There has been a roller coaster of events regarding my medical records in the past few months. The Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records has claimed that they ordered the records to be corrected in September of 2019, but did not notify me. Nothing had been updated.
Here the timeline:
September 26, 2019 - The Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records ruled that my records were altered as a result of an "error or injustice". See document here.
September 30, 2019 - Dr. Gerald D. Curry, SES, Director of the Air Force Review Boards Agency issues a directive stating that the records are to be changed immediately. See document here.
August 2020 - The defense lawyers for USA, tell my lawyers that the records have already been corrected. They state that I was informed (which I was not) and they provide the two documents from the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records. The Attorney General's office lawyers cannot produce any copies of my medical records. I immediately request copies through the Colorado National Guard.
September 14, 2020 - I receive the copies of my medical records. The records had not been changed. Everything is still the same.
September 2020 - The defense lawyers apologize as they were told that the records had been updated. We do not know who is telling them that.
September 24, 2020 - We received a one page copy of new medical records from the defense attorneys. Someone had removed the disorders, and added a note that the record had been edited. There is no information on who edited them, when they were edited, and they have added a score to the Axis III that was not there before, with a test they cannot produce the results to. This is not standard practice for entries in an medical record. See document here.
The defense lawyers act like this is good enough. The records have been "corrected" and that's what I wanted right? Kind of, but not really. There are still a couple of problems with the records. They still can prevent me from advancing in my National Guard career.
First, the Air Force Board for Correction for Military Records said that "The applicant was assessed, interviewed, and administered psychological testing by a clinical psychologist at the United States Air Force Academy." They are still trying to push the narrative that I did see this doctor, and that I was treated by her. According to them, there just happened to be an "error or injustice" that resulted in me having disorders added to my record.
Second, the records still shows a GAF score of 55. The Air Force has never been able to provide any documentation or reasoning for this score. I believe a score of 55 puts me in between these two ratings base on information from verywellmind.com:
60: Moderate symptoms or moderate difficulty in social, occupation or school functioning
50: Serious symptoms or any serious impairment in social occupational or school functioning
I do not know what the symptoms would be from. Are they symptoms of the psychological disorders that they agreed that I do not have?
The defense lawyers are trying to say that the case should be closed. Their client, the USA (or really the Air Force), did what I wanted them to do. This does not make up for the damages that they caused. I could not become a pilot because of what they did. I lost out on the income that would have come from that career. It also does not make up for all of the money that I have lost due to legal fees fighting this. I also still may face hurdles in my National Guard career with a GAF score of 55.
Even after all of this, we're still left with a few questions:
Why did it take a year for the Air Force to fix the records after Dr. Gerald D. Curry issued his directive?
Is there a reason why whoever was responsible for updating the records didn't update the records?
Why is there no timestamp or information on who edited the records?
Why didn't the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records notify me or the Army of their recommendation to correct my medical records?
Why did the Air Force tell their lawyers that the records had been changed when they weren't?
Why doesn't the Air Force seem to care that a doctor, whom they still employ, falsified a medical record?
I'm not sure if these people are incredibly corrupt, or just grossly incompetent. I will let you decide.