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Kevin Palmer

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First, I am well aware of how highly personal the finial decision is and that it must be mine and mine alone. What I am looking for is simply your thoughts.



Long story short. (Slightly long, but please read and post your thoughts).



The Coast Guard screwed up and did not file my annual physical properly. As a result, they have taken my E7 promotion from me as well as the ability to drill, (for points, pay or anything else for that matter). During the time they have attempted to fix the issue, my contract expired. Now I am in a circle of you can not get physical without being on a contract and a contract can not be issued without an active physical. Trust me, this is the VERY short version. It has been a real nasty 7 months.



I have obtained permission to sue the government. However, even if I will I will simply be allowed to go back to status and get a physical. I will not get back what they have taken. Bum deal? yes. Believe me, I have researched this extensively.



So here is where I am looking for your thoughts.

I was contacted today that I have extension papers at my unit for me to sign, (this would bring me back into pay status). I have also been contacted by the VA as a result of three substantial injuries I had received while deployed on Title-10 orders (non voluntary orders).

I recently enrolled in collage.



Here is the nuts and bolts. If I am an active military member I can get the GI Bill to pay for collage. As it stands, I will not be recommended for one year for E7, which really means that it will be three or four years to be able to retire with the E7 rating as you MUST hold it for 2 active years before you retire. So the advantage to going back in is, pay, E7 and the GI bill.



However, if I do go back in I can not be eligible for any VA disabilities, (crushed foot requiring surgery, in an explosion that blew out both ear drums, hearing loss, tinnitus both ears, vertigo and migraines, and a blow to my face via a weapon that broke 9 teeth and my lower jaw bone). I have no idea what the financial value of these are but I would think substantial when added up.



I am at a loss of the direction to go.



If I stay in I can get pay, points for retirement, E7 after 4 years and school paid for.

Get out, I can retire as I have 24 years in and get VA funds due to the disabilities. I am told I can get school paid for as well but do not know the system well enough to know if that is correct.



I hate to give them 4 more years but the potential is making this a hard decision.



So, what do you think???
 
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Coastie,



I'm not familiar with the Coast Guard system, but I'm sure it's got to be very similar to active duty. They passed the law recently to where disability pay is now separate from your retirement pay and is nontaxable. In the past, it was considered a portion of your retirement. Now, you get your regular retirement PLUS disability (non-taxed) on top of that ... good deal. Considering your injuries, I'm expecting you to have a very high disability percentage. For not wanting to do another four years, I'd spend the next few days and researching what you'd get for a retirement now with disability pay.



Ken (US Air Force)
 
Ken, you are correct, it is now on top of the pay and tax free. And I must admit, I am leaning in this direction. I just wanted to see it though the eyes of others as well. I feel terrible about not retiring as an E7. That was a life long goal. But.... you do what you need to do I guess.



Thanks for your input.
 
Kevin,



If in your shoes, I would straighten out the current issues, recover the time the CG could not consider for your E7 promotion due to their fault, then go ahead and stay in for the E-7. After you retire, you could still get the tax free disability benefits from the VA where you could add a much larger E-7 regular retirement. Four more years would fly by fast specially in the line of work you are in now. Wishing you the best for you and your family in dealing with this.
 
I understood by your original post that "I hate to give them 4 more years but the potential is making this a hard decision." Which is why I said to research your options now if you retired now vice four years from now. I'm at 18 myself and at a crossroad of whether or not to truly compete for promotion this year (E7 now) so I understand, a little anyway (don't have the same medical issues), how difficult your decision is.



So again, I would have the retirement now question answered ... seems like you already know the "retire in 4 years" answer.

 
Ken, good points. And, if you asking me, no question about it... get your E& stuff done as it is WELL worth it in the difference in pay and respect. In your case, it may cost you 1 additional year based on when you get promoted. If that is all is was for me I would not be here asking the various questions.



My position really sucks rocks to be hones with you. There is so much more to it that I did not list as it would have been WAY to LONG to list it all in a post.



I lost 8 months of pay, all my life insurance money, various benefits and a break in service. All due to a incorrect filing issue. I have corrected the life insurance issue by paying out of pocket, (not cheap but the best answer at the time).
 
I would opt for the full retirement plan, continue to work on the back pay issue, and remain in college. Get more info from my VA representative. And invest in a qualified attorney since the CG created the situation with the clerical error. The physical was actually completed.



Why wouldn't you be eligible for the disability pay after retirement?
 
I agree with Ken. Disability and retirement pay might even be more then what you are getting now..

Also, with being activated Non-voluntary, you should also be eligible for school benifits similar to or better then GI bill. (depending on your state) here is Ct we have a tuition waiver for all veterans.

I would sit down with a VA benifit rep. and go over all your choices.



USAF CTANG title 32

23 years.
 
TRACket Paul, I would be eligible after retirement. I can not get both if I stay in, only once I retire can I get the VA stuff.



My guts are all torn up on the inside as this has screwed with my goal so severely.



It is looking like I need to get an estimated value on the potential of the VA funds and see where it adds up to using my retirement as of today as compared to waiting four years and retire on E7 pay...



I wish this kind of thing on no one....
 
I undersatand about being screwed also. not medically but in other ways.

I was supose to retire 3 years ago at 20 years of service.



Got Stop-Lossed, and sent to Afghanistan.

Lost my Apt. my job I should have had when I did get out.(was supose to move to Denmark)

Almost lost my wife also. (glad I fought to get her to stay)



So now I am in until Dec 0f 2009.



Hope i can find something before then.



So look deep into all options. and take now ones word for anything. Make sure you get it in writing.



best of luck..

 
Coastie,



First off, sorry for not posting sooner or for awhile, I've been busy since I got back home getting settled in. Second, you know I just got out as a second class after 5 with the navy and it sounds to me like your in a pretty pickle... I do agree with Sal A. though, since you were activated involuntary you should be able to get either partial or FULL MGIB benifits through the VA. It sucks that the CG gave you the shaft like they have with the error. Even worse that it cost you E-7 and a shit ton of money, plus the break in service. But if it helps in your decision, my word to you is that you've served with honor for 24 years, you don't need anchors on your collar to remind you of that, even if it was a lifetime goal.



Check with the VA's website about MGIB benifits, and they also have a posting thread on there where you can actualy ASK the VA about situations like this. I'm sure they could clerify the Disablity (Which I KNOW you should be eligable for, since I just filed mine) and you could ask about MGIB at the same time...



Best of luck Coastie, and take care. Keep us informed.



~Josh



(Here's the VA site)
 
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Josh, excellent points. I will check into the VA options heavily over the next few days as I will have to do something almost immediately.



Thanks all....
 
Coastie,



It does seem you got a raw deal. I don't have any good advice other than making sure the IG and your Congressman know about your situation. This should not happen to ANYONE, but please do what you can to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else either. I really don't even understand how it happened in the first place.



Active duty folks sign terms of enlistment and no physical is required to continue service in a reenlistment. The only way we are separated for a physical disability is through a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB). One of my troops is facing this, and my father was separated back in 1972 through this process (he had just passed the exam to become a Warrant Officer, but he never got to wear the rank).
 
I did have a MEB and turned it down as it was only for 15% AND I had to give up my retirement. Gee, no brainier there. So I continued just as though it never happened.



But.... it seems as though someone made a HUGE mistake and I am the punching bag of it all.



Very very depressing. I promise you, I will never let this happen to anyone if I can do anything about it.
 
Kevin,



Sorry to hear about your problems. I was active USAF for almost 27 years and retired a couple of years ago.



First, I knew the USCG treated their members, at the same time it seems, differently than other service members, and the same as other service members - all kind of depending on the situation. But what they've done to you just absolutely sucks.



Besides retiring as a chief petty officer, and the pay, are there any other advantages to putting in 4 more years? To be honest with you, I'm not sure where the 4 years comes from. Is that the one-year wait, plus 3 years to average out your high-3 pay for retirement? I don't know how long your previous stint was as an E-7, but it seems to me that DFAS or the USCG would have to include that pay factor in figuring out your retirement pay.



A little history about education programs - It sounds like you were in the same generation of education programs as I was in. I came in after the original GI Bill was discontinued, but before the MGIB was enacted. That left everybody who enlisted in that time period with the Veteran's Education Assistance Program as their only out. Suffice to say that VEAP was a joke, and was eventually replaced by the MGIB. About 4-5 years ago, Congress passed a law that allowed former-VEAP participants to sign-up for the MGIB, but you had to have actually put money into VEAP, otherwise you weren't eligible. Again, my knowledge of the USCG is lacking, so I don't know if that affected you or not.



The VA has at least a couple of education programs. Chapter 30 is the normal MGIB. I don't know how it works in the USCG, but in the other services, you (or your service) pretty much had to pay into it, and then got the payback after separation/retirement. The VA does allow people to use it while they're on active-duty, but it never made any sense to me why anyone would want to do that since 100% tuition assistance is/was generally and widely available.



Chapter 31 - Vocational Rehabiliation, or Voc Rehab, for short, might be your best bet - and is actually a better program, at least cash-wise, than Chapter 30. If you decide to retire, you'll need to submit a copy of your medical records to the VA (talk to a rep from the DAV for help on doing that) for determining your disability compensation status. The VA will essentially boil your injuries/disabilities down to a percentage. That percentage can determine your eligibility for a number of things, like Voc Rehab (and the aforementioned disability pay). It takes only a 20% disability to be eligible for Voc Rehab, but the VA factors in other issues as well. For example, with a 20% disability rating, I was eligible for Voc Rehab, but at the time of my application, I was working for a defense contractor doing essentially the same type of work I did while I was active, and the VA didn't figure I needed rehabilitating. :(



Does the Coast Guard have a Transition Assistance Program to help folks out that are separating or retiring? If they do, you should go talk to them. If they don't, you have a long row to hoe, buddy.



I hope everything works out.
 

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