Final drum roll please...

Greg's Medical Evaluation Board convened today and offered him 10% for his knee* with severance and separation from the Air Force. He accepted.** His next step is to go to the Veterans Administration Office locally and they rate him on all his current medical problems/disabilities occurring while in the service of the United States. This will determine how much he will get as a disabled Veteran from the VA. He had an appointment with them last month and they went over his medical history and came up with seven ratable items. His knee injury will carry over with 10%, Sleep Apnea brings in 50%, and then five other things that we don't know the rates yet. If the VA rates him at 100% then he is considered retired which is a good thing (not exactly sure how it all works out but I think it involves paying for additional schooling). HOWEVER, it takes the VA at least six months to get all the paper work done...so we will be glad for the severance package to help out during the upcoming months.

But it ain't over till the fat lady sings... they said not to be surprised if we are still in the Air Force until February because the paperwork from the ME Board still has one more stop to get an official stamp. If there is any one thing we have learned from all this: EVERYTHING in the military takes TIME. Hurry up and wait!! We just hope his commander will be kind enough to allow Greg to fill out the proper paperwork to allow him to work outside the military if a job comes up before he is "officially" separated.

Today has been a long day for both Greg and I, starting with a 4am phone call from him sharing some concerns before the board convened. Then after the decision was made he thought he would try his luck at getting back to Vegas earlier than planned. I'm not sure what lesson he is to learn from all this but his luck was not so good. He did get an earlier flight to Dallas but the connecting flight to Vegas was over booked with 30 people on standby. He got a ticket booked for the next flight which still would have been earlier than the original flight, but it got cancelled from the weather in Vegas***. Then the airport announced that all flights to Vegas had been cancelled until Thursday afternoon. The earliest they can get him home is 7 pm. But we have good news, his bags might have made it to Las Vegas!! Poor guy, what an ordeal.

* The military only rates the disability which causes separation from the military. Sleep Apnea no longer is a kickable disability, therefore there is no rate to offer the service man at separation.

** Greg is a gambling man, but sometimes a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush especially when those birds are already for flight and the mere glance from the hunter. Accepting is a better thing for our family at this time. It might have played out very badly for him if he re-enlisted and got separated without severance. I don't think I'd make it very far on "Deal or No Deal."

*** While we were enjoying the rarely seen beautiful snow falling we did not know it would delay the time we would see Daddy. No need to spoil all the fun!

Long awaited news

Well, today Greg got the military medical board's decision. Not good. They are offering him a severance with a 10% rating for his knee. Nothing like the retirement he was expecting. He was seeing red once they offered it to him. He also said he felt like they had left him in the middle of a battle with no help or backup (true military man!). He has until Friday to accept or reject the offer, of course he will reject it. Then he will head to Air Force headquarters in Texas, next week, to appeal, then wait again for another offer. We hope it will drag out till he has been in the military 16 years (November 22nd).

The advice he has received so far is to fight it, take it as far as he can. They are not offering any compensation for his sleep apnea which we feel they should but they say is something the VA will deal with. We believe it is brought on from his knee injury and should be grouped with the decision.

I am still in shock myself. Even his commander feels they are not doing good by him. "Thanks for your service/commitment to your country, sorry you got hurt, here's some 'insult to injury' money, good luck in life, bye-bye."

I do have to say that he is way better off than some of the people who get really injured in the line of defense, I wonder what they have to go through to get what they get. The husband of a friend of mine died a week after the military finally admitted that the cancer he had was in fact from Agent Orange. There was no time to fill out the paperwork for any compensation before he passed away. She only get's 1/2 his retirement as his survivor and no compensation for the Agent Orange connection to his death. The military only payed 80% of his medical bills, and his treatment was very expensive.

Yeah, we'll appeal and see where that goes. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. God is good and will provide once we do all we can.

Rant: Something is seriously wrong with the current set-up where the guys who really keep this country safe for democracy get paid/compensated crap, while the politicians make sure their own future is well taken care of and most of them have never served in the military. It would be one thing if they (the politicians) fought to keep the country "free" from enemies foreign and domestic, but it just seem that they are lining their pocket books (and those of their friends) with tax payers hard earned money, or selling the country to the highest international banker.

Semi side note: Greg is a three time war veteran and has been deployed more than he cares to remember (once would be enough for most of us to have nightmares and a new found appreciation for what we have here in the safety of our homes). I know there are others who have similar or even worse stories, but the long term effect it has on their lives should be better compensated!

What's going on, What's going on?

So, it looks like this is becoming a once a monthly blog now.

Update: We are currently about three weeks out from knowing if Greg will be medically retired or just medically released from the Air Force. We really want to be retired. Greg's re-enlistment date as come and past (Sept - 29), we have been given a three month extension on our IDs and medical coverage. Greg is currently looking to line up work for when he is retired/released.

I have been trying to de-clutter the house (this is a really hard job for me!). I can now officially get rid of all little baby toys, but they are so cute... This is my problem with everything. What if I need it one day? I admire the home-maker who's house is in order with only a drawer/room of clutter.

I have been working on my kids to understand that if they bring something out, they need to put it away, in the designated spot so they can find it the next time. I had baskets for gathering, thinking that would make it easier on cleaning up time, but they ended up being for their storage. They seldom put things back where they are supposed to, and then I get the never ending question, "mom, where is ____"? To which my reply, "I don't really know, I didn't play with it, maybe if you would have put it away where it is supposed to go you'd be able to find it now". I feel like a broken record! I think this must be a never ending job, like dishes, laundry, and cleaning.

Funny how we find ourselves saying the very same thing our parents did when we were growing up.

That's it for now, "LIFE," maybe I'll come up with something fun to post soon.