated. This makes it essential that servicemembers communicate symptoms and their impact on duties to the command while seeking medical attention.
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