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Great Win For VA Caregivers at the Fed Circuit
A great new case benefiting veterans appealing adverse Caregiver decisions was decided yesterday at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the Beaudette case. In this decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed a CAVC decision, holding that § 1720G(c)(1) of the Caregiver Act only bars judicial review of Caregiver Program decisions on the furnishing of assistance […]
New Army Fitness Determinations Directive (AR DIR 2024-01)
The Army Publishing Directorate has released a new Army Fitness Determinations and Deployability Directive (AR DIR 2024-01) that may have a profound effect on your PEB case- thus, I wanted to post it here for you to download and review with your attorney when deciding how to develop or appeal your Army PEB findings. This […]
The Problem with Profiles in Army IDES PEB Cases
If you are a soldier undergoing the Army IDES PEB process, you will find that the IPEB and the FPEB are fixated on profiles and are very unlikely to find you Unfit for a condition unless you have a P3 profile for it. The real problem for most soldiers is that army MEB physicians routinely […]
Important Guidance for Drafting Navy Non-Medical Assessments
Many Navy and Marine Corps personnel do not realize the importance of the Non-Medical Assessment prepared by your Commander when the PEB is assessing your fitness for duty. This document is actually the first item that IPEB and FPEB look at after reviewing your MEB Narrative Summary. In doing so, they are looking for specific language […]
Major Flaw in Army Post-FPEB Appeal Process
Under the guidance provided by Section 4.10.d.1 of DODI 1332.18, volume 1 dtd 24 Feb 2023, the SECDEF directed that every armed service should provide service members with the opportunity to submit either a written appeal or to provide them with a post-FPEB hearing. The Air Force and the Navy have established a post-FPEB hearing […]
NAVY CORB GUIDELINES FOR POST-FPEB HEARINGS
SECNAVCORB Policy Ltr re DODI 1332.18 of 1.24.23 The Navy Council of Review Boards issued its Post-FPEB hearing policy earlier this year, and it is markedly different from the Air Force process that I discussed in an earlier post. In the Navy system, you are allowed 15 days to determine whether you wish to request […]
HOW TO ANALYZE THE NAVY PEB TRIM FILE
When Navy and Marine Corps members receive their initial PEB findings, they often wonder why IPEB members failed to find a given condition unfitting or combat-related. The brief rationale accompanying Navy IPEB decisions rarely sheds much light on these subjects. However, reviewing the Navy PEB TRIM file- the official PEB case file- will often disclose […]
IPEB RECONSIDERATION REQUESTS UPDATE- JULY 2023
Since most of you know that I am a big fan of using IPEB Reconsideration Requests to attempt to obtain a favorable decision for my clients without a formal hearing, I am writing to provide the latest update as of July 2023 regarding each service’s practice concerning such decisions. If you are an Army service […]
USAF POST- FPEB APPEAL RULES OF PROCEDURE
usaf post-fpeb appeal rules2023 The Air Force published its Rules of Procedure for Post-FPEB hearings earlier this year, and I have attached a copy of this document for your review. You should be aware of several key points when choosing to exercise a Post-FPEB appeal. First, you are given three days after receiving your FPEB […]