Looks like My family and I won’t be getting to go back CONUS to see all the work being done to the car. To make matters worse it looks like the Army would like me to retire and decided to notify me right before my hernia surgery. Shit really blows right now. Words cannot express how fucking angry I am right now.
This is terrible to hear! On the brightside I noticed on fb you said the surgery went well, really glad to hear that! I have my fingers crossed for the rest!
That sucks man. You’ll have to school my non American, civvie brain here - how can the army “ask” you to retire? I thought it was fixed terms
They can’t do anything if you get put on medical hold. So have the surgery and just keep telling the docs you aren’t 100%.
Also make sure you complete your VA claim work before separating. I waited over a year to even get my evaluations completed.
Hopefully everything works out for you!
I am fully retirement eligible, and this surgery was minor. They can since they have given me a deadline of Jan 30th to respond. I will be appealing it, since I have our 3 star CG and his CSM telling me to fight it (along with letters of support). Basically they had me on some meds that caused me to balloon up for a while. Luckily the docs were smart enough to figure out what it was and gave me some counter drugs. I have since gone well below my required weight and am back to my normal size. It really sucked to go from 185 to 236 without a change in anything. Luckily, I am back don to 200 and continue to drop. The paperwork fro the doctors should do the trick. Fucking meds!!!
Help me understand…
You won’t be returning to America (because the army says so) …but you WILL be returning to America because the army is saying you have to retire?
I don’t get it.
Will this earlier than expected retirement kick the shit out of your pension? How much earlier is it? Is it because you got fat?
I just read this. This sucks. Does saying that they would like to see you retire mean they are really just nicely telling you to retire.
Well, I am back after a wicked long second surgery. Looks like they accidentally made a second hole when they were fixing the first and some intestine got a little choked. Ended up having to be ambulance to the hospital and fixed again. I can honestly say that the N-G tube experience is bar none one of the suckiest feelings. Saki, what happens is that the Army offers you an option to either avoid the board by retiring on a NLT date about 12 months, or you can appeal and see what a board says. Either way, the Army will stabilize you in place until the board makes a decision. I will be of course fighting this since my record is rock solid. It’s all working out though. My CSM has been all over my branch manager to curtail my assignment, so I might be back CONUS in the next two months while the board proceeds. Luckily, I have 5 strong letters and medical documentation on my side. Hopefully it all works out. Worst case is I will have to retire at 20.5 years versus my choice which would have been around 22-24 years.
Hate to hear this but happy you’re fighting it plus now it sounds like things are turning in your favor. I’ve heard a few horror stories of the army using scare tactics to avoid responsibility for their bullshit. I’m hoping things work out.
I don’t think they are really trying to scare him, but it sucks because a few more years time in service…equals a few hundred more a month in retirement pay.
Euro’s right. It’s not a scare tactic, but it is time to thin the herds since wars are drawing down. Unfortunately, the Army (the others may too) tends to cut out some of its most experienced in hopes to breed new leaders more in order to modernize its force. That hole breath of fresh air!! It really isn’t necessarily a horrible thing, but you lose a shit ton of talent on a gamble that your new force will be more adaptable, blah, blah…As they are finding out quickly, things are backfiring bad. 80% of kids walking through the doors can’t even qualify to enlist. The good side for this for me is that it looks like I will get back to Colorado to fight it and if things go bad I will be able to transition and retire with all of the services available to guys exiting in the States. Also, Colorado Springs has jobs for the s"Space Stuff" I have been doing for the last 8 years. A TS clearance and Bachelor’s in Intelligence Studies doesn’t hurt either. AND…I get back to the car sooner!