How to Prepare for Telephonic MEB Interviews in Army Guard & Reserve Cases

If you are an Army Guardsman or Reservist who is undergoing a PEB after being released from active duty orders, the odds are very high that your medical board narrative summary will be prepared by a doctor at Fort Gordon or some other remote facility based upon a telephonic interview as opposed to a live examination.  This means that you must prepare carefully for this phone call in order to discuss how each of your medical conditions does or doesn’t affect you in the performance of your duties- depending upon whether you seek to be found Unfit or Fit.  If you seek to be found Unfit, for each service disqualifying condition, you  should be prepared to describe its onset, your treatment regimen and provide clear examples of how it prevents you from performing the primary duties of your MOS.   Then, you should be prepared to discuss how each condition adversely affects you outside of the military workplace.  I would highly recommend that you have prepared notes to which to refer during the call and have highlighted copy of your medical record handy so that you can refer the provider to key pages. If you do not take these steps to prepare for your interview, much of what you want the provider to grasp may be lost in translation and this will adversely impact your case.   The 3-4 hours that you invest in preparing for this phone call will make a big difference in the accuracy of your medical board narrative summary- remember the Scout motto, be prepared!