My Transition and How You Can Learn from It

My transition was far from smooth. I did everything I was supposed to. I started planning a year out. I had a plan to transition to graduate school. I filed my disability claim 6 months before my DOS to be on the so called “fast track.” I turned in everything for my out-processing and DD-214 way ahead of time.

But like most things in life, things did not go according to plan. Here are the lessons I learned and hopefully you can navigate the mine field of transition better than I did.

1. You get one last PCS but it is to your home of record. Your home of record is usually the place where you entered active duty (for the Air Force this is Lackland for enlisted individuals or your hometown for most people). I did not know that until I inquired about moving my things to Virginia. If you want to do this you need to request it through your travel management office, they do a cost benefit analysis, and seek approval to get your things diverted to where you are actually going. If I did not ask, a lot of my stuff would have been down in Florida waiting for me to transport it back to Virginia

2. Be prepared to not have your DD-214 on time. I did not receive it until I was a month out of the service. And like everyone will tell you, that document is everything. Make sure that you quadruple check your DD-214 worksheet because it is a nightmare to get it changed. Bottom line, have transitionary funds available and a backup plan for healthcare if you plan on using the VA. Without your DD-214 you cannot enroll in the VA, cannot file for unemployment, and have no proof of your service.

3. Keep a close eye on your disability claims and get help. I happened to have a great Disabled American Veterans (DAV) representative that helped me out a lot. I was initially only going to claim 4 things, once he was done with my medical records, there were 12 claims. His logic was that you want to claim things so they can be service connected, even if it is evaluated at 0%. This is because the VA can then treat it if it degrades over time and your rating can be upgraded (it is much easier to upgrade a service connected claim versus make a new one once you get out). This leads to my second point of getting anything medically documented in your military record before you leave. It is much easier to process claims and have them evaluated if things are in DEERs. Also make sure all your VA medical appointments are completed before you leave. In my case there was one that slipped through the cracks and delayed my claim for 8 months.

4. It took a congressional inquiry to resolve the above issue. There are great people that work at the VA but most representatives can only tell you status. Most times it is what you already see on mye-benefits website. I should have done the inquiry much sooner since my paperwork was lost for 8 months. One call from my congressional veteran liaison and a week later everything was moving. They are voted to represent you, make sure they do when you need it!

5. Know what programs you qualify for. When I was in TAPs Vocational Rehabilitation Program was briefed. Like most briefs in my life I do not remember anything about it. The one thing I did think was the prejudice I had on the word “vocational.” In my mind it probably had something to do with vocational school that typically teaches skills such as wielding. Little did I know that it was an amazing program that would be the reason I am able to get my Masters. First off the program is for those who have a VA service disability of 10% or over and received any discharge other than dishonorable. 10% is not a lot and there is a plethora of benefits this program offers.

6. Make sure you understand what commitments you need to make to qualify for programs. I stumbled on the Ch. 31 because I was 3 months short of getting the service commitment of 36 months for 100% eligibility for my Post 9/11 GI Bill. Since I was an officer from ROTC, my first 4 years did not count. So 90% doesn’t sound too bad right? The problem is only 100% eligible individuals are able to take apart of the Yellow Ribbon Program (where the university will match the GI bill for expensive schools). The cap for the GI Bill for private colleges is up to $20,235.02 per academic year according to the VA. So that was $20,000 I was missing out on for a lousy 3 months. But Ch. 31 has NO CAP. Books and tuition are all covered for versus a yearly $1,000 stipend. And you still get your Ch.33 stipend so you get the best of both worlds!

7. Lastly have a plan B. My plan was to get into George Washington University in Fall and start school as soon as I got out. Too bad I bombed the GRE. This caused me to delay for 6 months. Because I was not a student, I was unemployed with no income and insurance until I had my DD-214. It was a scary month where everything I took for granted was gone. Luckily I had an amazing wife that supported me and we had money saved for the transition. But it took the better part of a year to finally get accepted, get insurance, and get income. This was all happening with the other physiological and social difficulties associated with transition. Like I always like to say, the three P’s to success are preparation, preparation, and preparation!