Disability Discharge

Navy

After you read this fact sheet, please call the Hotline (877-447-4487) to talk over your options with a counselor.

SECNAV INSTRUCTION 1850.4F Department of the Navy (DON) Disability Evaluation System (DES) (27 Jun 2019)

Source

SECNAV INSTRUCTION 1850.4F Department of the Navy (DON) Disability Evaluation System (DES) (27 Jun 2019) (79.6 KB)

Comments: To view or download the complete regulation, click on the link in the box above. Excerpts from selected chapters of this regulation can be found below.

---

SECNAV Instruction 1770.5 (23 AUG 2018) MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSITION OF LINE OF DUTY BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS RESERVES

Source

SECNAV Instruction 1770.5 (23 AUG 2018) MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSITION OF LINE OF DUTY BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS OF THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS RESERVES (298 KB)

Comments: To view or download the complete regulation, click on the the link to it in the box above.

…

4. Policy

a. Per references (a) through (l), Navy and Marine Corps RC Service Members who incur or aggravate injuries, illnesses, or diseases during periods of Active Duty, Inactive Duty Training, Funeral Honors duty, while traveling directly to or from such duty or training, or while remaining overnight immediately before the commencement of or between successive periods of such duty, may be eligible for Line of Duty (LOD) benefits, unless such injury, illness, or disease is the result of the gross negligence or misconduct of the member. For purposes of this instruction, a determination that establishes a covered condition is an “in-LOD determination.”

---

NAVMED P-117 Chapter 15, Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED) (15 FEB 19)

Source

NAVMED P-117 Chapter 15, Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED) (15 FEB 19) (4.7 MB)

Comments: To view or download the complete regulation, click on the the link to it in the box above. Each paragraph referenced in this table of contents describes the disqualifying conditions.

…

Chapter 15

15-32 Introduction to the Physical Standards

(1) The following list of disqualifying physical and medical conditions is organized generally by organ system and from the head down. If an applicant currently or by history (as appropriate) has none of these conditions then he or she will be found "physically qualified." ...

15-33 Head

15-34 Eyes

15-35 Vision-Enlistment

15-36 Vision-Commission and Programs Leading to a Commission

15-37 Ears

15-38 Hearing

15-39 Nose, Sinuses, Mouth, and Larynx

15-40 Dental

15-41 Neck

15-42 Lungs, Chest Wall, Pleura, and Mediastinum

15-43 Heart

15-44 Abdominal Organs and Gastrointestinal System

15-45 Female Genitalia

15-46 Male Genitalia

15-47 Urinary System

15-48 Spine and Sacroiliac Joints

15-49 Upper Extremities

15-50 Lower Extermities

15-51 Miscellaneous Conditions of the Extremities

15-52 Vascular Diseases

15-53 Skin and Cellular Tissues

15-54 Blood and Blood-Forming Tissues

15-55 Systemic Diseases

15-56 Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders

15-57 Neurological Disorders

15-58 Psychiatric and Behavioral Disorders

15-59 General and Miscellaneous Conditions and Defects

15-60 Tumors and Malignant Diseases

15-61 Miscellaneous

---

SECNAV M-1850.1 Department of the Navy Disability Evaluation System Manual (SEPT 2019)

Source

Department of the Navy Disability Evaluation System Manual SECNAV M-1850.1 (SEPT 2019) (676 KB)

Comments: To view or download the complete regulation, click on the link to it in the box above these comments.

9. Courts-Martial, Administrative Separation Proceedings, and Controverted Cases
...

c. Members being processed for any type of involuntary administrative separation and who are referred into the DES may continue to be processed for determination of fitness for continued naval service.
(1) If the local Separation Authority (SA) believes the member should not enter the DES because they are being involuntarily administratively processed under provisions that authorize a characterization of service of other than honorable conditions, the DES case must be referred to the first General
Officer/Flag Officer (GO/FO) in the chain of command for a final determination of referral into the DES or disapproval. Once referred into the DES, these members will continue to be processed in the DES unless the GO/FO noted above disapproves such continuation.
(2) The SA for enlisted dual processing cases shall be the first GO/FO in the Service Member’s chain of command unless a higher authority is required. The SA for officers is governed by reference (h). The SA may direct separation prior to completion of the DES process if the SA determines and documents, in writing, that the member should be separated for the misconduct despite the ratable medical condition.
(3) Refer to reference (i) or (j) for the appropriate SA for all Involuntary Administrative Separations of Service Members diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and for any Service Members with 18 or more years of total Active-Duty military service.
(4) For PTSD, TBI, or other mental health conditions, an appropriately privileged military health care provider will be consulted for a medical opinion as to whether the ratable medical condition that caused the referral into the DES contributed to a basis for which the member is being separated.
 

---

NAVMED P-117 Chapter 18, Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED) (10 JAN 2005)

Source

NAVMED P-117 Chapter 18, Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED) (10 JAN 2005) (161 KB)

Comments: To view or download the complete regulation, click on the link in the box above. Excerpts from selected chapters of this regulation can be found below.

Article 18-2

(4) Light Duty. A properly credentialed DOD health care provider may recommend a Navy or Marine Corps member for light duty to evaluate the affect that an illness, injury, or disease process has on the member’s ability to be in a medically unrestricted duty status. “Light duty” is a period when the member reports to their work space, but during the period the member is excused from the performance of certain aspects of military duties, as defined in their individual light duty write-up.

The goal of light duty is to allow for appropriate clinical evaluation without causing further damage to the patient during the evaluation period. A provider placing a member on light duty does so only with the expectation that the member will be able to return to medically unrestricted duty status at the end of the light duty period; care must be exercised to ensure that light duty is not abused or used as an inappropriate substitute for MEB overview of a case. Accordingly, when a diagnosis is initially made of a new condition for which the provider feels light duty is appropriate, light duty is permitted. (This criterion of a “new condition” does not preclude multiple “light duty” periods over the course of a member’s career; it does however preclude excessive periods of light duty consecutively for the same condition.)

Light duty presumes frequent provider and patient interaction to determine whether return to medically unrestricted duty status or more intensive therapeutic intervention is appropriate in any given case. Therefore, light duty will be ordered in periods not to exceed 30 days to ensure appropriate patient clinical oversight. Consecutive light duty for any “new condition” up to 90 days may be ordered by the provider (in maximum 30-day periods), but in no case will light duty exceed 90 consecutive days, inclusive of any convalescent leave periods. At the end of the light duty period, the member will either be immediately returned to medically unrestricted duty or will be referred to an MEB.

(a) The MEB will prepare an MEBR for placing the member on temporary LIMDU and/or referring the member to the PEB for DES processing. In no case will a member reach the 90th day of light duty without the MTF having submitted an MEBR either placing the ADSM on LIMDU or referring the patient to the PEB for DES adjudication.

...

(5) Limited Duty. A properly convened MEB at an MTF may recommend that a member be placed on a documented period of medically restricted duty as a result of illness, injury, or disease process.

LIMDU is a period when the member reports to their work space, but during the period the member is excused from the performance of certain aspects of military duties as defined in their individual LIMDU write-up. For this chapter, and in the actions of all MEBs throughout Navy Medicine, “limited duty” will refer to temporary limited duty (as opposed to permanent limited duty). Temporary limited duty is also known as LIMDU and or TLD; these terms are used interchangeably throughout this chapter.

(a) LIMDU is similar in many respects to light duty; major differences between the two are that, in comparison to light duty, LIMDU periods:

(1) Last longer than light duty periods.

(2) Require notification to not only the parent command, but to respective service headquarters and the servicing PSD of the member’s status.

(3) May necessitate the transfer of the member from the parent command if it is a deployable unit.

(4) Do not necessarily require the consent of the member’s parent command, or of the respective service headquarters. MTF commanders possessing “Convening Authority” allowing them to empanel MEBs must ensure appropriate business practices to alleviate undue burden on both the patient and the patient’s parent command, and must include in all LIMDU cases appropriate notification to the patient’s parent command servicing personnel/administrative office, and the respective service headquarters personnel office.

(b) Continuing care, recovery, and rehabilitation are conducted during LIMDU in an effort to return the member to medically unrestricted duty status.

(c) LIMDU may only be provided to a patient as the result of the actions of an MEB. LIMDU MEBs are addressed in detail in article 18-10.

(d) A patient whose case is referred to the PEB for DES adjudication, if the patient is not already in a LIMDU status, will be concurrently placed on LIMDU pending the PEB outcome. The Abbreviated Limited Duty Medical Evaluation Board Report detailed in article 18-17 may be used for this purpose.

---