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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Medical Discharge
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Question
I am currently in the army and I was recently diagnosed with Kienbock's Disease. I have basically no movement in my wrist and can't lift or hold on to anything. It is my dominant wrist. I have talked to doctors and they have mentioned medical discharge because after I would have surgery I still wouldn't have full functionality in my wrist. I would like to get out of the Army so I can persue another proffession and I would like to know if they decide to go ahead and start the paperwork for a medical discharge how long that could take and is there anything I can do right now to speed up the process? Thank you
Hi Matt,
For medical discharge/medical retirement, it's not "in your hands," and there isn't anything you can do (to my knowledge" to "speed up" the process.
It's up to the Army to decide whether or not your medical condition interferes with the performance of your military duties. The process starts with an Army doctor, making a written statement in your medical records, saying he/she thinks your condition interferes with the proper performance of military duties, and then goes on from there.
For details, see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/medseparation.htm
I've seen the process last as little as two or three months, and I've seen it take as long as 18 months. In short, for this type of discharge, it's not your choice -- it's the Army's choice.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
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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