Team convenes to standardize Army's disability evaluation process

By U.S. Army Forces Command Public AffairsJanuary 13, 2012

Team convenes to standardize Army's disability evaluation process
Brig. Gen. Brian C. Lein, the command surgeon for U.S. Army Forces Command, gives guidance at Fort Bragg, N.C., Jan., 12, 2012, to a team charged with establishing an Army-wide standardized disability evaluation process. The result of the team's effo... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Jan. 12, 2012) -- A team charged with establishing an Army-wide standardized disability evaluation system has been meeting this week here at the headquarters of U.S. Army Forces Command.

"Right now there's no standardization of the process," said Brig. Gen. Brian C. Lein, the U.S. Army Forces Command, or FORSCOM, command surgeon. "There are more than 75 different policies, regulations and MEDCOM (Medical Command) orders, often with very confusing and very different interpretations of what the standards are."

Members of the team developing the Army's streamlined disability evaluation process include representatives from FORSCOM, the Department of the Army G-1 (Personnel) Department, the U.S. Army Reserve Command, the National Guard Bureau, the Army Physical Disability Agency, the Army Physical Disability Evaluation Board and several specific providers that are conducting disability evaluations.

The result of their efforts will improve the Army's portion of the Department of Defense's Integrated Disability Evaluation System, through which it is determined whether or not service members are fit for continued service.

Those found unfit are turned over to the Veterans Administration to determine the veterans' disability rankings.

"Standardizing the process will help the people responsible for carrying it out and provide a lot of predictability for the Soldiers going through the process," Lein noted.

Related Links:

Army.mil: Veterans Resources

Army.mil: Inside the Army News

STAND-TO!: Streamlined Disability Evaluation System

STAND-TO!: Integrated Disability Evaluation System

Department of Veterans Affairs: VA Disability Compensation