Urgent Notice to All Navy Personnel on the TDRL

Over the past 12 months, I have observed a disturbing trend in the Navy's approach to TDRL review cases — one that is catching service members off guard and costing them benefits they should have kept.

Before ordering a TDRL re-evaluation exam, the PEB staff is now accessing your VA records online to check whether the VA has recently re-evaluated your TDRL conditions. If a VA evaluation was performed within the past 18 months, the Navy PEB can opt to use that exam in place of ordering a new evaluation by Navy providers.

On its face, this may seem like a reasonable administrative shortcut. For some members — those whose ratings were continued or increased by the VA — it may even work in their favor.

But for many service members, it is a trap.

Many service members receive VA rating decisions that propose to lower the ratings assigned to their TDRL conditions. And many of them do not appeal those reductions — because the proposed reduction did not lower their overall combined VA percentage.

That reasoning is understandable. If your total VA rating stays the same, a reduction in one component condition can feel like a paperwork matter rather than a real loss.

It is not.

When the Navy PEB pulls that VA decision and uses it as the basis for your TDRL re-evaluation, the reduced rating becomes the foundation of your PEB findings. Service members who did not appeal the VA reduction are then surprised — and often blindsided — when the PEB issues a decision lowering their TDRL rating based on a VA decision they thought was inconsequential.

Be prepared for any VA C&P exam that touches your TDRL conditions. These exams are no longer just VA matters — they can directly drive your Navy PEB outcome.

Promptly appeal any proposed reduction in your rating for any TDRL condition — even if the reduction does not affect your overall combined VA percentage. The individual condition rating is what the PEB will use.

Re-evaluate your TDRL conditions before your review period. Do not wait for the PEB to initiate the process. If your conditions have worsened, or if your current ratings do not accurately reflect your functional limitations, address that before the Navy pulls your VA file.

If you are on the TDRL and your review period is approaching, now is the time to review your VA records, assess whether any recent C&P exams have proposed rating reductions, and determine whether those decisions should be appealed before the PEB has the opportunity to rely on them.

This is not a situation where waiting to see what happens is a safe strategy. By the time the PEB issues its findings based on a VA reduction you didn't appeal, your options are significantly narrower.

Call 757-481-0772 for a free consultation. I represent Navy service members in TDRL review cases nationwide and work with clients overseas.