Military Retirement - Woohoo! no more Fitness Tests

[cwbullet]

One more week of work. 4 months to find a job and counting. My disability claim was submitted today. I am guessing I am 50-70% disabled. Wish me luck.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Holy smokes! When did you become partly disabled? I didn't see anything about it earlier on the thread.

I hope you do well, and much thanks for your service, esp. your yeoman's duty during the Wuhan flu fiasco - and you kept up posted here as well!

 

[modeltrains]

Here's luck to ya!

Dad is a retired USN Commander on a lot of disability.
My brother is a retired Army W4 on some disability.
One of my brother's sons left Army on disability after Iraq.

While I'd much rather veterans didn't get disabled, especially my family, if anyone has ever earned disability compensation, Veterans certainly have!

 

[cwbullet]

Good luck! I hope you get a great job.

Two offers and counting. I just want a decent job that will give me the time to continue my hobby.

I had to decline as a mentor for spaceport this year because I did not know about my availability in June. It was heartbreaking.

 

[boatgeek]

Two offers and counting. I just want a decent job that will give me the time to continue my hobby.

I had to decline as a mentor for spaceport this year because I did not know about my availability in June. It was heartbreaking.

It's water under the bridge now, but I think it is totally reasonable to tell your new boss that you have a commitment in June and you will expect to be able to take vacation or at least leave w/o pay. It's 9 months away and they ought to be able to schedule that!

 

[cwbullet]

It's water under the bridge now, but I think it is totally reasonable to tell your new boss that you have a commitment in June and you will expect to be able to take vacation or at least leave w/o pay. It's 9 months away and they ought to be able to schedule that!

I know, but I am not willing to string along a team and dump them in a couple months.

 

[boatgeek]

I know, but I am not willing to string along a team and dump them in a couple months.

I was more thinking that the trip in June to support your team would be a condition of you taking the job. If they want you, they should be flexible enough to schedule a vacation 9 months out.

 

[cwbullet]

I was more thinking that the trip in June to support your team would be a condition of you taking the job. If they want you, they should be flexible enough to schedule a vacation 9 months out.

The good news it the team found two other L3 FOR. I can wait for a year and see if another team needs someone next year.

 

[Sandy H.]

The good news it the team found two other L3 FOR. I can wait for a year and see if another team needs someone next year.

Heck, if somehow no other team is looking for someone with your knowledge and passion for rocketry, you can teach Turbo and I from losing rockets on such a clear and flat field!

I hope you enjoy your final week of working in your current role. I can only imagine that lots of your co-workers will miss you immensely.

Sandy.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

One more week of work. 4 months to find a job and counting. My disability claim was submitted today. I am guessing I am 50-70% disabled. Wish me luck.

The military retirement check-of-the-month club is great. The VA disability add-on check is great too - although I would gladly trade every dollar of it for a body that wasn't damaged. Still, get what you're owed! If you don't get it, there are great advocates out there that do amazing work at fighting for you.

Good luck with the transition. It's not trivial to shift gears, but keeping your eye on hobbies is a great way to keep work throttled appropriately. So close - congrats!

 

[cwbullet]

The military retirement check-of-the-month club is great. The VA disability add-on check is great too - although I would gladly trade every dollar of it for a body that wasn't damaged. Still, get what you're owed! If you don't get it, there are great advocates out there that do amazing work at fighting for you.

Good luck with the transition. It's not trivial to shift gears, but keeping your eye on hobbies is a great way to keep work throttled appropriately. So close - congrats!

You are 100% correct on the difficulty making a transition. I have already experienced that. As I transitioned from the last job ack to clinical care. I had a hard time turning off the “I had to be a part of the planning and decisions” part if me. I have served as a clinical executive for the Army for ten years. I the the longest serving in that role in the Army’s 200+ years according to our historian, so I guess that is understandable.

I just filed my VA claim. Technically, I am 131 days out from my official retirement date. I have time to adjust. I will spend most of that time on leave (Vacation) unless I start working a CIV job before then.

 

[Jay Dub 4009]

Congrats! I am starting to think about my retirement from the AF in 18 months, 23 years for me so far.

 

[cwbullet]

Congrats! I am starting to think about my retirement from the AF in 18 months, 23 years for me so far.

Start the process soon. Feel free to PM with questions. I am not a pro, but I quickly becoming skilled at the process.

 

[Marc_G]

@cwbullet congratulations on nearly being retired!

But what's this about disabled? This is a complete shock.

I'm willing to bet that a partially disabled cwbullet is still more able than most people...

 

[Bravo52]

You are 100% correct on the difficulty making a transition. I have already experienced that. As I transitioned from the last job ack to clinical care. I had a hard time turning off the “I had to be a part of the planning and decisions” part if me. I have served as a clinical executive for the Army for ten years. I the the longest serving in that role in the Army’s 200+ years according to our historian, so I guess that is understandable.

I just filed my VA claim. Technically, I am 131 days out from my official retirement date. I have time to adjust. I will spend most of that time on leave (Vacation) unless I start working a CIV job before then.

One recommendation. Don't start working right away. Take what time you can afford and mentally decompress. Sure there is banked leave and permissive, but that is not the same. Use your official retirement date as a "line in the sand".

When I started negotiating a new position after retiring, I said I wanted to be "made whole" regarding leave. I had the company agree to allowing me to take "leave without pay" at any time. I had family events that were pretty much set in stone that I was not going to miss. I even told them I would take lower pay in order to get my requirements met. They agreed and it was the best decision both the company and I could have made. The company I chose to work for was phenomenal and our relationship was very beneficial to both of us.

E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is negotiable. Even the smallest thing. Tell them upfront your team mentorship is set in stone. Deal breaker so to speak. They'll consider it.

Regarding VA disability. Don't forget to work with your state and local VA reps. There are a ton of other benefits out there that don't come from the federal government. My state rep told me about an AF program for flyers that basically provided additional funds to compensate for getting disability that essentially allowed me to "double dip" disability pay for a limited time. Never would have heard about that if it wasn't for my "state" guy.

EDIT: Oh, and about the "difficulty in transitioning" thing.... You may find it very hard at first "not being in charge".

 

[cwbullet]

EDIT: Oh, and about the "difficulty in transitioning" thing.... You may find it very hard at first "not being in charge".

I did, and now, I don't. I love being lower on the totem pole. No one is calling me at midnight yelling because they did not get their way so I am very happy to have less responsibility.

 

[hobie1dog]

@cwbullet congratulations on nearly being retired!

But what's this about disabled? This is a complete shock.

I'm willing to bet that a partially disabled cwbullet is still more able than most people...

I was curious about the same thing

 

[FMarvinS]

One more week of work. 4 months to find a job and counting. My disability claim was submitted today. I am guessing I am 50-70% disabled. Wish me luck.

Congrats ChucK! I hope all works out great for you & the family.

Regards,
Fred

 

[cwbullet]

I have had a bunch of questions about disability. I have not avoided them, but I have been thinking about how to answer them. I do not feel disabled and would not be disabled on a civilian definition. That being said, I have a few things that are "broken."

My military retirement is about a little over 60% of my base pay. It does not include bonuses of specialty pay. When you retire, the VA pays for things that are limiting for full CIV employment or may find your ability to work.

Examples could be:

1. Arthritic joints that were caused or exacerbated by military service.
2. Sleep apnea
3. Insomnia
4. PTSD
5. Diabetes
6. Hypertension
7. Burn pit exposure
8. Surgical procedures with organ loss

Most who retire are 50-100% disabled. They get a check from the VA for $1000 to 3400 per month to compensate for the loss.

 

[cwbullet]

I was curious about the same thing

Read my last post.

 

[Banzai88]

I have had a bunch of questions about disability. I have not avoided them, but I have been thinking about how to answer them. I do not feel disabled and would not be disabled on a civilian definition. That being said, I have a few things that are "broken."

My military retirement is about a little over 60% of my base pay. It does not include bonuses of specialty pay. When you retire, the VA pays for things that are limiting for full CIV employment or may find your ability to work.

Examples could be:

1. Arthritic joints that were caused or exacerbated by military service.
2. Sleep apnea
3. Insomnia
4. PTSD
5. Diabetes
6. Hypertension
7. Burn pit exposure
8. Surgical procedures with organ loss

Most who retire are 50-100% disabled. They get a check from the VA for $1000 to 3400 per month to compensate for the loss.

Speaking as a retired .mil.guy: Caim.everything.you.can.NOW.

You might not "feel" disabled now, but you will soon enough, especially once you get in the mix with non-.mil folks of a similar age. Likely you'll run out of health LONG before you run out of time or money.

Even if you don't think anything in your medical record amounts to much, I assure, it's something. Make sure to establish cause, diagnosis, effect, and treatment and meds when you write up the claim, backed up by copies of your medical record.

ANYTHING chronic or surgical should be an auto-include!!!!! No ifs, ands, or buts.

Even 0% is a "rating" that can establish service connection. If it gets worse, then any treatment or claim augment isn't new and goes through easier.

If you don't claim it now, after a few years the burden of proof is on you to establish service connection, at which point getting care or funding gets exponentially harder.

.mil disability is codified as an entitlement. YOU EARNED IT, claim it.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

What Banzai said.

Get a VFW rep (or other pro) to go through your medical records. They’re amazing at putting the list together & doing the paperwork. Of course, don’t stretch the truth, but definitely claim everything that got damaged/hurt/burned/shot/operated on/torn/etc while you were in the military. Pretty much everyone who deployed qualifies for burn pit exposure now too, so make sure that’s on there.

When it comes time for your exams, one thing that helped me describe things was I asked my wife to tell me what she’s noticed. I wrote all that down and told the examiner my wife’s comments too.

It’s also important to understand what the VA exams look at - get the eval sheets/guidelines for each of your items before you go. For back pain, for example, they’ll ask you to bend, twist, etc and measure range of motion. I believe you’re supposed to let them know when it hurts or you get to a movement limit. So, powering through pain isn’t necessarily what they need for your evaluation.

 

[cwbullet]

What Banzai said.

Get a VFW rep (or other pro) to go through your medical records. They’re amazing at putting the list together & doing the paperwork. Of course, don’t stretch the truth, but definitely claim everything that got damaged/hurt/burned/shot/operated on/torn/etc while you were in the military. Pretty much everyone who deployed qualifies for burn pit exposure now too, so make sure that’s on there.

When it comes time for your exams, one thing that helped me describe things was I asked my wife to tell me what she’s noticed. I wrote all that down and told the examiner my wife’s comments too.

It’s also important to understand what the VA exams look at - get the eval sheets/guidelines for each of your items before you go. For back pain, for example, they’ll ask you to bend, twist, etc and measure range of motion. I believe you’re supposed to let them know when it hurts or you get to a movement limit. So, powering through pain isn’t necessarily what they need for your evaluation.

Thanks. As a military member, it is hard to make a claim, but We all deserve everything we get!

 

[Marc_G]

Thanks. As a military member, it is hard to make a claim, but We all deserve everything we get!

As a taxpayer, I sometimes balk at government expenses. But taking care of our vets isn't one of those things. Get everything you can, you earned it with honor.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Thanks. As a military member, it is hard to make a claim, but We all deserve everything we get!

Exactly. This is not a suck it up & tough it out part of your duty. This is the government's duty to take care of you for the damage it did to your body.

 

[cwbullet]

Exactly. This is not a suck it up & tough it out part of your duty. This is the government's duty to take care of you for the damage it did to your body.

Thanks. Pride makes it difficult, but I plan to do so.

As a taxpayer, I sometimes balk at government expenses. But taking care of our vets isn't one of those things. Get everything you can, you earned it with honor.

Thanks.

 

[cwbullet]

Today is the first step. I pick up my clearing paperwork. Like any good Officer, I am going to sit down with a cup of joe and develop a plan to get all of these signatures. Ten days and counting till I clear my last military post! This stuff just got real.

I am out of it a bit. Today I am still sick from my COVID shot and I have other pressing engagements outside of rocketry.

 

[cwbullet]

I have spent the last 48 hours doing that wonderful scavenger hunt for signatures that is required to clear installation and retire. I still have yet to find the snipe at the end. Only military will get this but it is funny non-the-less.

 

[Bravo52]

When I started the out-processing week, two things became clear. First, all but one of the signatures I needed didn't care much about signing. It was almost impossible to find them in their office to actually sign. I enlisted the help of the "CBPO" Capt to round the remaining few up to get signed off.

The second thing that was kind of funny was the SBP (Survivor Benefit Plan) sign off...that lady was mean. I had to bring my wife in and it was "her choice" as to accepting the program or not... In fact, the person doing the brief just asked me to leave... My wife and I already did the math and there is no program out there with the same benefits for the cost, that was comparable. Even USAA said take it...so we did.

 

[cwbullet]

When I started the out-processing week, two things became clear. First, all but one of the signatures I needed didn't care much about signing. It was almost impossible to find them in their office to actually sign. I enlisted the help of the "CBPO" Capt to round the remaining few up to get signed off.

The second thing that was kind of funny was the SBP (Survivor Benefit Plan) sign off...that lady was mean. I had to bring my wife in and it was "her choice" as to accepting the program or not... In fact, the person doing the brief just asked me to leave... My wife and I already did the math and there is no program out there with the same benefits for the cost, that was comparable. Even USAA said take it...so we did.

Isn't that the truth? I am not sure why we go through this ritual.