Injured Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Office of Soldier’s Counsel Stripped of Active Duty Legal Representation If Reserve Component
Reservists are reportedly no longer getting trained legal counsel for their military injuries in MEBs and PEBs. So far the Army has not made it official but clients and government lawyers who we know have reported that budget cuts have resulted in this affront and disrespect for those who served in Guard and Reserve.
This is wholly inappropriate and continues the practice of second-class citizenship of “part-time” military.
Paralegals have been entirely eliminated from the Army’s Office of Soldiers Counsel.
So what to do? You must contact your State and federal legislators. You can bet that anyone who claims to be a victim of sexual assault, even for consensual sexual encounters, will be provided a trained lawyer. But if you serve in the Guard or Reserve, you will not receive counsel from a lawyer trained in Integrated Disability Evaluation System or IDES.
I recently saw in a reddit forum that military members in Guard and Reserve were sent back to their units from their PEBLOs, only for their units to send inquiries back to the PEBLOs for legal representation. It is insulting.
Here at CitizenSoldierLaw, we are always prepared for all branches who have military injuries. Reserve component military members have related similar experiences with their PEBLOs and injuries and claims and the run-around.
We have learned that experienced counsel, early in the process, is critical to the appropriate outcome. Developing the evidence relevant to your injuries is essential.
Whether you were injured at drill weekend, RST, or whatever your part-time training is titled, injures during that service or Annual Training, on orders and deployments, should be considered in the line of duty (LOD) and considered for a MEB.
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