Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 8/7/2008

Question
QUESTION: Recently, I have fainted two times, I have been seeing the doctors here on base and after MRI's, CAT's and x-rays, they have deemed my fainting as a direct result of anxiety. They are trying to make me take pills so that I do not faint. The fainting started only after my clearance was revoked and I found out my father had altzheimers, the news about these two things came in the same week. I was told that if I did not cross rate, i would be discharged eligibly. Now I am being told that I will be sent to the fleet undesignated. As my stress gets worse, so does my health. Am I eligible for a medical discharge? Can I be forced to take medication for something the NAVY is causing my not allowing me out of my contract when for months now they have been telling me I could get out of it?

ANSWER: Dear Christine --

It is the Navy's prerogative to reassign you to less stressful duty rather than medically discharge you.  If you fail to comply with your routine duty orders, then the Navy can discharge for failure to perform.  If that were to happen, then you could lose your veteran's benefits.

It is in your best interest to follow doctor's guidance, and comply with your duty orders.  Get through this enlistment, get out, get your honorable discharge and veteran's benefits.

Since your clearance was revoked, you already have some negative behaviors in your file.  Any additional negative actions on your part increase the likelihood of a negative performance discharge, and loss of benefits.  Don't let that happen to you.  

You should talk to your detailer about what jobs you can do without a clearance, and within the limitations your doctors have prescribed for you.  You may find that the detailer will work with you to get you the right job.

Good luck to you.  Please write back, if you have additional questions.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your answer. I do have one more question. I read that if you lose your clearance because you lied on the original questionares, than the NAVY can reassign you. But, if you were truthful on it, than you can ask to be discharged. With my situation, my student loans only popped up on my credit report after I had been in for a year, so i was honest. I was told to ask for a discharge, which I did. I was than told that i would be given orders, and that after I turned them down, I would be discharged. I have done that and now they say I wont be discharged. The fainting started after being lied to for 5 months. And I refuse to take pills, it's a personal choice. I wont spend the rest of my enlistment drugged so that they can assign me to something I did not sign a contract to do. I would have asked for a hardship discharge 7 months ago if I had known they would change their minds baout letting me out. I was supposed to be out this month, now instead of me going home to care for my father he has to enter a care facility. All this is why I had begun to faint. I would be more than willing to stay in if i could transfer home and have shore duty so that I could care for my dad. My condition will only worsen if I am sent to the fleet, with no way of caring for him. What do I do?

Answer
Dear Christine --

You need to request a compassionate reassignment to be close to your father to assist in his care.  Have your father's doctor and the Red Cross certify his condition.  Then apply for reassignment, and work with your detailer to get a good job near your father.

Listening to the "barracks lawyers" and losing your clearance on purpose to garner a discharge will hinder your reassignment application.  Your chain of command is no longer on your side, and it will be more difficult to convince them you deserve their assistance.

You could have adjudicated your loss of clearance because student loans, like mortgages, are a different class of loan from credit card debt.  Further, you could have deferred your student loan payments for up to five years, while you serve in the military.  So you should never have gotten behind in your student loan payments.

Please remember when non-expert "friends" give you advice, it is to increase their power, not to assist you.  By listening to them, you have really damaged your credibility with your chain of command, and possibly injured your credit rating for a decade.  I certainly hope your chain of command will work with you to help you fix these issues.

I understand that you do not wish to go through life "drugged."  However, the stress you are under has probably caused an imbalance in your serotonin levels, and a brief period of external brain chemistry regulation might help significantly.  I recommend talking to your doctor once more, with an open mind, and ask specifically what he is treating, and how it will affect your brain chemistry.  Then ask how long he expects you would have to take it.  You should make your decisions on whether to take any drugs based on a thorough understanding of your condition, and what the drugs will treat.  You have to admit the doctors spent a lot of money on tests for you to rule out an underlying physical issue that might cause your fainting.  Now that they have shown it is likely due to stress, medical treatment is no less important, just different.

You should also ask your doctor, if he would support a compassionate reassignment for you to be close to your father.  If he supports it, and the Red Cross verifies it, that should help your detailer make a good case to get you reassigned.

Good luck to you and your father.  Again, please write back if other questions or concerns arise.