DEERS

So now we are in the process of getting enrolled in Tricare (health insurance). In order to do that we have to call an office in Arlington, VA to correct the information that DEERS (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) has on Michael. As I said before, they are only showing that he was in the service for 23 DAYS. So we call the number for DEERS and they give us the number for Army Human Resources which gives us a voice mailbox to leave our information so that someone can contact us...I don't think so. I will be finding and speaking to an actual person about this today if it kills me!

DEERS shows the 23 days thing and said that they have no record of Michael being on TDRL, Tricare says that we are not eligible. UGH! More footwork to do. As my friend said, "Hurry up and wait," and "Don't get excited."

To top it off, went to get id's made & the ID system shows Michael was only in for 23 days!! More like 22 years. More paperwork to do now.

Wasted trip all the way to Little Rock today for them to sign one piece of paper for Survivor Benefit Plan.

Pretty sure they are making things hard for Michael again because this blog has made them mad. Well guess what?

Retirement Service Officer?

Seriously, I should not be surprised. I have tried to email the address given for Michael's Retirement Service Officer so that we can get his retirement pay started. The first email I sent did not receive a response, so I just tried to email again and got a mailer daemon message saying that it could not be delivered. This is an email address posted on the Army G1 website for Army Retirement! Michael will be calling the office soon, that is if the phone number is still valid...

A year's worth of paychecks: an overview

I realize that I have complained diligently in the course of writing this blog, but I wanted to put it into perspective for everyone. Most people receive a monthly or bi-monthly paycheck. For the most part, these checks arrive on a regular basis so that people can pay their bills, buy groceries and just live day-to-day. The following is a run-down of Michael's payment history from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Please understand that DFAS only writes the checks, and that in order for them to do so, paperwork from Michael's unit and his caseworkers at the state level must be filled out correctly and turned in on time.

• August 2008 - 3 months payment (for April, May & June INCAP)
• September 2008 - 1 month payment (for July INCAP)
• October 2008 - 1 month payment (for August INCAP)
• November 2008 - no payment
• December 2008 - 1 month payment (for September INCAP)
• January 2009 - no payment
• February 2009 - 4 months payment (for October, November, December & January INCAP)
• March 2009 - 1 month payment (for February INCAP bringing it current)
• April 2009 - 1 month payment (for March INCAP keeping it current)
• May 2009 - no payment
• June 2009 - 2 months payment (for April, May INCAP bringing it current)
• July 2009 - no payment
• August 2009 - 1 month payment August 5 (for June INCAP)

So if you look at this list you can see that over the course of a year, there was one month that Michael received his paycheck on time - in April 2009. I am not complaining about anything in this post, I am only stating the facts so that they may be seen by anyone who wants to read them.

More good news

We got Michael's VA Rating Decision in the mail on Saturday! They have awarded him a 70% rating. I started filling out the paperwork for Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) tonight. You can read about CRSC here, if you like.

Also, I slept in this morning so that is why I am still awake at this hour! I think I will try to sleep now to get back on schedule for the week.

A few good things

Since Michael is being put on TDRL, he is being discharged from the Guard. This is a bittersweet occasion for him. He loves being a soldier, he loves his guys, he has missed going to drill weekends, he was upset when they deployed and he could not be with them; but on the other hand, this whole process has been a nightmare, so he is glad that it looks like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
He will get to see all his guys next weekend when he goes during their drill weekend to turn in all his equipment. Now, he doesn't get excited about much of anything anymore, but this he is looking forward to. I am glad that he chose to go during a drill so that he can see everyone together. Again though-the bittersweet part-he has been in the National Guard for 22 years, this is probably going to be a little harder to let go of than he realizes. But we will make it through and I will support him just as he has always supported me.

Update Number 2: 1:38pm

Okay, so the case worker at Camp Robinson called Michael this morning and told him that he has to get a signature from his former employer (the people who fired him after he was put on INCAP for the second time). That's not a problem, he will get that done this week. He told Michael that INCAP packet for June was good, but that he has to have the signature from Magnolia Healthcare for his July packet, otherwise he won't receive his full active duty pay, just what he would have received for drill weekend. Fine.

Here comes the problem: Around the time that the people at Michael's unit in Warren asked him to get me to take this blog down, they also told him that the INCAP packets had to have original signatures on the paperwork. This meant that Michael had to drive to Warren (182 miles, round trip from our home, with no compensation for mileage) in order to fill out and sign his packets so that they could be mailed to Little Rock. The person that told him this said that he was told by the case worker in Little Rock that the paperwork must have original signatures and could no longer be emailed, signed, scanned and emailed or faxed back. However, today on the phone, the caseworker told Michael that he never said that and that it would be fine for Michael to print out what he needed and get the people and Magnolia Healthcare to sign it and scan and email or fax it back to him.

Don't worry, I'll be adding these people's names and ranks as soon as all of Michael's paperwork is processed and he is put on TDRL.

Again, I know I should not be surprised at all about this, but I just don't understand why we have to do all the footwork. Shouldn't they be taking care of all this? Shouldn't the different offices communicate better between themselves? I swear to God Michael gave a piece of paperwork to someone at Little Rock to copy and she is two cubicles away from this other person who also needed the papers and we had to get the copy to the other person. *pulls her hair out*

-Brie'Anne

Update: July 22

So that Major that I've talked about in the last two blogs? Well, Michael has been trying to contact her personally ever since we found out that his INCAP packet did not get processed, because she is the one person who can fix that. She finally called him back yesterday and he explained everything to her. Apparently she did not sound pleased with the way Michael's unit as well as the people at DCSPER MED or whatever it is called, in Little Rock (Camp Robinson) were handling (read: not handling) his case. She told him that she would have answers for him soon.

As to whether we'll get a paycheck sometime before the 15th of next month, I doubt it. And I will continue to doubt it until perhaps we get one earlier than that. That way, it's like a surprise...like Christmas! Woohoo!

Update: Monday, July 20

Since it seems like it doesn't matter whether this blog is public or not - people still aren't doing their jobs - I have decided to make this thing public again. I cannot imagine why people with the power to change our lives, i.e. make our credit score even worse, not get child support sent to give Jesi the things she needs, and about a million other things, would openly DECIDE to not do anything about our situation. We have been told, albeit this is just hearsay, that the Major who can call an emergency board to send Michael's pay through for this month (read previous post) refuses to do so because of the history of his INCAP packet paperwork. In other words, even though it is the fault of Michael's superiors and not Michael himself, she decided that we don't get paid this month.

It's like they don't even realize that this is someone's LIFE they are dealing with! Again I say I am frustrated and angry but surprised? Not a bit.

INCAP update

Michael's INCAP paperwork was not filed on time for this month's paycheck (pay from last month). Allegedly the Major who makes the decision as to whether to do an emergency board has decided to not do an emergency board because of the history of Michael's INCAP packets always being late. Does that make logical sense? To me it makes NO sense. Michael did his part early enough that the paperwork could be filed and passed through the board on time, but because someone did not do their job, we will not get a paycheck this month. I am annoyed and frustrated, but not shocked. The Army usually always makes decisions illogically. It seems to be the norm.

Michael is still working on calling numerous people about this to see if he can get the packet passed via an emergency board, but it is looking like (even if they do pass it through now) we won't get paid until August for June. Adding to all of this, Army personnel like to take off early on Fridays. Also, we still aren't positive when the INCAP will be over and the TDRL pay will take its place.

*sigh*

Update: July 15

We finally got Michael's PEB stuff back, they have awarded him 50% for PTSD and 20% for his shoulder which comes to 60% (Army math). They've put him on temporary retirement, and he will receive 60% of his base pay. He will also be re-evaluated every 6-18 months and after 5 years they will either find him fit for duty or retire him out. This also means he and dependents (me and Jesi) will be eligible for Tricare Standard (which we will hopefully be able to bump up to Tricare Prime/Extra).

In other news, Michael submitted his paperwork in person for last month's INCAP pay on June 26, however, it was not received in Little Rock until the day (July 7) of the board that determines pay. They got the packet at 3:47pm and the board met at 2:00pm, so it didn't get to them. Casey Jackson is in Little Rock now, and said he would go talk to the board people to see if we can get that ever elusive "emergency board" to pass it through so that we might get paid this month.

And more good news! I got Michael to call the VA hotline today to check on the status of his VA claim and they told him that they made the determination two days ago and he should be getting the letter in the mail soon, but they couldn't tell us that percentage over the phone.

Update: Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Michael got an INCAP extension for October 2008 through March 2009, so he's been paid on a regular basis up until this month. They just got the next extension approved, so pay should be regular for 6 more months or until they finish with his MEB/PEB proceedings. Hopefully the latter will happen before the need for another extension.

Michael got his DA Form 3947 from Ft. Sill (MEB Proceedings) along with his NARSUM (Narrative Summary) a few weeks ago. He has had some trouble contacting his PEBLO officer, but we found that was because she was in meetings/lectures all week last week. He signed part of the DA 3947, but wants to add some documents from his Army PERMED (Permanent Medical) files that we didn't receive copies of until after his MEB appointments in Oklahoma, so we are in the process of contacting our PEBLO officer, Susan, about this.

There is a woman who works in the MEB office at Fort Sill, her name is Kimberly, and she just received an award for Employee of the Quarter or Month or something. She rightly deserves the award. Any time we cannot contact our PEBLO officer, she is always more than willing to help us. She is always pleasant to speak with and never short or unpleasant over the telephone like so many people we deal with and she goes (however cliche it sounds) above and beyond her duties to make sure we are taken care of. This is always a welcome and refreshing change to what we are used to.

Michael's new POC at the unit level is SFC Burns, who was in Iraq with him on the 39th's first tour. Burns has been very professional in his correspondence with Michael regarding his duties at the unit and his INCAP documents.

Also, it seems that this blog was found by someone within the ARNG, or Army or by JAG. Basically, and I would never be able to prove this in a court of law, the ARNG has bullied Michael into getting me to remove the blog. So, instead of just deleting the whole thing, I made it private, invitation only. I am not sure why they were so insistent that it be removed, or if they even were (but I think it was an underlying theme in their talking with Michael today) since it's already been seen by whoever needed to see it, apparently. And I would never have taken it down had my husband not asked me to do it. I do not want things to be harder for him than they already are, so I acquiesced.

Censoring?

My husband asked me to take this off of the public blogs, so now it is only available by invitation. I don't want the Army to make it any harder on Michael than it already is/they already do, so I have removed the blog from public viewing. I will re-publish it to public viewing as soon as Michael is discharged from the military.

Update: we got a paycheck!

Well, we did receive four months worth of pay on February 18 and it was nice to pay the bills. What I would really like to complain about today is the fact that even though we get to pay our bills, we are paying late fees and interest and it's a really depressing way to go through life. Like today, I noticed that after I paid our vehicle insurance through USAA, they wanted us to pay the amount in full on our next bill! That's over $600 a month! So I had to sign us up for an automatic payment with them in order to get it down to a more reasonable monthly installment. Now my problem with that is, I don't know if there is going to be money in the account because the Army can't get anything right. Alas, I will just have to call ahead by 3 or more days to cancel the payment should this occur.

Now I am working on getting our taxes filed so that we can get a copy to Bridgette O'Connell by the 15th of March. I'm not sure why she wants a copy of our taxes to file his next INCAP extension, but it doesn't matter, if they want it, they will get it with no complaints from me! We still have to contact someone with the VA in order to get that stupid release signed and get his medical records released to Bridgette as well. I'll have Michael try to contact them tomorrow, as I have tried emailing and calling them to no avail. Once they get all the relevant paperwork, they will file another extension and hopefully we will get paid on a regular basis.

Also, our old unit POC is no longer our POC at the unit level. They have shifted the job over to someone new who has never done it and was not told anything by our old POC as to how to do the INCAP paperwork. *sigh* same ol' same ol.'

By the way, in my last post, I should have mentioned that the MWR loan only paid "necessary" bills like electricity, gas, etc. We still have numerous things that didn't fall into the category of "necessary," though the entity collecting for each bill doesn't seem to understand that. They want their money.

More on today's update

So after I emailed CSM Collins again (email can be seen two posts down), she forwarded that email to MSG Daniel Salman, who is Bridgette O'Connell's boss as DCSPER-Med. MSG Salman called us at my store sometime last week. He wanted to tell us that he had tried to get in touch with someone at G-1 and had left numerous messages for someone to call him back. He finally contacted them and the person he spoke with said that they did not have a packet on Michael.

Now, with the computer system they use, Bridgette was able to track the status of the packet and for two weeks it has said that the packet was at G-1. MSG Salman told the person at G-1 our circumstances and told him to get his peon to print Michael's packet out and get it to him since this person told MSG Salman that he didn't use the computer system. The next day (today) we have an approved packet. However, we won't receive pay until the 18th of February.

Bridgette told Michael this morning that since the packet has been approved, we can apply for another MWR loan. But the loan doesn't allow for food and other expenses, just bills. So I think we'll just wait another week and a half and pay all our bills when the paycheck comes in rather than pay back more to MWR since we already owe for one loan.

So with the extension packet approved through March 31, January, February and March pay should come through with no problems if everyone does their job correctly. Now we need to start on a new extension packet, but we have to get the VA paperwork again and that is a pain in my butt! But of course I'll do it ASAP.

-Brie'Anne

Update: Thursday, February 5

Email this morning from Bridgette O'Connell:

Date: Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Subj: FW: Griffin Incap approval (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

SSG Michael Griffin's extension has been approved through 31 Mar 09. Time to
start a new one.

Bridgette O'Connell
DCSPER-Med
LOD Case Manager/Incap Manager
xxx-xxx-4045
DSN xxx-4045
Fax xxx-5449

attached was the following:

Update: Wednesday, January 28

Here is my last email to CSM Collins:

Dear CSM Collins,

Michael called you last Wednesday in regards to his INCAP extension and his medical documentation from Ft. Sill. Since we haven't heard back from you, I thought I would email you to check in and see if you found out anything.

Also, do you think that if I contacted Congressman Mike Ross he could help get the ball rolling on all this? My store is in Prescott and his office is about three blocks away, so it wouldn't be a problem at all. Just an idea, I really don't know what else to do. Maybe Michael should also contact the people he saw while at Ft. Sill to see if there is a problem with his paperwork or something. I know you said it's the norm for them to be so slow with the paperwork, it just seems like three months is long enough.

Michael spoke with Mrs. O'Connell also, to see if we needed to go ahead and start work on another extension since the one we are waiting on only covers through March 31 and at the rate we are going, all of this will probably not be finalized by then. She said we should, but that she would need the paperwork from the VA again.

Just so you know exactly where we are on pay, Michael was paid December 15, 2008 for September. So we are waiting on the extension to be approved in order to be paid for October, November and December (and January soon enough). Some of our January bills are now past due, as I paid what was past due then (that the MWR loan didn't cover) with the check in December.

Thank you for your time,
Brie'Anne Griffin

Update: Tuesday, January 27

Well, we haven't gotten a paycheck since December 15, 2008 and that was actually pay for September. We are still waiting on the NGB to approve Michael's INCAP extension for October 2008 through March 31, 2009. Which is pretty stupid because it's now closer to March than October and we'll need to be doing another extension soon. More about that after the latest email from Mrs. Bridgette O'Connell:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE Your request for Incap Extension has been sent to Army G1, which is the final step for approval. I am forwarding this memo to you, trusting that you will NOT call Mr. Scott, the POC at NGB listed on the memo. Not only will it not speed up the process for you to call him, but he would just tell you to call your state POC, which is me. Then he would call me and chew me out over it. I check the Incap module twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If there is any action taken on this case, I will know about it and will let you know. Bridgette O'Connell LOD Case Manager/Incap Manager

Attached was a copy of a Memorandum for DCS G1 (whatever that means) Compensation and Entitlements Division, with an address at the Pentagon. The memo was a recommendation to approve the INCAP extension for October-March. This was dated January 16, 2009.

I continue expecting to hear from Mrs. O'Connell, Michael spoke to her yesterday though and the situation has not changed. I will be emailing CSM Collins today and I will post that here along with her response should I receive one.

Brie'Anne

Update: December 30, 2008

From: Michael and Brie'Anne Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 3:08 PM
To: O'Connell, Bridgette C CIV LOD/INCAP Coordinator
Subject: SSG Michael Griffin Incap Extension

Bridgette,

Just checking in to see that all the medical and mental health paperwork got
to you. If not, I have digital copies of everything. Let me know where we
stand on filing the Incap extension. This one should be good through March
2009, correct?

Brie'Anne Griffin
SSG Michael Griffin

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Response from Bridgette O'Connell:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Yes, I received all the medical and mental health paperwork and sent the
Extension Request to NGB. It was returned needing corrections on Saturday
Dec 20th. I was out the week of Christmas, so I did not see that it had been
returned until yesterday. It needed a minor correction, which was made. It
is back at NGB awaiting approval. It's only taking about a week, maybe a
little longer to get Extension Requests approved right now. I should know
something next week.


Bridgette O'Connell
LOD Case Manager/Incap Manager