Can I join the Army Reserves or National Guard if I am currently collecting compensation from the VA?

<P>One of my Battalion Commanders works for the VA and gave us a pretty authoritative answer.&nbsp; I had a number of Soldiers who were drilling for points only in order not to jeopardize their disability pay.&nbsp; He let them know that they cannot receive military duty pay and disability pay for the same DAY.&nbsp; Therefore, you can receive disability pay for 28 days a month and then thier military pay for two days covering their Battle Assembly.&nbsp; Two days of drill pay should be much better than two days of disability pay.</P>
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<P>Really glad to hear you are rejoining the ranks!</P>

Listen here. I'm not going to sugar coat this.

Why the hell..would you come back in the army?

Seriously. I don't know what happened to you for you to be drawing disability. It honestly doesn't matter. What matters here is that lets say you come back in as a PFC? You were a 13F? you think you can continuing working that as a PMOS? Lets say you pick up one of the softer jobs in our military. How limiting in your disability? Can you preform basic lower level joe tasks? can't lift an amount of weight that would be expected of another similar in your rank? stand around for x amount of time?

Yea I understand you miss the comaraderie but you coming back in while already broken. Now you're going to go into a unit and fill a slot that could have went to a completely healthy E3. Remember the commonly joked slaying "lift with your Privates, not your back" cause it is true. Bottom of the totem pole, manual labor heavy labor is to be expected. If you can't preform even that much. You're a weak link, you're dead weight now to your battle buddies.

Yes there are a lot of people in our ranks that are broken. Broken permanently but remain within the ranks. The good majority though are SMs with years upon years of time in the service and can still be utilized positively by the army due to their experience and developed skills during service.
Do yourself a favor. Do a favor for those soldiers you would have came back in to work with. and just stay out. You want the camaraderie back? Get yourself involved in veteran groups.


Don't read this like I'm calling you some shitbag- I'm not. You joined the army, served your time, deployed, got hurt and then got out on an honorable discharge. Thank you for your service. But be honest with yourself. Hard deep look at yourself. Can you come back in and be a beneficial asset to your gaining unit?

Thank you so much everyone for taking your time and sharing some knowledge with me. To follow up on this, I did pursue joining the army again but I can not join the ranks due to my disability being a seizure disorder. It was pretty discouraging but it is what it is. Im still very thankful for the time I did serve and I am thankful for you that all continue to serve. Best damn job Ive ever had. PFC Corcoran out.

UGH. I know soldiers in the Reserves who get 100% disability from VA. They don't get paid from the Army. They are also non deployable which in my opinion makes them absolutely worthless to the Army. But as an NCO I don't get to write policy, just enforce it.

<p>yes you can, I am getting both. On some months though they will adjust my VA pay and lower it to offset my guard pay. If you are 90%, you will still get some of it even if you are in the guard. They will automatically adjust it for you. There is a lag time, so when they lower your disability to compensate for the guard pay, it will be for last year. They adjust it based on the number of drill days. You sign off on it when they send you the statement. Hope that helps.</p>

In my humble opinion what ever the rules are, if you are not deployable you have no business being in the guard or reserves. A disability is a disability and if you are collecting that it means you can no longer provide the skills needed to meet your career field requirements. If you cross trained into a different field that meets your disability requirements then that would be another story. Missing information makes it hard to understand.

Bottom line dude, stick with what you are doing now. I miss it too, but sometimes you just have to throw in the towel. If you miss the comraderie, volunteer at the va, hang out with the vets at school. Something. Just don't double dip.

It depends on the percent of your disability and if you can pass the entrance physical, and you would need to freeze your VA disability as long as you collect a drill pay. You can not get both. I have a friend in the Air Guard doing it now! His disability is more than his drill check therefore he is just drilling for points. Understand you will also need the VA to sign off on it! He is a Chaplain Assistant which allows him to work this option.

Bottomline, as many of the posts show, each case is situational dependent; therefore, for anyone considering this option, recommend you talk with a Retention Officer/NCO and a Veterans Affairs Benefit Advisor (at a local VA facility or Regional office). By doing this, you get the information from those who know the law and regulations, as well as the exceptions to the regulations and law, and don't have to decide if you fit the mode of the one giving his or her situational answer.

Yes, you can. You just can't receive both VA compensation and drill pay at the exact same time.  Since most people only drill for something like 40 calendar days a year, the rest of the year is unaffected. For drill days, I believe you get to choose whether you get paid via VA compensation or from drill pay, but I'm not sure about that.

Kyle,
Don't do it! You will be required to pay back every dollar you earn in the reserves or Guard back to the VA!!! Not worth it. It is also not worth the risk of having a Toxic Leader who may jeopardize your career inside the military or outside - and you can be certain that if a medical issue keeps you from being at drill on time, missing drill or not performing well on a PT test - leaders in the Guard or Reserve (some who may not have deployed), will likely not care and will likely write you up and process you for malingering or a multitude of other things - which could lead to an other than honorable discharge or separation. Be proud of your service already, join the VFW and/or American Legion if you seek to reconnect with a brotherhood and camaraderie. Also, if you are considering other civilian careers, don't take a chance on letting the military cause you further injury or time away from a career that you should be totally devoted to. Hope this helps and best of luck!

I am a drilling reservist and have a 100% rating by the VA. I drill for points only (except for a couple days during the year to keep my deficit that accrues down - for SGLI). Yes, you can be rated by the VA and serve in a TPU. Regarding retention: It's based on several things to include the potential of a med board (mine retained me). The minimum retention standard is as follows: You can qualify with your weapon, wear your LCE, wear a helmet and pass an APFT or alternate APFT (if med boarded). Bottom line: Each year (FEB - MAR) the VA will send you a letter that states they know you drilled for XX amount of days. If they skip you a year, they'll get you for two years. They go by FY, not CY. You and your commander will fill out the back, which will determine how many days you drilled for pay. You send it back to the VA. The VA will then withhold your check until that amount is repaid.

Note: If you are filing for disability or already have a rating, USE AN ADVOCATE - Don't try to deal with the VA directly. I go through Disabled American Veterans (DAV). You can pick your own advocate but I strongly recommend DAV.

The National Guard will take you as long as you are rated 60% or less, and provided your disability does not hinder you in your job perform or APFT.

In 2010 I left AD and joined the OKANG, after joining the VA rated me at 60%. I drew both, a Drill check and VA Compensation check. At the beginning of the fiscal year the VA would stop my Compensation till they recouped their money for the year. 2013 and 2014 the VA suspended my Compensation since I gave them a copy of my Deployment Orders. Mid 2014 I returned home and I started receiving VA Compensation at the 60% rating and my Drill Checks once again. In the fall of 2015 my VA rating increased to 100%. At 100% I drill for retirement points only because my two day Drill check doesn't come close to the VA Competition for the same time. Because of my disabilities I can't pass the APFT, so in June of this year I will ETS. I hope this helps.

But if you are receiving disability because obviously something hurts or not functioning properly, why would you be able to join the reserves? That's waste fraud and abuse. Active duty guys can't do it, why should Guard and reserve member? We are on the same team right?

Yes, you can. my daughter in laws step father is in the reserves. He is collecting disability at 80%. He's in the reserves to make it to equivalent of 20 yrs so he can retire and receive retirement pay.

The answer is Yes; However, you cannot receive military duty pay and disability pay for the same day. For example when you go to annual training that is maybe 2 to 3 weeks that's you'll see a big change unless you are have a high percentage of disability pay.

It depends what the ratings are based on, and wheather your injuries would limit or prohibit you from performing your duties. I'm in the Oklahoma National Guard, I joined two days after my terminal leave was up, they knew up front I was broke coming in. Four months later the VA rated me at 60%, they said no problem. Now five years and a deployment later the VA has rated me at 70%, and still no problem.

As for the disability compensation. Technically you can not draw both a VA check and a Military check. So that can be handled one two ways. You can continue drawing the VA check and drill only for Retirement points. Meaning no money period under M-Day status, Annual Training or Schools listed under Title 32. Or you can draw both checks and forfeit your VA check one to two months on average every year. To pay back the overage the VA gave you over the year.

I one Soldier that told the VA to cancel his disability payments which the VA did do. However when he ETS' d and he went back to the VA to restart his disability claim, he literally had to start his claim over. That is what he told me personally.

Thats my two cents, Good Luck

Richard Aldrich
SGT, OKANG

If your state has a defense force, you can also look there. They need prior service Soldiers who have been there, done that. Lots of opportunities for cameradirie, networking, and using civilian skills.

And how would you be able to physically and mentally be able to handle that? You are disabled now.... no? If not, then why take disability in the first place?

I lost a leg below the knee in Afghanistan in 2005. When I med boarded out in 2006 it was right before they started letting functional leg amputees stay in if you could handle it. I tried to join the National Guard and was counseled that I would lose all my VA benefits, but the recruiter now appears he may have been misinformed.
Too bad. I am too old now but would have loved to have continued to serve.