DQ for VA rating

[Mr.M85]

DoDMERB Questions

Hey all,
I will start off with some background info about me. I enlisted in the Army back in 2021 and was discharged in basic training due to a back injury that happened during training. I was given a RE code 3 on my DD214 and was sent home. I filed for VA when I got out and got 30%. A few months after I got out I decided I wanted to go to college and was accepted into a school. Fast forward a year, the VA wanted to get me back in for a reevaluation of my back and also speak on mental health. My back at this time had healed and I was barely having any pain. Unfortunately and coincidentally, I was going through a 4 year break up at the time they wanted to speak on the mental health and I told them that I was having issues sleeping and having a hard time with the breakup. They decreased my back rating to 0% but created a new 70% rating for an “adjustment disorder with depressed moods.” This was 2-3 months ago now. I have never been medicated nor privately diagnosed with any mental health issues.

I am currently a sophomore at my college and looking to join the ROTC and eventually go NG. I was told that I would need to Q or get a waiver through the DoDMERB exam and was wondering if this VA rating is going to automatically DQ me. My ROTC person from the school told me to go to my general practitioner and have them write a note saying that “I am released for full and unrestricted activities.” I know I am a confusing case but would appreciate any helpful insight this group has to offer. TIA

 

[flieger83]

RE3 normally requires a waiver at a rather lofty level...not impossible but not common at all. Add in a "disability" rating...and then the "medical waiver required" flag arises.

The ONLY people that can give you the information (and send you on a journey of qualification) that you seek will "probably" come from some of these folks:

1. Military recruiter (officer recruitment)
2. The senior military officer in the ROTC detachment (and they'll consult with military medicine as well as their service)
3. MEPS/DODMERB officials (medical)

I'm very surprised an ROTC cadre member would give that advice. A private practitioner's "note" isn't going to clear you. You have a recorded disability. This will have to be evaluated by military medicine and the service you wish to join.

 

[Impulsive]

DoDMERB Questions

Hey all,
I will start off with some background info about me. I enlisted in the Army back in 2021 and was discharged in basic training due to a back injury that happened during training. I was given a RE code 3 on my DD214 and was sent home. I filed for VA when I got out and got 30%. A few months after I got out I decided I wanted to go to college and was accepted into a school. Fast forward a year, the VA wanted to get me back in for a reevaluation of my back and also speak on mental health. My back at this time had healed and I was barely having any pain. Unfortunately and coincidentally, I was going through a 4 year break up at the time they wanted to speak on the mental health and I told them that I was having issues sleeping and having a hard time with the breakup. They decreased my back rating to 0% but created a new 70% rating for an “adjustment disorder with depressed moods.” This was 2-3 months ago now. I have never been medicated nor privately diagnosed with any mental health issues.

I am currently a sophomore at my college and looking to join the ROTC and eventually go NG. I was told that I would need to Q or get a waiver through the DoDMERB exam and was wondering if this VA rating is going to automatically DQ me. My ROTC person from the school told me to go to my general practitioner and have them write a note saying that “I am released for full and unrestricted activities.” I know I am a confusing case but would appreciate any helpful insight this group has to offer. TIA

Agree with @flieger83, in addition, if I have this right,
1. you were separated from Basic with a 30% disability for your back
2. you then attended college on the Post 9-11 GI Bill? Or did you attend on your owm?
3. You "filed for" a mental health evaluation (VA does not "Speak to you about mental health ratings" unless you file for them.
4, You are now rated 70% for mental health? That is a pretty serious rating, and I am sure you have read 38 CFR Book C under the 9400 Series and a rating of 70% for mental health would likely deem you unfit for military service.

A Suggestion: finish your education, if you get a degree in one of the available fields, apply for Direct Commission, sometimes a "restricted type or limited speciality" would be much more likely to grant you an exemption at your rating. The other thing you can do is "adandon" the Mental Health rating, causing is to go away, or dispute the % rating, and reducing your rating to 30 or 50% would help a lot to get you waiver consideration.

 

[Mr.M85]

Agree with @flieger83, in addition, if I have this right,
1. you were separated from Basic with a 30% disability for your back
2. you then attended college on the Post 9-11 GI Bill? Or did you attend on your owm?
3. You "filed for" a mental health evaluation (VA does not "Speak to you about mental health ratings" unless you file for them.
4, You are now rated 70% for mental health? That is a pretty serious rating, and I am sure you have read 38 CFR Book C under the 9400 Series and a rating of 70% for mental health would likely deem you unfit for military service.

A Suggestion: finish your education, if you get a degree in one of the available fields, apply for Direct Commission, sometimes a "restricted type or limited speciality" would be much more likely to grant you an exemption at your rating. The other thing you can do is "adandon" the Mental Health rating, causing is to go away, or dispute the % rating, and reducing your rating to 30 or 50% would help a lot to get you waiver consideration.

Thank you for your reply, I have been in contact with my ROTC program and also with a few ARNG recruiters and they all say to hold on to my VA rating, and go forward with the DoDMERB, get DQ’d and then request a waiver. I use the VRE program through the VA for my schooling currently, if I abandon my disability I will lose that. However, if I do abandon it I could look into ROTC scholarships but then have the risk of still being DQ’d and losing my VA rating on top of that.

 

[Impulsive]

Thank you for your reply, I have been in contact with my ROTC program and also with a few ARNG recruiters and they all say to hold on to my VA rating, and go forward with the DoDMERB, get DQ’d and then request a waiver. I use the VRE program through the VA for my schooling currently, if I abandon my disability I will lose that. However, if I do abandon it I could look into ROTC scholarships but then have the risk of still being DQ’d and losing my VA rating on top of that.

Something isn't making sense? I do not mean to sound harsh, but you sound like you want your cake and eat it too? If you are honestly 70% rated for mental health, getting "into" the military is going to be almost impossible, if you were still in and had that rating I would say there is a possibility of you being able to continue in the service, or take a medical retirement, but getting out on one disability, then losing that disability and gaining another one of much greater significance (the military is very leery of mental health issues, ESPECIALLY ones rated by either DoD or VA at 70%) is going to be a pretty big issue. You say you want to serve, BUT you then say you don't want to lose medical payments or school payments.

Be leery of "recruiters", they have a unique knack for saying one thing then something completely different happening. Remember if its not in writing, it is not a sure thing!

9440 Chronic adjustment disorder

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:

gross impairment in thought processes or communication;

persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate

behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent

inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance

of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name ....................100



Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods

of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including

work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships ........................................................................................70

As you can see the 70% Rating is pretty much a total disability, and many veterans rated 70% for mental health are "Unemployable", meaning they are incapable of working. So how would be able to function in a fast paced, high stress, environment like the military?

 

[tkinion]

Something isn't making sense? I do not mean to sound harsh, but you sound like you want your cake and eat it too? If you are honestly 70% rated for mental health, getting "into" the military is going to be almost impossible, if you were still in and had that rating I would say there is a possibility of you being able to continue in the service, or take a medical retirement, but getting out on one disability, then losing that disability and gaining another one of much greater significance (the military is very leery of mental health issues, ESPECIALLY ones rated by either DoD or VA at 70%) is going to be a pretty big issue. You say you want to serve, BUT you then say you don't want to lose medical payments or school payments.

Be leery of "recruiters", they have a unique knack for saying one thing then something completely different happening. Remember if its not in writing, it is not a sure thing!

9440 Chronic adjustment disorder

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:

gross impairment in thought processes or communication;

persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate

behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent

inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance

of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name ....................100



Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods

of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including

work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships ........................................................................................70

As you can see the 70% Rating is pretty much a total disability, and many veterans rated 70% for mental health are "Unemployable", meaning they are incapable of working. So how would be able to function in a fast paced, high stress, environment like the military?

Furthermore, he was discharged in basic training for a back injury.... To gain a MH 70% rating, SERVICE CONNECTED after a few weeks in the military, 2 years down the road doesn't add up either.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Holy… whatever it’s called. My dad got a Purple Heart for wounds in WWII. He had nightmares his entire life about the 800 men from his division in the frozen waters of the English Channel screaming for help after their transport was sunk. Zero disability. 70% for a few weeks in basic training? I’m speechless.

 

[Rach3]

Holy… whatever it’s called. My dad got a Purple Heart for wounds in WWII. He had nightmares his entire life about the 800 men from his division in the frozen waters of the English Channel screaming for help after their transport was sunk. Zero disability. 70% for a few weeks in basic training? I’m speechless.

Can't even begin to imagine your dad's horrors and nightmares throughout his life. Bless him!!

 

[Impulsive]

Furthermore, he was discharged in basic training for a back injury.... To gain a MH 70% rating, SERVICE CONNECTED after a few weeks in the military, 2 years down the road doesn't add up either.

Gaming the system?? About the ONLY way I have ever seen for someone who did not even complete boot camp to get such a high mental health rating is to claim some sort of assault, sexual or otherwise. The VA has VERY relaxed standards for assault, basically all someone needs to do is go to mental health counseling for six months , then file a claim after convincing the psychologist you have trauma from being assaulted. VERY difficult to prove or disprove, and with the current state of "me too" culture, these claims are becoming the claim of choice for those looking to rake in VA money.

The only "upside" to these claims is that getting back into the military is almost impossible, because of the claimed stressors and symptoms claimed.