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wolf223
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 549-08
June 30, 2008
DoD Establishes New Physical Disability Board http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12029
The Defense Department announced today the establishment of a new Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) to review disability ratings of wounded warriors and provide another avenue of administrative recourse for our wounded veterans. The Air Force has been designated as lead DoD component for operation and management of the PDBR.
"The PDBR has no greater obligation to our wounded, ill, and injured service members and former service members than to offer fair and equitable recommendations pertaining to the assignment of disability ratings," said Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness David S.C. Chu.
The PDBR will reassess the accuracy and fairness of the combined disability ratings assigned to service members who were discharged as unfit for continued military service by the military departments with a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and were not found to be eligible for retirement. The PDBR will not review the military departments' determinations of fitness for continued military service. Instead, the PDBR will review the combined disability ratings assigned to the specific conditions that resulted in a member being declared unfit for continued military service, acted upon by the military department Physical Evaluation Boards.
Any service member may have his or her case reviewed by the PDBR if he or she meets certain conditions. The member must have been separated from the Armed Forces between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2009, due to unfitness for continued military service resulting from a physical disability under chapter 61 of title 10, U.S. Code. Additionally, the member must have received a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and have been found not eligible for retirement. By law, once adopted by the service secretary, a PDBR recommendation is final, and removes the service member's option to pursue subsequent review through the respective military department's Board for the Correction of Military Records.
Service members may request the PDBR review their case if these conditions are met. Alternatively, the PDBR may itself decide to review an individual's case, pending consent of the service member. Generally, individuals will apply for PDBR review through their respective military department, however more specific guidance will be provided by the Air Force.
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U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public Contact: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
I rec'd this e-mail at work today - so I am passing / posting it here. If anyone knows any wounded warriors who were separated from the military on or after 9/11/2001, please pass this on as they MAY be elig. Generally speaking, they must have went through an "MEB and PEB" and separated from service with 20% or less (severance pay)...
EDIT: The military generally gives a service member a "severance pay" when they are found unfit to perform thier military duties IF their total rating is less than 30%. The severance pay is computed by multiplying the number of years by 2.5 times their base pay; however, there is a 12 year max (i.e. 2000 base pay = 4500 x 10 years). -this severance pay may or may NOT be taxable, depending on the circumstances of the injury / illness. the service member will loose all affiliation with the military (medical, access to the base, MWR ect.) and the money is also subject to recoupment by the Department of Veterans Affairs before they pay out any additional disability. Long story short, the service member gets screwed!!!
A 30% or higher disability is an automatic "medical retirement" - generally speaking - so the service memeber keeps medical and dental benefits, ID Card, post priveleges ect for life. the 30% of their base pay is for life and the service member can still go the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and apply for disability - offset $1 for $1 by the VA. The VA's disability ratings are usually higher & tax free, so the soldier usually ends up with a higher pension (tax free) from the VA...
This is very very important for those who have been separated with or without severance pay to have thier cases reviewed. Althouth it wont be overnight, the long term benefits are much greater.
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