I received my disability rating a little over a year ago, now; and as soon as I did I began enrolling in the VA Medical Center system to get access to care through the VA, which is a separate process from simply being rated for disability. Once you're rated for a disability, you automatically will start receiving the VA Compensation payments in the bank account you noted when applying, but if you want to continue your care, you must apply at a VAMC to become a patient. This process can be done online, I believe, or in person at the VA Benefits & Enrollment office within the VAMC which is what I chose to do. They helped me fill out the paper form necessary to be sent through the VAMC's administrative process which ensures eligibility and priority, and they also create a VA ID card for you with your picture on it. The information for the ID card is taken in person, including the photograph, and then the card is mailed to you as soon as it is ready. I did this, like I said, a little over a year ago, and my VA ID card was just now mailed to me this week. I had to frequently return to the VA Enrollment office to try to figure out why my ID card was not coming, and each time I met with a different person who identified a different problem with my ID card processing, and about half the time I went to check on my ID card their online system for ID cards was down so they couldn't help me at all. At one point, my name was different between the MyHealtheVet system and the VA ID card system, so it couldn't correlate my information. This was due to a typographical error when they first entered my name upon enrolling. This took months to resolve, as they explained they had to wait for the system to hard-fail my application before it would let them edit my name in the system. Then a second issue that took months to identify and resolve was that my name was "too long" for the system, which was based on an MSDOS prompt interface, which truncated my name and complicated and hard-failed the application. The Enrollment staff kept taking my contact information and ensuring me they would work on it after I left and contact me if they needed to. It seems they actually did do this, as I did finally get my ID. I had pretty much given up on getting the VA ID card, as it serves no purpose other than checking-in for appointments at the VA. Some businesses and services will accept it as proof of disability and proof of veteran status, although I had other documentation to support that. The card and official-looking plastic credit card with magnetic strip on it, so people tend to take it a little more seriously if they're not familiar with other VA letterhead documents.
I will say that my care at the VA has been excellent to date. The specialists have been fantastic, caring and knowledgeable. The administrators and staff are helpful within the confines of their capabilities (which sometimes is not much considering they fight the same bureaucratic processes that frustrate all of us). And the facility I visit is new and well appointed. I have never once been seen at the time of my appointment, and for general physician appointments I frequently wait about 45 minutes to 1 and a half hours to be seen. But when comparing with private hospitals and private practices I have been to -- which have focused on pushing patients through as quickly as possible in order to bill Medicare and Insurance companies -- the care I get at the VAMC is superb. I would not trade shorter wait times for the conveyor-belt process in private medical settings. I hear lots of criticism of the VA, but overall it is so much better than the alternative that I could not imagine having to use a private hospital with staff and medical teams that don't care or understand the needs of veterans. An aphorism to keep in mind might be, "good things come to those who wait." It's important to understand the stresses and frustrations that the staff, nurses and doctors are also feeling, and realize not everything is in their control!
In addition, I did file an appeal 7 months ago for two reasons. The first is that they had my service dates wrong which impacted when my disability compensation was supposed to begin which impacted the amount of compensation I received, and also because I believed one of my conditions qualified for the higher disability rating and wanted to provide additional evidence to support that higher rating. The online eBenefits website lists my open appeal as being received but no other movement has occurred on that since. Some reports from a few years ago indicated wait times around 500 to even 900 days for traditional appeals. Just recently, the VA introduced a new direct appeal process that they claim will be completed within 30 days, but because I submitted my appeal through the normal appeals stream before they created this new appeals process I cannot simply re-submit using this new process. You can request a review request without additional evidence, so a new individuals reviews your case and comes to a new conclusion on their own. You can submit new evidence to support your claim which may result in additional medical examinations or hearings. To be honest, I have no real clear idea about how the different mechanisms work and what to expect. I spent my years in service fighting bureaucratic malaise and stubbornness, and I have become tired of the fight. I'll probably just sit back and wait for the VA to come back to me with something instead of trying to chase my own tail through the mazes they've created. Feel free to post comments with specific questions or if you experienced something different in order to compare our experiences! And best of luck to all of you reading!
Monday, April 23, 2018
Friday, February 10, 2017
VA Health, eBenefits, Compensation & Pension
I have finally made it (mostly) through my Compensation & Pension (or C&P) process with the VA (Veterans Affairs) in order to try to get continuing healthcare coverage through VA hospitals. I just received my ratings letter with any covered, acknowledged, or denied conditions on it yesterday; however, two of my conditions are awaiting clarification from my C&P physician prior to finalizing their ratings, so I am not fully complete. For reference, I sent in my claim's form to the VA on the 2nd of September, 2016. I received this letter on the 9th of February, 2017. That's 160 days. I understand the average time for my area is 130 days for people with about my number of conditions.
The initial process was just fine. Before leaving my final station, I went to the on-post hospital to request my official medical records. I had to request they be mailed to me, because I was leaving the area before they were able to collect it all, due to heavy case load. I received a big box on my doorstep about a month later, including two paper copies and CDs with copies digitized as PDF. For my own records I also requested all of my X-ray, MRI, etc. images on a CD from the radiology office separately, as those do not come in your official medical history. In order to file a C&P claim with the VA you must submit a copy of the official medical records along with your claims form. Don't forget to also include the VA form to claim your dependents if you have any, as that slightly changes the compensation you could receive. I believe the VA has an online portal, called eBenefits, where you can submit the digital copies, but I saw a representative who helped me fill out the paperwork for free and offered to be my point for any issues or complications along the way. These people are basically free lawyers that are part of unofficial veterans organizations that you've probably heard of like the American Legion. Although I do not specifically recommend one over the other, there was one that had an office within the VA hospital where I did my C&P exams, so I used them. They'll ask you to sign a limited power of attorney, filed with the VA, which gives them authorization to check the status of your claim on your behalf and that's basically it. You can change representatives at any time by signing a new form that gets sent to the VA and overrides the previous PoA.
On, I think it was the 18th of September, I received a call to schedule my C&P examinations. I had four separate ones, each with a medical specialist that worked in the area of my conditions, or a good generalist that could handle multiple issues. The VA scheduler worked with me over the phone to schedule times that were good for me, and I did not end up taking any sick time from work in order to go to them, but the scheduler did err on the side of working with me to schedule earlier appointments if possible, probably because of the time hacks they are judged on. By the 18th of October, I had completed all of my medical exams, many of them on Saturdays per my request. Be sure to call your C&P office ahead of time if you have multiple examinations in order to ask what conditions will be evaluated at each appointment. I did not know to do this and showed up to a specialist with the wrong information. The C&P appointments were mostly great, timely and the physicians very helpful and ready to assist you in describing your conditions. None of them took the entire two hours scheduled. One of them was less than an hour. My military medical records were comprehensive enough (I made sure of that before exiting the service), and the only additional test one C&P examiner wanted was a more recent blood test, which I went for immediately after the examination.
After ALL of your C&P exams are over, the medical examiners compile their findings and submit them to a lay-person (non clinical) reviewer deep within the VA bureaucracy. This individual looks over your military medical history, any additional civilian history you've submitted since you've left the service, and the C&P examiners' findings. This is the lengthy process. At the end, you'll find out the results one of multiple ways. You may be able to log in to eBenefits and see the status of your claim (I was not able to because the system was perpetually down/"could not access my records"), one way is that you'll receive a big, 8.5x11" white envelope in the mail from the VA (what happened to me), and finally you may simply wake up one day to find a boat load of money has been deposited into your bank account in arrears for the time since you left service and you wait for an explanation later in the mail. Because the online system was down I finally did call the 1-800 number advertised on the eBenefits website around day 130 to get more information. I think that is what spurred the arrival of the letter giving me my mostly but not entirely completed rating information.
At this point, in order to start getting VA healthcare if you qualify, you have to get the VA healthcare Enrollment Form filled out and submitted. Usually there's an enrollment office within your nearest VA hospital. They may have also included the form in your rating's envelope along with a postage-paid envelope to send it in. If you received a Purple Heart or were in specific locations or events during your service, such as Camp Lejeune or were exposed to radiation somewhere recognized by the VA, then you could have already filled out this enrollment form to be considered for VA coverage prior to the C&P process.
Also a note, most individuals can start the C&P process at their final home station, seen by all the C&P examiners in a VA office on post or nearby, up to 180 days prior to your ETS date. Because I was trying to get out early and I was going to live half way across the country from my home station -- and because if you miss a C&P exam then you won't get rated for the conditions under investigation at that exam -- I chose to delay my C&P process until after I get settled in my new home. I think this may have worked to my favor, because there are no military installations near me, so the C&P examiners were not overly booked and were willing to spend as much time as needed with me. But I have no evidence to support that assertion, and I'm sure your local C&P examiners are all going to do a great job.
If you have any questions about how my process went down, don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me a message.
The initial process was just fine. Before leaving my final station, I went to the on-post hospital to request my official medical records. I had to request they be mailed to me, because I was leaving the area before they were able to collect it all, due to heavy case load. I received a big box on my doorstep about a month later, including two paper copies and CDs with copies digitized as PDF. For my own records I also requested all of my X-ray, MRI, etc. images on a CD from the radiology office separately, as those do not come in your official medical history. In order to file a C&P claim with the VA you must submit a copy of the official medical records along with your claims form. Don't forget to also include the VA form to claim your dependents if you have any, as that slightly changes the compensation you could receive. I believe the VA has an online portal, called eBenefits, where you can submit the digital copies, but I saw a representative who helped me fill out the paperwork for free and offered to be my point for any issues or complications along the way. These people are basically free lawyers that are part of unofficial veterans organizations that you've probably heard of like the American Legion. Although I do not specifically recommend one over the other, there was one that had an office within the VA hospital where I did my C&P exams, so I used them. They'll ask you to sign a limited power of attorney, filed with the VA, which gives them authorization to check the status of your claim on your behalf and that's basically it. You can change representatives at any time by signing a new form that gets sent to the VA and overrides the previous PoA.
On, I think it was the 18th of September, I received a call to schedule my C&P examinations. I had four separate ones, each with a medical specialist that worked in the area of my conditions, or a good generalist that could handle multiple issues. The VA scheduler worked with me over the phone to schedule times that were good for me, and I did not end up taking any sick time from work in order to go to them, but the scheduler did err on the side of working with me to schedule earlier appointments if possible, probably because of the time hacks they are judged on. By the 18th of October, I had completed all of my medical exams, many of them on Saturdays per my request. Be sure to call your C&P office ahead of time if you have multiple examinations in order to ask what conditions will be evaluated at each appointment. I did not know to do this and showed up to a specialist with the wrong information. The C&P appointments were mostly great, timely and the physicians very helpful and ready to assist you in describing your conditions. None of them took the entire two hours scheduled. One of them was less than an hour. My military medical records were comprehensive enough (I made sure of that before exiting the service), and the only additional test one C&P examiner wanted was a more recent blood test, which I went for immediately after the examination.
After ALL of your C&P exams are over, the medical examiners compile their findings and submit them to a lay-person (non clinical) reviewer deep within the VA bureaucracy. This individual looks over your military medical history, any additional civilian history you've submitted since you've left the service, and the C&P examiners' findings. This is the lengthy process. At the end, you'll find out the results one of multiple ways. You may be able to log in to eBenefits and see the status of your claim (I was not able to because the system was perpetually down/"could not access my records"), one way is that you'll receive a big, 8.5x11" white envelope in the mail from the VA (what happened to me), and finally you may simply wake up one day to find a boat load of money has been deposited into your bank account in arrears for the time since you left service and you wait for an explanation later in the mail. Because the online system was down I finally did call the 1-800 number advertised on the eBenefits website around day 130 to get more information. I think that is what spurred the arrival of the letter giving me my mostly but not entirely completed rating information.
At this point, in order to start getting VA healthcare if you qualify, you have to get the VA healthcare Enrollment Form filled out and submitted. Usually there's an enrollment office within your nearest VA hospital. They may have also included the form in your rating's envelope along with a postage-paid envelope to send it in. If you received a Purple Heart or were in specific locations or events during your service, such as Camp Lejeune or were exposed to radiation somewhere recognized by the VA, then you could have already filled out this enrollment form to be considered for VA coverage prior to the C&P process.
Also a note, most individuals can start the C&P process at their final home station, seen by all the C&P examiners in a VA office on post or nearby, up to 180 days prior to your ETS date. Because I was trying to get out early and I was going to live half way across the country from my home station -- and because if you miss a C&P exam then you won't get rated for the conditions under investigation at that exam -- I chose to delay my C&P process until after I get settled in my new home. I think this may have worked to my favor, because there are no military installations near me, so the C&P examiners were not overly booked and were willing to spend as much time as needed with me. But I have no evidence to support that assertion, and I'm sure your local C&P examiners are all going to do a great job.
If you have any questions about how my process went down, don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me a message.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Terminal Leave and Early Transition Opportunities
I have now begun my terminal leave, and without much fanfare. I told my superiors I did not care for the pomp and circumstance of a farewell or the pinning ceremony for an ETS award, and with the activity the unit was under they seemed happy to oblige. In fact, they did not even realize I had signed out on terminal leave. A week after I had left and moved across the country I received a text message asking me to appear for my final performance evaluation counseling. I responded that that would be a little difficult, considering I had already started my civilian job.
I initially attempted to take advantage of several transition programs to allow me to leave ahead of my terminal leave date, including the new Career Skills Program up to 180 days ahead of your ETS date. This is a fantastic program that allows a Service Member to transition to on-the-job training, free to a future employer, while still being paid a military paycheck, and can lead to employment at the end of that training. The Department of Defense memorandum authorizing the program indicates that the approval authority is a Battalion Commander, and mine was on-board with the program. However, it seems that Installation Generals have decided the program falls under their purview and usurped the program from the DoD's intended location of approval, because they believe there is a technicality in the regulations that a Soldier must be placed on Permissive TDY to partake in this program and Battalion Commanders do not have the approval authority to do that. My installation commander, in lieu of DoD guidance, restricted the program in such a way that no Service Member could possibly qualify under the guidelines, even though my Battalion Commander approved my absence and my future employer was eager to accept me under the conditions of the program. I found this typical of processes in the military, where someone that has never encountered you as an individual finds it easier to rubber stamp "No" on a request. Finding the people in the Military who are willing to work to get to the "Yes" is difficult. For those of you willing to stay in the military, surround yourself with the kinds of people that are willing to find the way to get to the "Yes." I was the person who got in to trouble by trying to ferret out the "yes" answer even after superior after superior told me "no." When I finally found people that would help me find out how to accomplish something, the people that had told me "no" before were, of course, upset that I did not give up. It is those people, the "no" people, who are so prevalent, that drove me to find the pathway out of the Army, because outside the Army is where success can be found. Sure, success inside the Army is a well trod path, but walking that way took me farther and farther from the people I loved.
There are other ways to leave the military earlier than terminal leave allows. One is "Advanced leave," which turns into excess leave upon termination. According to Department of Army regulations, a Battalion Commander can approve up to 30 days of Advanced Leave in cases of morale, family emergencies, etc. Upon termination, excess leave is reimbursed financially to the military as if you simply were not working for those 30 days, so you basically do not get a pay check and have no benefits for those 30 days. However, my higher echelon somehow superceded DA regulations and decided that a Brigade Commander had to sign any request for Advanced Leave and effectively stalled my request until it became meaningless. Again, this was a case of someone simply saying "no" and not attempting to help me find the "yes" answer, even though my employer wanted me and had already tried and failed to get me through the Career Skills Program 180 days early.
There is currently a program for Enlisted Soldiers to exit the Army 180 days ahead of their contract date in order to attend College, you can check with your Reenlistment NCO about that, it's a great option.
Officers with an approved ETS date can also request an earlier release with HRC for the purposes of accepting a job offer or starting school on a specific date, which must be signed by a Brigade Commander. Check with S1, some call it a "curtailment" but that is not the official term which only applies to shortening a tour or a term of enlistment. I had requested a 60 day early release, which I was assured would be approved, but which took HRC 2 months to deny.
In the end, the only process that got me out was my terminal leave date. And be sure to note, not all Soldiers get Permissive TDY for transition, only Soldiers involuntarily separated and Retiring Soldiers. Normal separations are not allowed Permissive TDY by regulation, although apparently some S1's do not understand this and approve the paperwork to the separating Soldier's later detriment!
I initially attempted to take advantage of several transition programs to allow me to leave ahead of my terminal leave date, including the new Career Skills Program up to 180 days ahead of your ETS date. This is a fantastic program that allows a Service Member to transition to on-the-job training, free to a future employer, while still being paid a military paycheck, and can lead to employment at the end of that training. The Department of Defense memorandum authorizing the program indicates that the approval authority is a Battalion Commander, and mine was on-board with the program. However, it seems that Installation Generals have decided the program falls under their purview and usurped the program from the DoD's intended location of approval, because they believe there is a technicality in the regulations that a Soldier must be placed on Permissive TDY to partake in this program and Battalion Commanders do not have the approval authority to do that. My installation commander, in lieu of DoD guidance, restricted the program in such a way that no Service Member could possibly qualify under the guidelines, even though my Battalion Commander approved my absence and my future employer was eager to accept me under the conditions of the program. I found this typical of processes in the military, where someone that has never encountered you as an individual finds it easier to rubber stamp "No" on a request. Finding the people in the Military who are willing to work to get to the "Yes" is difficult. For those of you willing to stay in the military, surround yourself with the kinds of people that are willing to find the way to get to the "Yes." I was the person who got in to trouble by trying to ferret out the "yes" answer even after superior after superior told me "no." When I finally found people that would help me find out how to accomplish something, the people that had told me "no" before were, of course, upset that I did not give up. It is those people, the "no" people, who are so prevalent, that drove me to find the pathway out of the Army, because outside the Army is where success can be found. Sure, success inside the Army is a well trod path, but walking that way took me farther and farther from the people I loved.
There are other ways to leave the military earlier than terminal leave allows. One is "Advanced leave," which turns into excess leave upon termination. According to Department of Army regulations, a Battalion Commander can approve up to 30 days of Advanced Leave in cases of morale, family emergencies, etc. Upon termination, excess leave is reimbursed financially to the military as if you simply were not working for those 30 days, so you basically do not get a pay check and have no benefits for those 30 days. However, my higher echelon somehow superceded DA regulations and decided that a Brigade Commander had to sign any request for Advanced Leave and effectively stalled my request until it became meaningless. Again, this was a case of someone simply saying "no" and not attempting to help me find the "yes" answer, even though my employer wanted me and had already tried and failed to get me through the Career Skills Program 180 days early.
There is currently a program for Enlisted Soldiers to exit the Army 180 days ahead of their contract date in order to attend College, you can check with your Reenlistment NCO about that, it's a great option.
Officers with an approved ETS date can also request an earlier release with HRC for the purposes of accepting a job offer or starting school on a specific date, which must be signed by a Brigade Commander. Check with S1, some call it a "curtailment" but that is not the official term which only applies to shortening a tour or a term of enlistment. I had requested a 60 day early release, which I was assured would be approved, but which took HRC 2 months to deny.
In the end, the only process that got me out was my terminal leave date. And be sure to note, not all Soldiers get Permissive TDY for transition, only Soldiers involuntarily separated and Retiring Soldiers. Normal separations are not allowed Permissive TDY by regulation, although apparently some S1's do not understand this and approve the paperwork to the separating Soldier's later detriment!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
UQR and ACAP, Two Parallel Processes
So there is a little confusion in terms that I want to set straight. There are two processes involved in ETSing (early termination of service). One is ACAP, which stands for Army Career and Alumni Program. ACAP is a service or office on your installation that helps you transition out of the Army. It can also be called "Soldier for Life" and "TAP (Transition Assistance Program)." In addition to providing you help finding a job and advice on benefits as a veteran, it is also the mechanism your installation uses to ensure you've received all of the transition briefings. At the end of your ACAP experience, you'll receive a counseling form that confirms you completed "ACAPing", and you will present this form to the Retention or Separation office. Without this form you will not be able to receive the all important DD214 separation paperwork. Without that, you're not officially out of the Army. But ACAP does not actually start the separation process, it just is briefings to help you in your transition. To start separating, Officers need to submit a "UQR" or UnQualified Resignation packet.
The UQR packet should include a few memoranda, in accordance with AR 600-8-24. These forms include a memorandum you sign directed at HRC requesting an Unqualified Resignation from Active Duty and a transition into one of the reserve components for the remainder of your total obligation. You can opt for National Guard, Reserve, or Inactive Ready Reserve. The last one means you do basically nothing except update your address once a year in an online system.
The second form is a SHARP statement in which you divulge whether or not you were sexually assaulted while in the Army, and whether or not that experience has contributed to your desire to resign. This memorandum is also directed at HRC.
Next you will have two separate memoranda, one signed by your Battalion Commander affirming that he or she has counseled you on your options in the military and ensured you have a good transition plan. The second one is signed by your Brigade Commander and states the same thing.
The final memorandum for your UQR packet is from your local Guard/Reserve Retention office. This memorandum verifies your inactive obligation, confirms that they tried to sell you on going into the Guard or Reserve, and confirms your desire to go into one of the three reserve mechanisms for your inactive obligation.
With those five memoranda signed, you can then submit the packet to HRC. Word is it takes them approximately two months to process. Again, a word of warning, the earliest they are authorized to release you is six months AFTER HRC approves your release. So if they take longer on your packet than you anticipate and you don't get approval from them until 3 months from your desired ETS date, then you'll have to stay on for at least 3 more months past that date.
The UQR packet should include a few memoranda, in accordance with AR 600-8-24. These forms include a memorandum you sign directed at HRC requesting an Unqualified Resignation from Active Duty and a transition into one of the reserve components for the remainder of your total obligation. You can opt for National Guard, Reserve, or Inactive Ready Reserve. The last one means you do basically nothing except update your address once a year in an online system.
The second form is a SHARP statement in which you divulge whether or not you were sexually assaulted while in the Army, and whether or not that experience has contributed to your desire to resign. This memorandum is also directed at HRC.
Next you will have two separate memoranda, one signed by your Battalion Commander affirming that he or she has counseled you on your options in the military and ensured you have a good transition plan. The second one is signed by your Brigade Commander and states the same thing.
The final memorandum for your UQR packet is from your local Guard/Reserve Retention office. This memorandum verifies your inactive obligation, confirms that they tried to sell you on going into the Guard or Reserve, and confirms your desire to go into one of the three reserve mechanisms for your inactive obligation.
With those five memoranda signed, you can then submit the packet to HRC. Word is it takes them approximately two months to process. Again, a word of warning, the earliest they are authorized to release you is six months AFTER HRC approves your release. So if they take longer on your packet than you anticipate and you don't get approval from them until 3 months from your desired ETS date, then you'll have to stay on for at least 3 more months past that date.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Initial In-Person Preseparation Counseling
Last week I began the process with Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP). I'm not sure what the difference is between "ACAP" and "SFL-TAP", it may just be a regional difference or SFL-TAP may be the new acronym for what ACAP used to be. The Army likes to change acronyms for things every few years as a way of showing "progress" and being responsive to critique.
This week I finished the Initial PreSeparation Counseling with an SFL-TAP counsellor and was scheduled for the formal briefings required before receiving the all-important DA 2958, which your CO signs off on and gets submitted as part of the UQR (Unqualified Resignation) packet to BDE and HRC which ultimately results in your DA 214 release from active duty form.
During Initial Counseling I was required to Register on the eBenefits website (https://www.ebenefits.va.gov) and MyHealthEVet website (http://www.myhealth.va.gov) with a username and password so they can be accessed without a CAC card after transitioning out. I also was shown how to print out my Verification of Military Experience & Training (VMET, https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/tgps) and Joint Services Transcript and Summary (JST, https://jst.doded.mil), which is like a college transcript and description of all of my military schools and how they apply to the civilian world, so that a civilian employer can better understand what my job in the Army was like in brief, general terms. A lot of transition benefits were described to me as well, and the counsellor offered assistance with a resume. I had one already created, and had already applied to two jobs, which happened to be a requirement for SFL-TAP as well, so I met those requirements during the initial counseling. The counsellor said that these are the hardest parts for most people, because most people in the Army have never had to write a resume or apply for a job. Having done this already made the counseling session go by very quickly, but most of the time this counseling can take an hour to an hour and a half.
The earliest I could get scheduled for the mandatory, full day, week long briefings was Dec 7th, nearly two months from now, and I am on a small post with not many permanent party residents. The short months in the Fall and the natural personnel cycle of the Army means Fall is a big time for separations, so plan accordingly. I am investigating if I can do any other paperwork between now and the mandatory briefings so the time is not simply idle. The briefings include a Transition Overview and creating an Individual Transition Plan, an MOS Crosswalk description and the creation of a GAP Analysis (how your military job experience benefits your future civilian career, as well as an exploration of what careers might interest you), a Financial Planning Seminar and the creation of a 12 Month Post-Separation Budget, and three days of Dept of Labor Workshops with the creation of a Resume rough draft. Finally there are two VA Benefits Briefings. I am also supposed to visit the on-post Guard/Reserve for "Continuum of Military Service Counseling" which is counseling on the benefits of staying with the military part-time as opposed to going into the Independent Ready Reserve (IRR). This week of briefings is scheduled for all day, 0900 to 1700, but the SFL-TAP counselor wants us to show up in business professional attire instead of duty uniform, in part to get us used to the civilian professional environment, I reckon.
Again, as a word of warning, I recommend starting the ETS process as soon as you possibly can. You can always pull back your packet after you've explored the option, but if you start too late then you won't be able to submit the paperwork on time for your desired ETS date!
This week I finished the Initial PreSeparation Counseling with an SFL-TAP counsellor and was scheduled for the formal briefings required before receiving the all-important DA 2958, which your CO signs off on and gets submitted as part of the UQR (Unqualified Resignation) packet to BDE and HRC which ultimately results in your DA 214 release from active duty form.
During Initial Counseling I was required to Register on the eBenefits website (https://www.ebenefits.va.gov) and MyHealthEVet website (http://www.myhealth.va.gov) with a username and password so they can be accessed without a CAC card after transitioning out. I also was shown how to print out my Verification of Military Experience & Training (VMET, https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/tgps) and Joint Services Transcript and Summary (JST, https://jst.doded.mil), which is like a college transcript and description of all of my military schools and how they apply to the civilian world, so that a civilian employer can better understand what my job in the Army was like in brief, general terms. A lot of transition benefits were described to me as well, and the counsellor offered assistance with a resume. I had one already created, and had already applied to two jobs, which happened to be a requirement for SFL-TAP as well, so I met those requirements during the initial counseling. The counsellor said that these are the hardest parts for most people, because most people in the Army have never had to write a resume or apply for a job. Having done this already made the counseling session go by very quickly, but most of the time this counseling can take an hour to an hour and a half.
The earliest I could get scheduled for the mandatory, full day, week long briefings was Dec 7th, nearly two months from now, and I am on a small post with not many permanent party residents. The short months in the Fall and the natural personnel cycle of the Army means Fall is a big time for separations, so plan accordingly. I am investigating if I can do any other paperwork between now and the mandatory briefings so the time is not simply idle. The briefings include a Transition Overview and creating an Individual Transition Plan, an MOS Crosswalk description and the creation of a GAP Analysis (how your military job experience benefits your future civilian career, as well as an exploration of what careers might interest you), a Financial Planning Seminar and the creation of a 12 Month Post-Separation Budget, and three days of Dept of Labor Workshops with the creation of a Resume rough draft. Finally there are two VA Benefits Briefings. I am also supposed to visit the on-post Guard/Reserve for "Continuum of Military Service Counseling" which is counseling on the benefits of staying with the military part-time as opposed to going into the Independent Ready Reserve (IRR). This week of briefings is scheduled for all day, 0900 to 1700, but the SFL-TAP counselor wants us to show up in business professional attire instead of duty uniform, in part to get us used to the civilian professional environment, I reckon.
Again, as a word of warning, I recommend starting the ETS process as soon as you possibly can. You can always pull back your packet after you've explored the option, but if you start too late then you won't be able to submit the paperwork on time for your desired ETS date!
Friday, October 9, 2015
Beginning the Process with Soldier for Life
It's been almost a month since I began in-processing and I am finally getting into a routine, so I began the process of starting my ETS paperwork. From what I found online and at my local "Soldier for Life / Transition Assistance Program" (SFL-TAP) office, you must first take an online briefing, of course powered by a Flash website designed for Internet Explorer 6.0. This means that I cannot access it using my home computer, because I have actually purchased a computer since 1996, unlike the U.S. Government. So I am forced to go to the on-post Library. This online briefing is basically one long video that asks you if you want more information on about 380 different transition assistance programs offered by the U.S. Government. It gives you a couple minute blurb about each, asks you if you want more information, and records your "yes" or "no" answer so the counsellors at SFL-TAP know what to tell you about in greater detail, apparently. So, the online briefing takes over an hour and a half and there's nothing you can do about it. After you're done with it, which I am not yet, you'll sit down with the TAP counsellor and get to hear it all over again, I'm sure. Anyway, this process gets you a DA 2648 or 2648-1 form which confirms you have received the Preseparation Counseling, the first step toward separation. From there, the counsellors will help you produce an Individual Transition Plan and schedule you for mandatory coursework. These include briefings that describe how your military skills are applicable in the civilian world, how to manage your money and produce a budget, creating a resume, and describing VA benefits. SFL-TAP also offers a ton of other resources and tracks hiring fairs and stuff if you don't have a job lined up, as well as info on how to use your educational benefits.
The website for this briefing can be found at: https://www.sfl-tap.army.mil, then hover over "Transition" and click on "Preseparation Counseling". My local SFL-TAP office has so far been helpful in directing me through this step, and has offered computers in their office to help with my transition needs such as performing this online briefing or working on my resume and job materials. I recommend checking with your local office if you're thinking about ETSing, as I have been advised by colleagues that your paperwork needs to be blessed off on by HRC well in advance of 6-months out, as the earliest one can ETS is 6-months from the date that HRC completes your packet. So, even if you have an October ETS date, and you submit your packet by April, if they take two or three months to process it, then you're not leaving until December at the earliest. So START EARLY, definitely begin by 12 months out (24 is recommending if retiring). If you have less time than that, definitely go to your local SFL-TAP first thing and tell them your situation. In fact, if you're thinking about doing it, just go ahead and start the process, because I believe you can pull your own packet and stay in the military even up to the last minute. It's better to get it approved, in my mind, so you know you have it in your back pocket. The website above also should have links to help you find your local office.
One interesting thing I learned from the briefing is that, on top of your terminal leave time, you are also authorized 20 or 30 days of Permissive TDY (depending) for post-military career/job and house hunting. If you don't use it, you can add it on to your terminal leave and get out a month ahead of time while still getting a paycheck. I did not know that, so my terminal leave date just got bumped up a month, as I believe I can get all of those things done with passes or on four-day weekends.
Also, the policy seems to be that a unit cannot or is not supposed to derail an ETS or retirement that has already been approved at 6-months out. So if you're already approved for ETS and your unit gets orders to deploy a few months before your ETS date, then you should still be okay. If I find the specific regulation on that then I will come back and update this post.
All in all, so far it seems like an easy process.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Arriving at My New Unit
I knew for months, nearly a year, that I was going to leave the Army, but actually starting the process was both more difficult and easier than I expected. What would my new commander think of me? I had heard horror stories about people being practically abused for wanting to ETS, for "abandoning" the unit or the Army. These people get talked down to and lots of work dumped on them. Would my new commander be the kind of person to do that? Would he have had more than his share of the Kool Aid? Regardless, I knew that ETSing is what I had to do, for myself and for my family, so it wasn't going to change anything. I could put up with about anybody for 10 months.
Fortunately, the unit seems like a pretty relaxed one so far. When I arrived and started the installation in-processing, I stopped in at the unit to find out the story. They did not know where they were going to slot me when I arrived. Apparently they got word that I would be arriving prior to my promotion being published, so the had my rank wrong and did not have a slot for my rank anywhere. I had to wait to interview for my position, so a few days later I finally got the opportunity to step into my XO's office and told him my story. I simply said, "Sir I am planning on ETSing," and he was supportive. My ETS date minus terminal leave was only 10 months away and he told me he would be sure I had plenty of time to transition out of the Army. I was given a spot assisting staff and from what I gather it will not be a very time consuming job. The unit is beginning a rotation a few months before my ETS date and it was implied that I would not be needed for that rotation and I would ETS on time. The commanders and the staff are all at NTC (National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA) for an OTC cycle (Observer/Trainer/Coordinator) right now, so I will not meet them until next week, but of the assistant staff and everyone else here right now, it seems like I will not get any pushback at all for wanting to ETS.
The next 10 months look like smooth sailing. This ruck sack and IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest) should be my last. Now I just have to finish in-processing, meet the commanders when they return from NTC next week, and talk to S1 about getting my UQR packet compiled.
Fortunately, the unit seems like a pretty relaxed one so far. When I arrived and started the installation in-processing, I stopped in at the unit to find out the story. They did not know where they were going to slot me when I arrived. Apparently they got word that I would be arriving prior to my promotion being published, so the had my rank wrong and did not have a slot for my rank anywhere. I had to wait to interview for my position, so a few days later I finally got the opportunity to step into my XO's office and told him my story. I simply said, "Sir I am planning on ETSing," and he was supportive. My ETS date minus terminal leave was only 10 months away and he told me he would be sure I had plenty of time to transition out of the Army. I was given a spot assisting staff and from what I gather it will not be a very time consuming job. The unit is beginning a rotation a few months before my ETS date and it was implied that I would not be needed for that rotation and I would ETS on time. The commanders and the staff are all at NTC (National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA) for an OTC cycle (Observer/Trainer/Coordinator) right now, so I will not meet them until next week, but of the assistant staff and everyone else here right now, it seems like I will not get any pushback at all for wanting to ETS.
The next 10 months look like smooth sailing. This ruck sack and IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest) should be my last. Now I just have to finish in-processing, meet the commanders when they return from NTC next week, and talk to S1 about getting my UQR packet compiled.
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