Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification Number: 2003529194514
Story by Pfc. Samuel B. Valliere



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (May 29, 2003) -- His hand all but gone, Capt. Jason R. Frei reluctantly flexes a mechanical claw - knowing he may well lose his grip on the Marine Corps anyway.

Frei, the battery commander for A Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, put his life on the line in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And although the Marine Corps put him to good use in Iraq, it may not be able to use him any longer.

Frei is one of 251 Marines Corps-wide returning from Iraq with wounds received in action. While moving in a convoy through Iraq, Frei was caught in an ambush and hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, causing irreparable damage to his right hand. Frei has been fitted with a prosthetic device with two hooks - a poor substitute for a hand that will hinder his job performance, he said.

"When they're going to get a prosthesis, I think most people are thinking in the back of their minds, 'Okay, I'm going to get my arm back. I'm going to be able to do all of the things I could do, as soon as I can get that prosthesis.' Well, you can't. It isn't as good as a hand, and it won't do all of the things that a hand can. A hand is a pretty amazing piece of gear," Frei said.

That's exactly how the Marine Corps sees it, too. So if an injured Marines' job performance suffers, they may have to become civilians.

Combat-wounded or injured Marines go before a medical evaluation board, consisting of two physicians and one alternate member who determine whether the Marine is fit for duty.

According to a report issued by Master Sgt. Terrance L. Burton, the physical examination board liaison officer at the Naval Hospital here, the single standard for determining physical disability as a basis for retirement or separation is whether the Marine or sailor can execute his duties.

If found unfit for duty by the medical board, the Marine or sailor's case is sent to a physical evaluation board. According to Burton, the PEB consists of a Marine colonel and two Navy captains, one a doctor.

If found fit by the PEB, a Marine can be reassigned within his unit. But that doesn't mean he'll return to his old job.

"The PEB is performance-based, not medically based," said Burton. "The PEB will decide whether you are fit to stay in with your limitations, or whether you should be medically separated. What they will do is look at the Marine's unit, and if the unit can use them in a limited-duty status, then they are authorized to stay."

Since physical strength is such an important part of the Corps, injured Marines who are found fit to serve on a limited duty status are still required to pass a physical fitness test. A scaled down version of the PFT will be provided, omitting events that an injury would prevent the completion of.

A service member found unfit by the PEB will be separated from the Marine Corps and receive an honorable discharge. According to Burton, the Marine will receive disability severance pay amounting to his or her annual base pay multiplied by two, then by the number of years spent in the Corps, up to 20. Service members with less than six months of active service are not entitled to this pay, said Burton.

Many injured Marines returning home may face limited options, but the Corps takes their best interests to heart while taking into account its own, Burton said.

If Frei, who wants to continue his Marine Corps career, is medically separated, he will receive about $77,000 in separation pay. But he'd rather make his plea to the physical evaluation board to stay in.

"The physical evaluation board will come back and say that I'm not medically qualified, because this is not something that is ever going to get better; my hand is never going to grow back," said Frei. "I just need to go before the board and say that I know I'm not qualified, but I can qualify with a pistol and do all this other stuff. Then they'll decide whether they'll keep me or not."

Sempers,

Roger