IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 27 July 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110001238
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests her uncharacterized discharge be corrected to a medical separation.
2. The applicant states she sustained an injury while in basic combat training. Her injury is called bilateral pes planus and increased laxity in her feet and ankles. She needs this correction to get medical attention.
3. The applicant provides excerpts from her military records.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicants military records show that she enlisted in the Regular Army on 18 October 2010.
2. While in initial entry training, on 22 November 2010 a physical therapist at Fort Jackson, SC wrote to her commander stating the applicant had developed pain in her left foot as a result of the normal physical activities required in training (marching, running, jumping). Upon evaluation, she was found to have bilateral pes planus and increased laxity (abnormal looseness) in her feet and ankles. The therapist continued that these injuries are a factor of overuse and poor biomechanics (body build) and not a stress fracture or other significant joint injury. The problems will resolve once she is out of the military training environment and will not cause her further problems. The therapist recommended the applicant be discharged, but added she did not meet the criteria for a medical evaluation board (MEB).
3. The applicant's commander then notified her of his intent to recommend her discharge for other designated physical or mental conditions and of her rights in conjunction with that recommendation. She waived her rights.
4. The applicant's commander then forwarded his recommendation to discharge the applicant and that recommendation was approved by the appropriate authority.
5. Accordingly, on 16 December 2010, the applicant was given an uncharacterized separation under the provisions of Army Regulation
635-200 (Enlisted Separations), paragraph 5-17, condition, not a disability.
6. Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 517, Other designated physical or mental conditions, states that commanders may approve separation under this paragraph on the basis of other physical or mental conditions not amounting to disability that potentially interfere with assignment to or performance of duty.
7. Flat feet (pes planus) is a condition in which the foot does not have a normal arch when standing. Flat feet are a common condition. In infants and toddlers, they are normal. Flat feet occur because the tissues holding the joints in the foot together (called tendons) are loose. In infants and babies, the fat in the foot is also a factor. As children grow older, these tissues tighten and form an arch, most often by the time the child is 2 or 3 years old. By adulthood, most people have normal arches. However, in some people this arch may never form. Aging, injuries, or illness may harm the tendons and cause flat feet to develop in a person who has already formed arches. This type of flat foot may only be on one side. Most flat feet do not cause pain or other problems. At times, foot pain, ankle pain, or lower leg pain are present (especially in children). They should be evaluated by a health care provider. Adults may notice some symptoms. Their feet may become achy or tired when standing for long periods of time or after playing sports. Medline Plus
8. Army Regulation 635-40 (Physical Evaluation for Retention, Retirement, or Separation) provides that the medical treatment facility commander with the primary care responsibility will evaluate those referred to him and will, if it appears as though the member is not medically qualified to perform duty or fails to meet retention criteria, refer the member to a MEB. Those members who do not meet medical retention standards will be referred to a physical evaluation board (PEB) for a determination of whether they are able to perform the duties of their grade and military specialty with the medically disqualifying condition. Those soldiers determined physically unfit are either continued on active duty, discharged with severance pay, or placed on the Retired List due to physical unfitness.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant was diagnosed with flat feet and laxity in her foot and ankle. These were not the result of an injury, they were the result of heredity and overuse.
2. The conditions were not medically unfitting for retention in the Army (it was said she wasn't entitled to an MEB). However, she was incapable of completing her initial entry training with these conditions. Therefore, she was properly separated due to condition, not a disability.
3. When the applicant stopped the running, marching and jumping she was doing in initial entry training, her discomfort should have rapidly dissipated.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicants request.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__X____ ___X____ __X_____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
_________X_______________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110001238
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