Question:

Good Morning, I feel foolish even asking but you seem to have a lot of answers. My doctor is putting me in for a med board for medical retirement because my depression just keeps getting worse. The main reason is she is going to start me on antipsychotics and that I won't be able to stay in. I just passed my 8 year mark this month and will be at around 9 I assume when this finally goes through. Looking at the VA website I fall anywhere between 30% and 100% depending on the day and how hard I feel like fighting. I'm just not sure what I can expect considering I also have sleep apnea and wrist issues after surgery and hearing and jaw dislocations. I guess my question is does it all get lumped together or with the depression go up to the DOD board for eval and the rest is up to the VA to decide? My %s will change drastically I think if they look at it one at a time. If the DOD says depression at 50% and VA says bunch of things at 70% does one trump the other or it all just comes down the monetary value?

Jim's Reply:

I can't answer your questions with any degree of accuracy. What I can tell you is that the DoD and the VA are looking at different criteria for how you're rated. The DoD determines whether your disabling conditions will interfere with the demands of your MOS. The VA looks at how your disabling conditions will affect your ability to work and earn a living wage. 

There isn't really any particular rule that would allow us to say that if DoD says (x) then VA will automatically rate that as (y). Once you are finished with exiting your active service VA will take over and more or less re-rate you to the standards that VA lives by. In my experience the ratings VA awards are generally higher and more accurate than what DoD has determined. 

Be patient as you go through the process, as difficult as VA can be to deal with at times, it's simpler than DoD.