Opinion ID: 2685740
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Disability Evaluations and the BCNR

Text: Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1216, the Secretary of the Navy (Secretary) is responsible for “separating or retiring” those members of the Navy who are unable “to continue [N]aval service because of physical disability.” Instruction 1850.4D 3 at 10-1, Secretary of the Navy (1998). 1 The Secretary evaluates the disabilities of Navy members through the Navy’s Disability Evaluation System (DES). The first phase of the DES process is typically conducted by a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB), which is convened if a physician determines that a Navy member “is unable to perform full military duty or unlikely to be able to do so within a reasonable period of time.” Id. at 10-2. If the MEB determines that further evaluation is required, it refers the case to the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB). At the PEB stage, the service member is first evaluated by an informal PEB. If he is an active-duty service member, the informal PEB determines whether he is “Fit” or “Unfit” to continue service.2 Id. at 4-8, 10-2 to 10-3. If the member is an inactive-duty Navy Reservist, as Havens was post-1996, however, the informal PEB typically makes a different determination; to wit, it decides whether he is “Physically 1 Instruction 1850.4D is the instruction issued by the Secretary governing disability evaluations that was in effect until 2002. Accordingly, the description of disability evaluations for Navy members based on Instruction 1850.4D describes the process as it previously existed. Instruction 1850.4D was cancelled by Instruction 1850.4E. See Instruction 1850.4E at 2, Secretary of the Navy (2002). Instruction 1850.4E established a similar process, making a number of changes not relevant here. See id. at 1-1 to 1-4. 2 “Fit” means that “the member is Fit to continue naval service based on evidence which establishes that the member is able to reasonably perform the duties of his or her office, grade, rank or rating.” Instruction 1850.4D at 1-2. “Unfit” is a “finding that the member is Unfit to continue naval service based on evidence which establishes that the member cannot reasonably perform the duties of his or her office, grade rank or rating.” Id. 4 Qualified” or “Not Physically Qualified” 3 to continue serving.4 Id. at 4-8. The findings of the informal PEB may be challenged at a formal PEB hearing, during which the member may “present evidence, testimony, and documents in support of his or her case.” Id. at 10-3. Using the same rubric as the informal PEB, the formal PEB makes recommended findings, which findings become final with the PEB President’s approval. Although there appears to be little difference between the description of an Unfit service member and a Not Physically Qualified service member, see supra note 3, the consequences of receiving one determination as opposed to the other are significant. An Unfit member, whether active or inactive, is assigned a disability rating between zero and one hundred per 3 Not Physically Qualified is a “disposition applied to a reservist when he or she is unable to continue service in the Naval or Marine Corps Reserves because of a non-duty related disease or injury which precludes the member from performing the duties of his or her office, grade, rank, or rating in such a manner as to reasonably fulfill the purpose of his or her reserve employment.” See Instruction 1850.4D at 2-16. Under Instruction 1850.4D, a Not Physically Qualified disposition appears to be the same as an Unfit disposition, compare id. at 1-2, with id. at 2-16, the key difference being that the Not Physically Qualified service member’s disabling condition is non duty-related. 4 There are limited circumstances, however, where an inactive-duty Navy Reservist can receive a Fit/Unfit determination. For example, “[a] reservist on extended active duty for 30 days or more who has been released from active duty and now is in an inactive duty drilling status and requests referral to the PEB for a condition which the member alleges was incurred or aggravated while on active duty shall be processed into the DES and the PEB shall determine and record whether the member is Fit or Unfit.” Instruction 1850.4D at 1-4. 5 cent by the PEB and, based on the rating and the member’s length of service, he is entitled to either disability retirement status and retired pay or a one-time disability severance payment. 5 A member with a Not Physically Qualified designation, however, does not receive any benefits and is simply discharged. If a service member is dissatisfied with the discharge designation reflected in his military record, he may file an application for a record correction with the BCNR.6 Subject to exceptions inapplicable here, the BCNR issues the Navy’s final decision on a record correction application, see 32 C.F.R. § 723.6(e), and reconsiders its decision only if the applicant presents “new and material evidence or other matter not previously considered by the Board,” id. § 723.9. 5 If a member has “at least 20 years of service computed under [10 U.S.C. § 1208]” or has at least a 30% disability rating (and satisfies other conditions set out by statute), he is entitled to disability retirement status and retired pay. 10 U.S.C. § 1201 (requirements for disability retirement for “[r]egulars and members on active duty for more than 30 days”); id. § 1204 (requirements for disability retirement for “[m]embers on active duty for 30 days or less or on inactive-duty training”). A member who has served fewer than twenty years or who has less than a 30% disability rating is entitled to a one-time disability severance payment only. See Instruction 1850.4D at 10-2. 6 The Congress authorizes the Secretary to “correct any military record . . . when [he] considers it necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice,” 10 U.S.C. § 1552(a)(1); the Secretary has delegated this function to the BCNR, see 32 C.F.R. §§ 723.2(b), 723.6(e). 6