When Concurrent Receipt is paid you get both your full Military or Naval Service retirement, plus your full VA service connected compensation with no offset. Some of us have been working diligently to have Concurrent Receipt with all percentages granted from 10% to 100%. If it were done away with as you stated "I would wish they would just do away with the whole Concurrent Pay thing right now." Then all retirees would be in the same exact offset you are currently in. Thus retirees would lose what it took 38 years to gain.

Here is a link to a topic I suggest you review from the very beginning, it will take some time but it is worth it. http://forums.military.com/eve...7191001/m/4921917516

PS I personally became involved in this issue in 1977 and I am not a retiree, but just someone who sees a terrible wrong and hopes to correct it.

It looks like HR 2990 has passed in the House and now has to go to the Senate. The money to fund it was only enough for nine months and only for those rated 100% with less than 20 years. a very poor results. This, at the moment appears to be final.

Dave,

To clarify, a chapter 61 retiree will not necessarily get all of their retirement with CRDP. They will only get a retirement amount based on years of service. By special rule, the amount of a chapter 61 retirement above the amount based on years of service is deducted from the CRDP payment.

Mike.

I was a Staff Sgt that was medically retired after 18 1/2 years. I'm now 100% disabled. I called VA administration to make sure I qualified for H.R. 2990, and was told you must have completed 20 years service. If you remember, in the 1980's the Army was rifting everyone that had a profile. I'm totally ****ed at this answer! How many people due you know that retired after 20 years with a profile?

If you look at it the way it was designed, it may help. Consider that it is very likely someone rated at 80-100% by the VA was done so on the heels of being booted from the military for no longer being world wide qualified due to an illness or injury incurred on active duty that the PDRL Board rated at 30% or greater, you will be granted a medical retirement known as 'Chapter 61'. (likely from a code book somewhere).

You have to understand most of these victims of the system could not under any circumstance continue their hope of spending 20 or more years, because the 'board', essentially, kicked you out for physical reasons. Personally, I believe the biggest point of offering 'retirement' is for the continuing medical benefits. Remember, the board comes before the VA evaluations as you're still on active duty.

I'm glad I'm not rated at 100% by the VA and that same disability caused the DOD to boot me at 5, 10 or 15 years. I would choose serving 20 and having a 10-40% disabling condition any day.

HOWEVER, there's still a real beef I cannot overcome and need explained. In no way at no time was it ever mentioned that my DOD 'retirement' pay was based on, calculated by, or in part was due to the 'disability' I was PDRL'd behind. These often puny amounts are puny because WE SERVED PUNIER AMOUNTS OF TIME AND WERE LOWER RANKING. (which is what I was told retirement pay was based upon.) CHAP 61 RETIREMENT PAY IS ALREADY USUALLY LOW SO WHY GIVE EXTRA BENEFIT TO A 20 YR VET??

All of this 20yr talk is nothing but a theoretical number to me. No need to mention how I honor their service as I hope everyone would. But compare a 20yr to a 10yr and even if they both received full retirement pay, CRDP, there would still be a good 50% difference due to only 10 yrs and the lower rank at 10 yrs!!??

So why in the world would a PDRL court rack it's gavel and state you will receive retirement pay in the amount of 'X' and now, 'Oh dear!!! It should only be 2.5%/yr because that's not ALL just retirement pay!!' BULL!!!!! It's no less 'all' retirement pay than a daggon 20yr isn't 'all' retirement pay.

And sorry, the excuse that 'it was always the understanding that if you serve 20 you'd get full retirement pay' doesn't cut it either! It was ALWAYS the understanding that if you were med retired you'd get the full retirement pay granted to you by the Court at the legal office of the HQ of the branch you served TOO!! What's the difference? That's all I ask.

And again, I must warn you all. This 2.5% is based on every FULL year. So those of you serving X yrs and 10-11 months, get the X years. WHY ISN'T SOMEONE ROUNDING OFF YEARS? It's crazy to miss a full year by 2 lousy days and 363 days are what? Trashed? Never happened? Guess not.

I have hated this offset ever since I was medically retired from the Marine Corps in 1972, after serving 3 years. I happened to step on a land mine in Vietnam and lost some extremeties. I am rated 100% + SMC from the VA. Now, I would love to get excited about any legislation that comes out of Washington DC concerning Concurrent Receipt. But I can't when it has this criteria of
2 1/2% based on years served. I didn't ask to get hurt, it happened just like getting hurt on the job of any other American company. State Workers Comp would kick in and pay accordingly. They would not say your getting VA disability pay and not pay because of that. Because it's the law of the land and they have to pay me. Now this notion of paying two disabilities is hogwash. VA and Social Security are paying me now for my disabilities. I was excited when President Bush signed the CRSC legislation for 2008. I applied and was granted 100% combat injuries from the Dept of the Navy. A whopping $128. per month based on 3 yrs. served. Even though my DFAS statement says I should receive $805 per month of earned retirement, and pay for my dependents. As all of you Chapter 61 veterans know your injuries and mental anguish did not stop after, as in my case a 3 yr career. When I was at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, I had 13 surgeries to get me fixed, after almost a year in the hospital. Now my family and I have endured 15 more surgeries to fix this old body of my Vietnam injuries in the past 15 years. So it has been
39 years of pain and suffering for me and my family. So I do not get to excited about Concurrent Receipt for all of us less than 20 years. I would have gladly have made the Marine Corps my career than go through what I have endured in the past 39 years. These gutless wonders in Congress base everything on money and this type of legislation should be a no brainer. And it should never be partisan or about money, but they do. Peacemealing Concurrent Receipt has been a stall tactic as they did to the WWII vets and now they are doing it to the Korean and Vietnam Vets. Let them die off and we will minamize the amount of money we will have to pay. I know the Iraqi vets will get something different that will probably be positive for them, and more power to them. I hope they receive everything they get, but to pit the younger Chapter 61 vets against us older Vets is UnAmerican. Legislators at there worst. I am so tired of this fight to get what is do to all of us. They spend so much money on useless projects and we can't get what is due to us. When I was medically retired in 1972, the Marine Corps computed my retirement pay from my yrs served, rank and disability percentage. That is what I earned and that is what I should be paid with my VA and Social Security pay. They always put a formula on top of a formula to save money and it really ****es me off. Well I've babbled enough, I hope we all get what we deserve, but I am not holding my breath. I have written tons of letters to no avail, I even talked to Sen. Webb's Veterans assistant. Sen. Webb was in the same regiment that I was. Apparently to no avail. 2 1/2% of years served needs to be eliminated from any legislation and they need to pay what our retirement statements say. No amount of money will return some of the activities I missed with my four kids over the years. They ought to take that into account.

Semper Fi

I had not read some of the other comments in this site. Then I read this comment and was a little perplexed by some of the statements.

danhill9; It's not that they probably should get something, but that NOBODY was ever promised retirement pay for serving less than 20 years. THIS IS JUST A$$-BACKWARD AND WRONG!

Believe me I don't want to get into a ****ing contest with my fellow disabled Veterans. But I'm not sure if you know what a Chapter 61 Veteran is: We were thrown into this category by an event that happened during our military careers. In combat or a training exercise. We did not ask to be medically retired and in my case I certainly would have traded a 20 plus career in the Marine Corps for the last 39 years of my life. We were "Medically Retired" because we were unfit to perform our duties and had to have a 30%+ medical disability to qualify. We have been left out of the equation for many years now and I don't care what folks think about the double dipping question, I can tell you that I deserve what my earned retirement statement says, and I won't stop fighting for it until I die. My family and I could have used this when I was separated in 1972 by no choice of mine own. There are plenty of amputees coming out of the Iraqi and Afghanistan war that will be in the same situation as us Chapter 61 veterans. I'm sure they will get a better package than we will through Wounded Warriors legislation. So please don't try to paint us as un-deserving of Concurrent Receipt or double dipping because we couldn't finish our 20 year careers. We all deserve this!!! This all happened because of a Civil War Law, 100+ Yrs ago. This medically retired Vietnam Veteran from Canada has it right on the money and I would pass his comments on Concurrent Receipt to our legislators. Please check out. http://www.vvic.org/concurrent_receipt.htm

alvasteve; Your statement was; I too, was at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, but it was from Aug to Dec of 1971. I remember the amputees at the hospital at that time and feel you guys were the real heroes.

My name is Steve too. You brought back a lot of memories for me about Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. I arrived on New Years Day 1971 to Oct. 1971, and we probably crossed paths in the hospital. I was on that amputee ward during that period. There was a lot of comaraderie during that period.

Semper Fi

It's timr we stand up and make some big changes in our Senators and Congressmen. They are all Progressivists. If we could start a new party representing Common Sense and get rid of these of these peoplr that have served more than 8 years. They ignore us, spit on us and forget they work for us. With a new party organization, we can repeal all this needless spending and our 30+ Cars. Lets fight back!

This information came from another web site that is a great source of info.

This is the sort of thing we face!

It seems that even with the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid leading the charge, and no apparent objection for inclusion of Obama’s proposal for Concurrent Receipt for Chapter 61 retirees, it only takes one senator to block a “unanimous consent” motion, which was the vehicle intended to include Reid’s amendment in the Senate’s NDAA. It turns out that Senator Tom Colburn (R-OK) was the lone voice that blocked the amendment from being included. MOAA has the full story in the link below, but here’s the “money quote”:
“Coburn Stymies Concurrent Receipt Amendment.
We were surprised to learn that Sen. Harry Reid’s concurrent receipt amendment in the Senate version of the NDAA was stymied by Sen. Tom Coburn just before the final vote on the bill.
Sen. Reid’s amendment would have phased out the disability offset for all chapter 61 retirees over a five year period. But concurrent receipt progress in this year’s defense bill is still a very strong possibility, despite the failure of the Senate amendment.”
The full link is here:
http://www.moaa.org/lac/lac_is...r_retired_coburn.htm

Comment by DK — July 31, 2009 @ 11:38 am

Veteran’s organizations and every veteran in the state of Oklahoma should rise up and demand that Coburn be thrown out of office. He has no problem sending our sons, daughters, grand children to fight a war he supported then turn his back on them when they return broken….. Members of any veteran’s organization should contact their National headquarters and strongly encourage them to demand a public accounting from this person, take his anti veteran position to the public…..
Comment by FW — July 31, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

I have sent the below email to Senator Tom Coburn

Sen. Coburn
I would like an explanation as to why you did not vote unanimously along with your fellow senators on the Concurrent Receipt bill? Your answer to the MOAA that there is not sufficient funding lacks argument as the other senators do not see this as an issue worth stopping the bill for even though they are aware of this concern. I am a 100% disabled Viet Nam veteran with only 12 years of naval service. Therefore, I am one of those left out of collecting, in my case, about $800.00 more a month as income. I am 71 years old and gave my health to my country. All I and the rest of us chapter 61 retirees are asking is that we be allowed to collect retirement for those years we served. That is what Concurrent Receipt is all about. It is not about you, it is not about the government nor is it about those that manage our government. It is about paying the men and woman the money they earned while defending this country. Period!
Respectfully,
Steven Jolls PO1 US Navy Retired

It is perfectly understandable having difficulty trying to reason why Senator Coburn has such an anti veteran stance.

Here in Arkansas we have Representative Snyder, who is also a doctor, who apposes concurrent receipt for disabled veterans. In a recent meeting in the House Armed Services committee he tabled a amendment by Representative Wilson which would have granted concurrent receipt to all retired disabled veterans. He simply used a rule to have a vote to terminate discussion of the issue, much the same as Senator Coburn did in the senate. One is a republican and the other is a democrat. For the issue of concurrent receipt their are enemies on both sides of the ilse, but it seems that doctors especially appose helping veterans.

Likely that concurrent receipt will never pass for any group of deserving veterans. The issue has been used for many years as a political football, used to gather votes during elections, or used to give the appearance of veterans support during holidays.

Veterans are simply a group, especially disabled veterans, which the folks in Washington view as dollar bills, instead of the human story behind each veteran, instead of looking at each veteran as a human being, and the proud service each and every veteran gave their country.

It is my own opinion, having worked on this issue for well over ten years, that it is time to give up on the issue. No amount of writing, calling, meeting with represenatives, testimony in congress will bring attention to the plight of we the deserving veterans.

If we were all used cars which got low mileage, as in the current car buying program, we would all have concurrent receipt of retirement and disability payments. As it is we are used veterans, thrown to the various corners of our nation, represented by members in Congress who give not a damn about our plight as veterans or our seeking fairness on the issue of concurrent receipt.

Classes of veterans were created under the Bush administration. The deserving and not deserving of who receives concurrent receipt. We are the remnants of the classes that do not deserve concurrent receipt, and garnering the attention of congress and or nation has become impossible. If we cannot be treated with respect while two wars are being fought, then we will certainly not receive any attention once the wars are concluded.

Gods blessings to all, and much better to devote ones time to enjoying life rather than to reflect upon why the government is failing us on the issue of concurrent receipt. It can be summed up by a few words: THEY DO NOT CARE

This message has been edited. Last edited by: weavo2,

Not enough money for CR to be paid to chpt 61s GWB left this coutry with the biggest deffect in history.

speaking as a 100% Chap 61 retiree.

Members of all parties have dropped the 'Concurrent Receipt' ball. The holier than thou republican right did little and the liberal left hasn't done anything either.

It is one thing to claim support but so many that have claimed support do nothing else about it.

We have to hold these supporters accountable and get rid of the ones thant support the cause but fail to advocate for it and vote for it.

ONCE AGAIN THERE ISN"T A PARTY THAT DOESN"T BEAR GUILT AT THIS YEARS FAILURE TO PASS

For all of those that claim there is no money.

With all the bailouts and wall street candy given out, CR could have been funded for at least two years

I keep hoping that our elected officials will do the right thing BUT I am a realist and I Know they will give themselves a big fat raise with binefits that would make a Lottery winner dream, disabled veterans are no longer usable so we are discarded with a bucket full of rules that congress made to protect the congressmans wages and retirement. my disability will kill me and i don't think i will ever see concurent recipt for chapter 61 retires.