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View Full Version : Med Board out of Army - Enlist in National Guard??



HeatherDietrick
March 9th, 2007, 03:49 PM
ok this turned out to be really long, but im looking everywhere for answers to all of this... Thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to read this/answer it/or at least try to point me in the right direction :D

I have a questions on behalf of my fiance (Jeremy)...
He is currently Active Duty Army. During his first month serving in Iraq he caught shrapnel in his upper thigh. He underwent surgery immediately but they did not remove it in the Kuwait Hospital, but several surgeons agreed he needed additional surgery. They prepared him to go to Germany to have the surgery and recover but at the last possible moment someone (sorry cant remember who it was... not a doctor) took him off the plane and sent him back to Iraq on active duty for the remainder of his tour. (Needless to say he was heavily medicated and in pain everyday to where he couldnt perform his duties, but made to stay there) Now that hes home he has seen more then one doctor for consult on this. His doctor said that he reccommends the surgery but wanted a second opinon. Jeremy got the second opinon and he said that he could get the surgery if he and his doctor agreed, but wasnt going to recommend it as that he NEEDS it. The second doctor is instead recommending him for Medical Board Evaluation to be medically discharged. His other medical problem goes back to Basic Training... on the same leg as the shrapnel wound he has a bad knee. I dont know exactly whats all wrong with it, but I guess right at the end of Basic it gave out on him and he has had some trouble with it ever since (its not like a prior problem, he was a soccer player for many years and never had any problems with his legs or knees).

He has talked to people that came from Active National Guard to Active Army. They have suggested to him that when he gets out to enlist in National Guard and try to get into an "Active Slot"

....now my questions are...

Can he be disabled and enlist in the National Guard?

He is a 63J (63J10 now is what its been renamed to after merging a few MOS's) basically a mechanic, he rather be in computer science and only missed qualifying on his ASVAB by a few points, due to rushing through it...
IF he CAN enlist can he retrain to a different MOS? (it would be less straining on his disability anyway)

If he gets disability from the Army on a monthly basis if he goes NG I could understand him waiving his monthly disability pay while he is Active NG but does that mean that he waives it completely? (like never get it again even later when he decides to get out)

In that case he was told for his disability he could get it monthly or a onetime lump sum payment... if he took the lump sum payment and then is able to go Active NG does he loose the right to that payment... would he have to repay it?


IF ANYONE CAN EVEN POINT ME IN TEH RIGHT DIRECTION TO GETTING THESE QUESTIONS ANSWERED IT WOULD BE A GREAT HELP...

VTguard
March 15th, 2007, 10:40 AM
These are very specific questions that I doubt that anyone on this forum is qualified to answer. Also, Jeremy is not yet discharged, and he also has not yet been given a disability status, so it would be difficult to determine his enlistment eligibility in the National Guard. Once he is discharged, and has a DD-214, and has been given a percentage of disability, then it can be determined if he is eligible to join the National Guard. I can tell you that someone can join with some level of disability, but they may have to forfit some of the disability pay for the time that they are enlisted in the Guard. My advice would be for Jeremy to wait until he is officially discharged, and take all discharge and disability documents to a recruiter in your area and find out what his options are. Good Luck.

pmadsen
July 16th, 2007, 01:45 PM
Heather,

I'm sorry this post is late and may not find you. I hope it does as I have a lot of experience with this. I'm prior service warrant and also happen to be the husband of a retired spc who was badly injured in Iraq and subsequently 100% disabled and retired. I have been through all of the Army Physical Disability Evaluation System (PDES). This includes MEB, PEB road etc.

If your fiance (husband?) really wants to stay in the Army, he can absolutely reclass into another MOS if the doctor will agree to this (Rarely a problem) as long as he has the scores for that MOS. He can even request it, especially with letter of support from Commander, from the PEB if he is that far along. If he does not have the scores, his base education center can set him up with study help and the ability to take the asvab again due to potential reclass, due to medical.

If he gets out on a medical and wants to go to the guard, you have to refer to VT's answers here.

I strongly suggest that if he wants to stay Army that he fight to stay in. The Army is absolutely dedicated to helping wounded warriors stay the course as they have valuable experience to share with the next generation.

Hope you see this and if you have more questions post them.