Posted on Nov 21, 2022
SGT Combat Engineer
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Female soldier half way processed to med board, then gets pregnant, are they allowed to cancel her med board because of her newly found pregnancy?
Posted in these groups: D6865484 Pregnancy
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Responses: 5
COL Randall C.
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Short answer - Yes.

As CSM ZaGara stated, it is not to the Soldier's advantage to be separated in that situation and the Command and Medical sides probably agree. If the Soldier cannot meet medical readiness standards because of some other factor, then that factor would be present after a postpartum period of time.

If a Soldier is going to a MEB, it's because the command side or medical side believe they don't meet medical standards for retention. Regardless if the Soldier is pregnant or not, she would still go to the MEB. However, if the command or medical sides believe that the failure of the Soldier to meet medical readiness are due to or contributed to by the pregnancy, they could delay/cancel the board.

Now, circling back around - define "halfway to a med board". Where exactly is that Soldier in the process? Have they actually been entered into the IDES process? Were they done with a MEB and it was referred to a PEB? Etc.
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CSM Darieus ZaGara
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Not sure what Galway processed means. It is the medical world who processes the the boards. If the board was not slated and the pregnancy impacts it in sone way then there is no harm no foul. The Soldier would continue to serve as she does.

Why would anyone want to be separated under those circumstances anyway. This way there is 100 % medical coverage and unit support.

Anyway, there is no halfway to being boarded, there is medical review, documentation and boarded.
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SGT Ruben Lozada
SGT Ruben Lozada
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CSM Darieus ZaGara, Excellent response and Thank You for putting that in perspective.
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
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Did the pregnancy relieve the medical condition and cause the Soldier to be medically capable of retention? If the Soldier isn't medically fit they can't be retained.

By law, once a MEB starts, the board must be completed within a certain time line and the board must render its decision of Retain or discharge. An MEB is a Healthcare Provider directed process, not a Soldier or Command process. So, neither the Soldier or Commander have the authority to stop the process.

The Army is not a welfare agency and has no responsibility to retain someone who is not medically qualified just because they are pregnant. The whole board process is about six months or less, for someone halfway through the board, they will be discharged well before the end of the pregnancy with plenty of time to get onboarded by a new civilian provider
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