Dear Sgt. Shaft:
First, thank you for your informational responses to the many inquiries you receive and this is one that I will appreciate hearing from you on.
My son is a veteran of three years’ military service, a 30 percent-plus military-connected disabled veteran, a college graduate and recently accepted a position with the Social Security Administration. He was hired under Excepted Service Authority, which requires two years service before he is converted to career conditional status.
Upon receipt of his first leave and earnings statement, he found that his Service Computation Date did not include his three years of military experience and he was placed in the 4-hour leave category rather than the 6-hour category. I am not aware of any reason he should not be credited with the military time for leave and service computation date, and can find nothing that eliminates that due to his being hired under the excepted service authority. His managers and apparently his human resources office believe it is not.
Your thoughts?
Thanks, Truman S.
via the Internet
Dear Truman:
The apparatchiks at OPM tell me that Chapter 6 of the Office of Personnel Management’s “Guide to Processing Personnel Actions” covers creditable service for leave-accrual purposes. Under the “Guide,” non-retired members receive full credit for uniformed service (including active duty and active duty for training) performed under honorable conditions for annual leave-accrual purposes. However, restrictions do apply for certain military retirees. For retirees, annual leave-accrual credit is given only for:
c Actual service during a war declared by Congress (includes World War II covering the period Dec. 7, 1941, to April 28, 1952) or while participating in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is authorized;
c All active duty when retirement was based on a disability received as a direct result of armed conflict or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war as defined in 38 USC 101(11). “Period of war” includes World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, the Persian Gulf war, and the period beginning on the date of any future declaration of war by the Congress and ending on the date prescribed by presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the Congress.
A copy of OPM’s fact sheet on creditable service and a link to the applicable sections in the “Guide” can be found on OPM’s Web site at www.opm.gov/ oca/leave/HTML/ANNUAL.asp. If you think your son’s situation meets the above criteria, his Human Resources office can call 202/606-2858, for this matter or any additional questions.
Dear Sgt. Shaft:
Veterans who are represented by accredited service officers on average receive approximately $7,000 more per year in veteran’s disability benefits than their non-represented counterparts.
Veterans Affairs data show that veterans who are represented by accredited organizations on average receive $11,700, while their non-represented counterparts receive $4,700 per year. It pays to seek representation when filing claims for federal VA disability benefits.
Forty-four percent of Maryland veterans who file claims with the VA use accredited representatives; this is the lowest rate in the nation. The Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs Service Program employs nine accredited service officers located at five different service centers throughout the state. To find the nearest Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs service office and speak to an accredited representative, please call 800/446-4926.
James A. Adkins
Secretary, Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs
Dear Jim:
I urge all veterans seeking VA benefits to contact a state or veterans service organization representative.
Shaft notes
To ensure veterans with emotional crises have round-the-clock access to trained professionals, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun operation of a national suicide-prevention hot line for veterans.
Veterans need to know these VA professionals are literally a phone call away. All service members who experienced the stress of combat can have wounds on their minds as well as on their bodies. Veterans should perceive mental health services as another benefit they earned, which the men and women of VA are honored to provide.
The toll-free hot line number is 800/273-TALK (8255). The VA’s hot line will be staffed by mental health professionals in Canandaigua, N.Y. They take toll-free calls from across the country and work closely with local VA mental health providers to help callers.
To operate the national hot line, VA is partnering with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services. The hot line will put veterans in touch — any time of the day or night, any day of the week, from anywhere in the country — with trained, caring professionals who can help.
Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax 301/622-3330; call 202/257-5446; or e-mail sgtshaft@bavf.org.
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