One of the areas we practice in has to do with Officer Grade Determinations (OGD’s.) While every service calls this by a different name, i.e. Grade Determination Review Boards, they are all essentially the same thing. When an officer is facing retirement, if that officer has “bad paper” (for example, Article 15, IG Investigation, etc.) in their files, it can lead to a consideration of whether they should be retired at a lower rank. This can have significant, long term impact on the officer, for example, the difference in retiring as an 0-5 or 0-6 can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars over a retiree’s lifetime.
When facing an OGD, the officer will be notified in writing of the proposed rank reduction, and be given the opportunity to respond. We have successfully represented numerous officers before OGD’s, and succeeded in getting them to keep their current rank. But it requires a lot of hard work, and a detailed submission to the Board. We have filed briefs with all of the military services on behalf of those facing an OGD, or Grade Determination Review Board, and we are familiar with the differences between them, and we know what works.
This is not a DIY project. You don’t want to be “penny wise and dollar foolish.” The time to fight this is now, not afterwards. If you are pending an Officer Grade Determination Review Board, contact me for a free consultation.