The "other" military casualties. I need some advice.

I am at a loss right now. If anyone has any advice on how to proceed it would be greatly appreciated.

My brother began getting seizures after joining the Air Force. He had no pre-existing condition. The Air Force ran a series of tests on him over the course of seven months but could find no cause for the seizures. The ended up releasing him as an Honorable Discharge claiming the condition must be pre-existing. He gets medical from the VA for a thyroid condition that was also discovered by the military. But he receives no medical for the seizures.

We have not been able to determine if the seizures might be related to the Military Vaccine programs. The programs were officially running the month before he started up.

He was in the military for a little less than two years.

Fast forward to today. He is now 24. He has $30,000 in medical debt. He has had difficulty keeping jobs because of his health and the resulting consequences (cannot drive, job safety...) He now works at a Walgreens and needs to procure rides to get to and from work. He has no stable home setting. He shuffles among family members because he is unable to make enough to finance both his medical and housing. This he has tolerated all of this with grace.

He loves Art and computers and had recently looked into going to college. He went to a Vocational Rehabilitation Program to try and get some assistance. He was advised to apply for disability. He tried and was refused disability. The VRP offered to assist him in attending a local community college. None of the programs transfered to a four year art program.

Not giving up yet he decided to investigate online schooling. Because of the difficulties with transportation he decided that online would be the best course to take. He applied to an Art College and was accepted. He did a FAFSA and learned that he only qualified for less than one third of the amount in Pell Grants. The remained of the AID was in government loans. He intended to go to school full time but discovered that the loans and grants would fall short of covering the full amount by nearly $600 a month. Added to this would be the cost of the necessary computer and software totaling approx. $100 per credit hour.

He is feeling a little defeated at the moment and i am feeling a little helpless. I started looking online for additional Scholarship programs today. There are a lot of Epileptic Scholarships but he does not qualify for these as his seizures are not attributed to epilepsy.

With the amount of medical debt he is already living with and additional debt from school, i am afraid for his future. If he attends college part time, which is the only way he can afford to attend, he will not acquire a degree for possibly 8 years. We have no idea what the future of his health might be. Cost of living, work issues are barely tolerable now, but for 8 years...

He cannot afford to attend school full time and work more hours. His health would suffer.

:banghead:

If anyone is aware of any Scholarship Programs that might be a viable option please PM me. If anyone can come up with any options we haven't already thought of, i would be very grateful.

Most do, unless they specifically decline to participate.

If he did, they should be good for eight hundred a month (as he did less than three years):
http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/rates/CH30/ch30rates100106.htm
The following rates apply to those completing an enlistment of less than three years.

Institutional Training
Training Time
Monthly rate

Full time
$873.00

3/4 time
$654.75

1/2 time
$436.50

less than 1/2 time more than 1/4 time
$436.50 **

1/4 time or less
$218.25 **

If i am not mistaken he would have had to be active for at least two years.



http://www.gibill.com/gibill-categories.cfm

Under the criteria for the II III and IV programs he does not qualify.

Early Separation: Veterans who did not complete the required period of service may be eligible under Category 1 if discharged for one of the following:

1. Convenience of the government—with 30 continuous months of service for an obligation of three or more years, or 20 continuous months of service for an obligation of less than three years.

2. Service-connected disability.

3. Hardship.

4. A medical condition diagnosed prior to joining the service.

5. A condition that interfered with performance of duty and didn't result from misconduct.

6. A reduction in force (in most cases).

http://www1.va.gov/opa/IS1/4.asp

His condition was NOT diagnosed prior to service but hopefully that detail will not matter. His first episode was in boot camp.

Number 5. seems to fit as well.

Thank you BTW. :hi:

I think that "diagnosed prior to service" is a cheesy way of saying preexisting condition. What they mean is it was diagnosed as having been initiated prior to joining the service, not that the military let them in knowing full well they had a disqualifying condition.

Anyway, I've known kids in similar straits who were able to use their benefit. The thing is, if your relative knowingly, deliberately rejected the MGIB in boot camp by signing a paper saying he didn't want it taken out (and some kids did, because they wanted that extra hundred bucks in their pay) then he's SOL.

without their knowledge. The link below may be a place to start looking down this path.

http://www.beyondtreason.com/

According to online reports about the timeline of the vaccine use, he would have missed it by something like two weeks. But the Air Force has been accused of using them without the knowledge of the serviceman.

Edited to add...Thank you for the link... Disgusts me what they do. These kids are NOT numbers to be manipulated.

You need to have a heavy hitter on your side. I have one

Thank you.