Posted on Feb 17, 2017
Can you call yourself retired if you just got out on a medical discharge?
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There is a young cost guard female in my College that tells me she is retired after 3 years in. She sprained her ankle wile she was in and they and she gets 30% disability. I am a 100% disabled Combat Veteran and I am a little curios if she can call herself retired if she is not 100%. She is playing up her retired statice like she did something and I want to make it stop!
Retirement
Discharge
Medical
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 29
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She sounds like is trying to inflate her status and make herself feel better. A quick look at a dd214 should clear things up.
Unless you receive a retirement check you ain't retired.
Unless you receive a retirement check you ain't retired.
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SFC Scott Parkhurst
Isn't retirement 20 years and or medical WITH a % ? Yes, she stated she is getting 30% but that does not equal a 10 or even 20 year retirement to me?
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SFC Scott Parkhurst
P.S., Sorry but a sprained ankle really? I could have gotten almost a 100% IF I wanted out, but I totally sucked it up and did PT and worked very hard on my injuries and yes, I even had a brain injury as well, and I still stayed in and added more years! I finially had to leave do to my injuries. But I would still be in if I could. I joined in 1990 for Desert Storm and got out in 2010. Combat Medic and 4 other MOS's. HOOAH!
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Only if an individual has a "blue" military ID card their military service branch, rank, and the word "Retired" can they claim the title of Military Retiree.
On other note, having a service connected rating whether 10% or 100% only means you are a service connected veteran, retirement only factors in if they served 20+ years (e.g. CRDP, CRSC).
On other note, having a service connected rating whether 10% or 100% only means you are a service connected veteran, retirement only factors in if they served 20+ years (e.g. CRDP, CRSC).
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SMSgt Bob W.
Gunny, we are close in the answers except:
We are playing the semantics game. What is military medical retirement.
ANSWER: If the service member receives a disability rating of more than 30%, they are medically retired, and the member and their family receive all the benefits afforded to a retiree.
We are playing the semantics game. What is military medical retirement.
ANSWER: If the service member receives a disability rating of more than 30%, they are medically retired, and the member and their family receive all the benefits afforded to a retiree.
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The proof is on the dd214- I was in for 16 years, 70% disabled, but if you notice on my RP I list myself as "veteran" not retired. Tell her the plastic tips on the ends of my boot laces have more time in than she does, and I change them weekly!
S/F
S/F
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GySgt Melissa Gravila
CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025 - you and I both know how quickly those cheap plastic tips wear out! LOL Am I showing my age here CSM Charles Hayden?
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PO3 Donald Murphy
It depends on what the military says. I was in for under 4, 30% disabled (M.S.) but I am a medical retirement (blue ID card). However, I get no money from the Navy. Just VA compensation.
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PO2 Terri Myre
Those plastic tips on the laces are called aglets. BAHAHAHAHA.....That response of yours was great though :P
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SFC George Smith
SFC Dustin Schneider -
by the looks as you present, she is Medically Retired and the Coast Guard May have Different Paperwork as they are Under Dpt. Transportation as well as the DOD... the key would have to be what is on the Paperwork
by the looks as you present, she is Medically Retired and the Coast Guard May have Different Paperwork as they are Under Dpt. Transportation as well as the DOD... the key would have to be what is on the Paperwork
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MAJ Patrick Ross
SFC Dustin Schneider - If she was rated at 30% by the military department she is in, she is retired and would have a blue retired card. If her rating only came from the VA, then she would not be retired. As to a sprained ankle, I can say I represented a Soldier with a sprained ankle - ops, well, that was how it started, but after more damage, failed surgery (times 3), the development of complex regional pain syndrome, and the likelihood of future amputation....it became more than a sprain - and yes that Soldier had less than 3 years.
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You will always have those that inflate what they supposedly did while they were in the military......She's the one that has to live with herself......You don't have to be 100% to be medically retired. I highly doubt that the Coast Guard medically retired someone for a sprained ankle my BS meter just went off. Most likely she ETS'd or they separated her and upon her exit she was awarded a disability. Can't see 30% for a sprained ankle......let it go sir she apparently isn't worth your time......... Good luck in college.........
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
I know a guy who got 10% for shin splints...so med retirement (30%) for a sprained ankle doesn't surprise me.
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SSG Laurie Mullen
I agree with you on that 30%. She may have really played it up to get 30%. I have a chronic shoulder injury and went to sick call MANY times for it and only got 10%.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
CSM Andrew Perrault He was a washed out 18X with no motivation...some doctors just figured they might as well send him on his way.
But hey, I didn't see any of his paperwork, so there could have been more to it.
But hey, I didn't see any of his paperwork, so there could have been more to it.
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Her ####ing ankle as a boo boo? I should get at least 70 percent when I retire.
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SFC Dustin Schneider
she said she gets 30% and she is so fat her kankeal gave out when she had to do real work!
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Makes no difference. There were two guys on medical hold with me and all they had was broken arms. But the Cold War was over and Bush stated his desire to get rid of as many as he could. So both of them got medical retirements along with me. So it all depends on what the government wants to do at the time. 1989 was a bad year to be ill. If you were even at sick call they were looking for a way to throw you out.
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SFC Dustin Schneider
ok but can I request to see her dd214? or is this something I have to let go? My problem is she is trading on the fact that her e mail seas retired and she lets people believe that it so for more than it is. When people talk about her she presents her self as a war veteran and they see she calls herself retired but when I talk to her its a different story. I want her to take down on her e mails that she is retired when she never did more than 3 years and never in the combat zone!
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SN Greg Wright
SFC Dustin Schneider - You can see anyone's dd214 simply by doing a FOIA request to the DoD.
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Retired Military and Medically Retired are two different catagories of separation. Retired Military have served over 20 years on active duty and are subject to recall during a national emergency. Their pension check is paid out of the DoD Budget. Medically retired/disabled is less than 20 years of service and their disability check is paid out of the VA budget. The benefits to both groups vary differently also.
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It depends on the actual discharge. My sister was discharged by a medical board after an injury and she's receiving E-5 pay for life because she was med-boarded out. If, however, she's more like me where I was admin discharged due to injury and then later got VA rated, then she's not retired, she's just a veteran.
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PO3 Christopher Jonah Nelson
MAJ Patrick Ross - Actually, I got 90% with SMC-S. There are some things that the military doesn't view as a disability that the VA does, and my admin sep was for a hospitalization with no prospect of an immediate (enough) recovery, so no medical board.
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SSgt Chad Yeager
Is your 90% from the VA or from the Service Component? There is a big difference in this equation. Service Component notes retirement or not, VA rating has no bearing.
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PO2 Robert M.
MAJ Patrick Ross - I was very disappointed in the Navy when I was "rated" at 30% disabled. I was in a wheelchair, my right side was affected ( looked like I had a stroke ), and various other problems. Then the lady right before me who was diagnosed with DIABETES was rated over 50%. - - - Who runs those boards???
The E-9 Marine ( who ran the Medical Hold division at Bethesda NavHosp. told me to accept their decision, and immediately report to the VA Hospital - which I did! ) The VA immediately rated me MUCH higher.... but I was so very disappointed in the way the USN treated me.
The E-9 Marine ( who ran the Medical Hold division at Bethesda NavHosp. told me to accept their decision, and immediately report to the VA Hospital - which I did! ) The VA immediately rated me MUCH higher.... but I was so very disappointed in the way the USN treated me.
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SGT Daniel Rocco Ames
MAJ Patrick Ross What is this "famous 10-20%" you speak of, Sir? That's exactly what I received, and I was medically separated in 2012 after 7 years active duty.
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Well, if she wants to call herself retired then it seems that she kind of gave up on living the rest of her life
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