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.