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About Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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You are here: Experts > News/Issues > U.S. Military > Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard > Retirement versus Medical
Expert: Rod Powers - 11/7/2009
Question
Sir
I am a active duty MSG with over 22 years of active duty service. I am trying to figure out which is the best rout to go for retirement?
I had my knee replaced a year ago and have sever stability issues and have to go through some more surgeries. This also causes me extreme pain, it does not matter if I am walking or not.
I also have crushing disc between T4 - T9 with Fibromyalgia.
I also have sleep apnea and I am on CPAP machine. And finally I have bad migraines with episodes at least once a month.
Can you please help me out?
Thanks
Robert
Answer
Hi Robert,
See my Military Retirement Pay article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalpay/a/retirementpay.htm.
Much depends on how much the Military is willing to rate your disability for medical retirement.
Because you have 20 or more years of military retirement, you can receive military retirement pay and VA disability compensation at the same time. If you had less than 20 years of military service, and received a medical retirement, then your disability compensation from the VA would be reduced (this is called "concurrent receipt").
One thing I can say is that both VA disability compensation and military medical retirement pay are exempt from Federal Income Taxes, while normal military retirement pay is subject to such. You may wish to keep this under consideration in deciding which is better for you.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com
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