RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-00509 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

Her disability discharge with severance pay be changed to reflect 
she was medically retired. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

Her medical conditions are permanent in nature and warrant 
placement on the Permanent Disability Retired List (PDRL). She 
needs to qualify for Tri-Care medical benefits in order to receive 
proper medical treatment without the affect of a financial burden. 
While being hospitalized she followed protocol and met standards 
required in order to be discharged. She was reevaluated twice 
while on the TDRL; however, her medical condition did not improve. 
Her final medical TDRL reevaluation paperwork is incomplete but 
recommended her medical retirement based on her continued poor 
functioning and poor prognosis in terms of her eating disorder; the 
chronic course of her psychiatric illness; and the fact that she 
will likely require multiple methods of treatment to include 
outpatient care, inpatient care, and partial hospitalization 
programs. 

 

She is totally reliant on the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) 
for her medical care. She has not been assigned to a primary 
health care provider or been scheduled for an initial appointment 
even though she has been designated as priority one in the DVA 
medical system. The closest DVA medical treatment center is 
3 hours away and she does not know of any DVA affiliated medical 
facilities that provide any of the recommended treatments mentioned 
in the 3 Aug 07 statement. If she were permanently retired she 
could receive proper medical care without delay by health care 
providers who specialize in her disorder. 

 

In support of her request, the applicant provides excerpts from her 
medical records and a chronological list of events from the time 
she joined the Air Force to present. 

 

Her complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 


 

The applicant entered the Regular Air Force on 1 Jul 98. She 
underwent a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) on 27 Mar 06 and based 
on the diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa, purging type (2) Major 
Depressive Disorder (MDO), single episode, moderate, and 
(3) Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), referred her to an Informal 
Physical Evaluation Board (IPEB). The IPEB found her unfit for 
duty and recommended she be placed on the Temporary Disability 
Retired List (TDRL) with a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa, 
Restricting Type with major depressive disorder in full remission, 
with a 50 percent disability rating. The applicant underwent 
subsequent TDRL reevaluations and, on 3 Aug 07, the IPEB found her 
unfit for duty and recommended she be retained on the TDRL. 

 

Another IPEB convened on 4 Mar 09 and reviewed the applicant’s TDRL 
reevaluation, found her unfit for duty and recommended she be 
discharged with severance pay with a zero percent disability 
rating. She disagreed with the findings; however, she waived her 
right to appeal to a formal hearing and did not submit a written 
rebuttal. On 30 Apr 09, the Secretary of the Air Force Personnel 
Council (SAFPC) considered the applicant’s appeal; however, after a 
review of all facts and evidence in the case, to include the 
remarks by the IPEB, the applicant’s medical records, and the 
narrative summary, the board determined the applicant should be 
discharged with severance pay with a 10 percent disability rating. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

BCMR Medical Consultant recommends granting the applicant a 
permanent retirement with a 30 percent disability rating. The 
Medical Consultant states that according to the TDRL reevaluation 
summary of 2008, the applicant’s depressive disorder and anxiety 
disorder improved or resolved and no longer presented any 
significant impact upon her social and occupational functioning. 
That then brings attention to the rating determination for her 
Anorexia Nervosa; after reviewing the disability rating criteria 
for Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa, it is likely the previously 
determined “0” rating made by the IPEB was because there were no 
incapacitating episodes during that period. In order to receive a 
30 percent disability rating there must be “self-induced weight 
loss to less than 85 percent of expected minimum with 
incapacitating episodes of more than two, but less than six weeks 
total duration per year.” An “incapacitating episode” is defined 
as “a period during which bed rest and treatment by a physician are 
required.” In this case, the Medical Consultant recommends a 
collective consideration of the probative value of the DVA 
evaluations, the GAF determinations, and the statement made in the 
narrative summary by the military psychiatrist. Consequently, he 
believes the benefit of doubt warrants either a return to TDRL 
status or permanent retirement with a 30 percent disability rating; 
reflecting a persistence of the underlying medical disorder, while 
acknowledging resolution of the associated depression and anxiety. 


 

The BCMR Medical Consultant’s complete evaluation, with 
attachments, is at Exhibit C. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant 
on 1 Nov 10 for review and comment within 30 days. As of this 
date, this office has received no response. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing 
law or regulations. 

 

2. The application was timely filed. 

 

3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of error or injustice to warrant relief 
in this case. After carefully reviewing the available evidence, 
we acknowledged the applicant’s social and industrial adaptability 
was characterized a mild. However, we rendered the benefit of 
doubt in favor of the applicant upon consideration of the 
conflicting clinical information provided by the mental health 
provider, who also stated that the applicant’s Anorexia Nervosa 
“appears to have continued unabated and possibly worsened” since 
her last evaluation, “as evidenced by her continued weight loss.” 
The evaluating mental health provider also assigned a Global 
Assessment of Functioning (GAF) of 45, depicting a severe level of 
overall impairment. While the GAF is only one measure in the 
assessment of an individual’s level of impairment, we collectively 
considered, as recommended by the BCMR Medical Consultant, the 
probative value of the disability rating determinations, the 
rationale of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the 
aforementioned comments of the applicant’s mental health provider 
in rendering the benefit of doubt in her favor for assignment of a 
disability rating of 30% for Anorexia Nervosa. Therefore, we 
recommend her records be corrected as indicated below. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

 

 

 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 

 

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force 
relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that she was not 


removed from the TDRL on 26 May 09 and discharged with severance 
pay, but on 27 May 09 her name was placed on the Permanent 
Disability Retired List, with a 30 percent compensable percentage. 

 

___________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number 
BC-2010-00509 in Executive Session on 2 Dec 10, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

, Panel Chair 

, Member 

, Member 

 

All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The 
following documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 4 Feb 10, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, BCMR Medical Consultant, dated 26 Oct 10. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 1 Nov 10. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair