Post by gato on Mar 14, 2021 8:11:07 GMT -5
For those who have served in the military, one of the most important documents issued to you at the end of service, is the DD214. This certified original is your ticket to claiming veteran benefits, getting medical treatment through the VA, proving dates of service and so on. Well, mine was duly issued in June of 1970.
Per the instructions of the Defense Department, I carefully preserved my DD214, and used it for the first time, to get 10 points extra credit on my application to the Sheriff Department later that same year. Used it again, to get my GI Bill bucks for college classes.
Fast forward to 1995. On my department there is a "buy back" program: whatever years were served in the military can by applied to service years in the county. So, if you have 28 years with the county and 2 years spent in the military, your retirement benefits are bumped up to 30 years credit. That's when I discovered that my DD214 had my SSN wrong. By one digit. Thus began my quest through the labyrinth of Pentagon bureaucracy.
See, if the numbers had been transposed, say 52 was written as 25, that would be one thing, fairly easily corrected. But my clerical error involved a zero. And since there are no zeroes in my SSN, that apparently meant a whole different kind of correction. I began sending letters to the various military entities ... I think it was Missouri at that time. The replies were always the same: I was helpfully sent a new, certified copy of my DD214, showing exactly the same error. I have a dozen of these in my file drawer.
As it turns out, the county breezed right past the typo for my two years retirement credit. The VA also ignored it when I got my GI Bill benefits. I've never had to apply for medical treatment at a VA facility, so that's not been an issue. I could presumably be afflicted with a cancer attributed to Agent Orange, but so far, so good.
About the only thing left, would be if I wanted a burial in a military cemetery, and I don't see that happening. Nevertheless, in the back of my mind is this nagging feeling that at some point, the other shoe will drop.
Per the instructions of the Defense Department, I carefully preserved my DD214, and used it for the first time, to get 10 points extra credit on my application to the Sheriff Department later that same year. Used it again, to get my GI Bill bucks for college classes.
Fast forward to 1995. On my department there is a "buy back" program: whatever years were served in the military can by applied to service years in the county. So, if you have 28 years with the county and 2 years spent in the military, your retirement benefits are bumped up to 30 years credit. That's when I discovered that my DD214 had my SSN wrong. By one digit. Thus began my quest through the labyrinth of Pentagon bureaucracy.
See, if the numbers had been transposed, say 52 was written as 25, that would be one thing, fairly easily corrected. But my clerical error involved a zero. And since there are no zeroes in my SSN, that apparently meant a whole different kind of correction. I began sending letters to the various military entities ... I think it was Missouri at that time. The replies were always the same: I was helpfully sent a new, certified copy of my DD214, showing exactly the same error. I have a dozen of these in my file drawer.
As it turns out, the county breezed right past the typo for my two years retirement credit. The VA also ignored it when I got my GI Bill benefits. I've never had to apply for medical treatment at a VA facility, so that's not been an issue. I could presumably be afflicted with a cancer attributed to Agent Orange, but so far, so good.
About the only thing left, would be if I wanted a burial in a military cemetery, and I don't see that happening. Nevertheless, in the back of my mind is this nagging feeling that at some point, the other shoe will drop.
