eBenefits and MilConnect - Access and Usage

eBenefits is a joint VA/ DAD Web Portal that provides resources and self-service capabilities to Service Members, Veterans, and their families to apply, research, access, and manage their VA and military benefits and personal information through a secure connection.  In order to apply for BDD, you will have to use your eBenefits account.

Services Provided

• Apply for benefits
• Apply for and View disability compensation claim status
• View your VA disability payment history
• Access official military personnel documents (DD Form 214, certificate of release or discharge from active duty)
• View Post-9/11 GI Bill usage and availability (this is actually done through MilConnect, but you can get linked from eBenefits)
• Transfer entitlement of Post-9/11 GI Bill to eligible dependents
• Obtain a VA-guaranteed home loan certificate of eligibility
• Register for and update direct deposit information

Access to eBenefits

Active duty can use their CAC card and Veterans can use their DS Logon

Usage

Veterans must be listed in Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)

MilConnect gives beneficiaries 24/7 access to personnel information; the ability to update information related to health, education and other benefits; and email notifications about changes in benefits.  It was previously known as the mydodbenefits website.

Services Provided

Transfer Entitlement of Post-9/11 GI Bill to eligible dependents

View details of medical/ dental/ pharmacy coverage

View summary of medical claims

View summary of other dependent health insurance used

View and print medical/dental enrollment cards

View and print DD214

View DODTap forms (DD2648)

View Print immunizations 

Update DEERS contact information

Find nearest DOD ID facility

Access to eBenefits

Active duty can use their CAC card and Veterans can use their DS Logon

Usage

Veterans must be listed in Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)

Life Insurance - SGLI, VGLI, and choices

Life Insurance.  If you never thought about it while you were in the service, I don't blame you.  It was there to protect your family in case something happened to you, $8.50 came out every month for $400,000 of insurance, and you never had to worry about it,   But now that you are leaving the service, you do need to think about it, because you have some decisions to make.

While you were active duty, you and your family were protected by the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (commonly referred to as the SGLI).  120 days after your separation, that won't be available to you anymore.  So, what are your other options.

One option for separating service members is the Veteran's Group Life Insurance (VGLI)

The VGLI can cover you up to the amount the SGLI covered you when you separated, or less amounts down to $10,000.  The monthly cost depends on the age of the service member, and if the service member applies within 240 days after separation, there are no health questions.

The deadline to enroll in the VGLI is 1 year and 120 days after separation.

You can receive a discount if you make your payments annually, quarterly, or semi-annually (5% if you pay annually, less for quarterly and semi-annually).

Here are some other details of the VGLI:

1. Lifetime Coverage Once obtained, you can keep your coverage for your entire life regardless of changes to your health or job status, as long as premiums are paid.

2. No Proof of Good Health Required
Apply within 240 days of your date of separation and no health questions are asked. If you apply after 240 days from your date of separation, you will need to answer health questions.

3. Standard Premium Rates
Premium rates are based on age and coverage amount only. Rates are the same regardless of gender or tobacco use.

4. Coverage Increase Option
You can increase your coverage by $25,000 every five years up to the legislated maximum of $400,000, until age 60. No proof of good health is required.

5. Conversion Option
You have the option to convert your coverage to an individual insurance policy at any time.

6. Accelerated Benefits Option
You can receive up to 50% of your VGLI benefit while still living, if you have a written prognosis from a doctor of nine months or less to live. You can use these funds for any reason including paying off debt, travelling, or setting up an education fund.

7. Beneficiary Financial Counseling Service
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) makes financial planning available at no cost to your beneficiaries after they receive their benefit. This service can help them make the most of the funds they’ve received. They’ll also have access to an online will preparation service at no cost.

Other Insurance Companies

Ask your bank or search online for quotes.  Figure out how much you need or want for your family.  The SGLI covered you for $400,000, but depending on family needs, you might want more or less.  Also, the amount you want will also depend on whether your wife will receive the Survivor's Benefit Plan (SBP), which provides the spouse a monthly payment or annuity to replace the loss of your retirement paycheck upon the service member's death.

My bank is USAA, and after discussing the issue of life insurance with them, this is what I came up with: a total of $400,000 for 20 years, and then $100,000 for the rest of my life after that.  They quoted me $96 a month for 20 years (be then I'll be 70 years old) for $300,000 of coverage term life insurance.  I combined that with $162 a month for $100,000 of whole life insurance.  This would be a grand total of $258 a month.

When I compare this to the VGLI, for $400,000 I would pay $144 a month until age 55, and then I would have to pay $268 for the next five years, $432 for the next five, and finally $600 for the last five years until I reached 70 years old.  And then if I started paying for $100,000 after 70 years old they would charge me $230 until age 75 and then $460 after that.

Given all that, the USAA proposal is a lot better deal, I would just pay $114 more the first five years, then I'm saving a heck of a lot money afterward.

Decisions

The VGLI has its place, don't get me wrong.  You can get covered with health insurance without a health exam, and that's a good thing if you have been injured or have severe medical problems due to your time in the military.  Also, the VGLI doesn't consider your tobacco use in their coverage.

However, if you are healthy it might pay to shop around.

In future posts, I'll discuss my final decisions for life insurance after the military and also about the SBP.

Thanks,

RR


Resources
VGLI Video
Apply for VGLI
VGLI Premiums

TRICARE After Retirement

TRICARE Program for Retirees

Soldiers who are retired have the option to continue with TRICARE if they wish.  Other options are healthcare through their new employer or using the options from the Affordable Care Act.  For the purposes of this post, I will only discuss TRICARE here.

TRICARE after retirement can be divided into TRICARE in the United States and Overseas.  This post will only discuss the TRICARE costs i the United States.  I will put the information for the TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) in a future post.

TRICARE in the United States after Retirement

To enroll, you must contact the correct region: either TRICARE East or TRICARE West (or TRICARE Overseas, but that will be discussed in another post).

Then, you will have two choices for TRICARE when you retire in the United States, TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select.

The payments are divided into Group A and Group B which are defined as:
Group A: if you or your uniformed services sponsor's initial enlistment or appointment began before 01Jan2018
Group B: if you or your uniformed services sponsor's initial enlistment or appointment began on or after 01Jan2018


TRICARE Prime for Retirees and their Families

Annual Enrollment Fees
Group A: $289.08 per individual/ $578.16 per family - per year
Group B: $350 per individual/ $700 per family - per year

Annual Deductible
None

Costs for Covered Services:                    Group A           Group B
Preventive Care Visit                              $0                     $0
Primary Care Outpatient Visit                $20                   $20
Specialty Care Outpatient Visit              $30                   $30
Urgent Care Center Visit                        $30                   $30
Emergency Room visit                           $60                   $60
Inpatient Admission (Hospitalization)   $150                 $150   per admission

When you see a TRICARE-authorized provider other than your primary care manager for any non-emergency services without a referral, you pay:

• A yearly deductible before TRICARE cost-sharing begins: $300 per individual/ $600 per family
• For services beyond this deductible, you pay 50% of the TRICARE-allowable charge
• These costs do not apply to the catastrophic cap

TRICARE Select for Retirees and their Families

Annual Enrollment Fees
Group A: $0 - per year
Group B: $450 per individual/ $900 per family - per year


Annual Deductible - must meet deductible before TRICARE cost-sharing begins:
Group A: $150 per individual/ $300 per Family per year
Group B in network: $150 per individual/ $300 per Family per year
Group B Out-of- network: $300 per individual/ $600 per Family per year
Network means a provider in the TRICARE network.  Out-of-network means a TRICARE-authorized provider not in the TRICARE network.

Costs for Covered Services:                    Group A In      A Out         Group B                B Out
Preventive Care Visit                              $0                     $0               $0                          $0
Primary Care Outpatient Visit                $28                   25%            $25                        25%
Specialty Care Outpatient Visit              $41                   25%            $40                        25%
Urgent Care Center Visit                        $28                   25%            $40                        25%
Emergency Room visit                           $109                 25%            $80                        25%
Inpatient Admission (Hospitalization)   $250/day          $901/day     $175/admission    25%
Hospitalization for Group A, daily rate is paid or 20% of hospital bill, whichever is less; plus 20% of separately billed services for in network and 25% of separately billed services for out-of-network.


TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Select Calendar Year 2018 Catastrophic Cap:
Group A: $3000 per family
Group B: $3500 per family

Pharmacy Program Costs

Pharmacy Types                                        Generic        Brand-Name       Non-formulary
Military Pharmacy                                    $0                $0                         Not Available
TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery      $7                $24                       $53
TRICARE Retail Network Pharmacy      $11              $28                       $53
Overseas                                                  25% cost-share after the yearly deductible is met; reimbursed

Summary

You will have up to 30 days to decide if you want to enroll in one of the TRICARE programs.  During that 30 days, you will be reimbursed by TRICARE once you sign up and send them the receipts.

Each family will have a unique situation to consider.  Whether they are located near a military facility or not.  Whether they will primarily live overseas or not.  The health care you ultimately select shouldn't be a decision you make at the last minute.  Take and estimate of your retirement living situation and make a plan.

TRICARE house open seasons available to enroll.  If you miss this open enrollment time period, you may apply to enroll if you have a life changing situation such as a move to another area of coverage or if you retire during a time when no open enrollment is taking place.  In that case, you will have to contact TRICARE and explain your situation.

I will discuss the TRICARE Overseas Program and the available Dental and Vision programs in future posts.

Good luck!!

RR


Resources
TRICARE Online
TRICARE-West
TRICARE-East/ Humana Military
Express Scripts - TRICARE Pharmacy Services
MILCONNECT - Update DEERS Information

How I Came Up With the Ideas for my Novel The Soldier's Journal

The Soldier's Journal

My original plan for writing a novel was to capture the events from my combat deployments in order to make sure they weren't lost over time.  These were events of courage that I felt if I didn't write them down, no one would remember the brave men that died or risked their lives.  With this as a goal, before I had learned about writing, I intended on writing a true story, maybe a memoir.  But I heard others tell stories that I wanted to capture as well, and these stories weren't mine to tell so I discarded the memoir idea in favor of a book of short stories.

When I began writing this book, I realized I didn't know a lot of the information, the details, to make it an engaging book, especially for the events that I heard third hand, and I didn't always have access to those that had witnessed the events.  It was about this time that I read Tim O'Brien's books and realized that I could write the stories as fiction by using the facts that I knew and the other details that I knew from my experiences to fill in the blanks, which ultimately wouldn't be true stories but probably better told stories.

My original manuscript was called The Soldier's Notebook.  My intention with this book was to present the Afghan War from multiple perspectives, American and Afghan.  This proved too difficult given my work schedule and access to individuals with the experience I needed to know about in order to write the book the way I wanted.  I still might write this book, but at the time it didn't seem possible.

At about this time, the U.S. Congress approved women for service in combat arms and special operations.  Simultaneously, I was reading a book on writing that suggested if you wanted to give your plot a face lift, then change the sexes of your protagonist or major characters.  The Soldier's Notebook had primarily been told from a male point of view, the only view I knew, and at the time the war was primarily fought with men as women weren't permitted in combat roles.

All of this combined into an idea that would tell a story from the point of view of the first female Green Beret to serve in Afghanistan.  I combined this with her father's journal that described the war in 2006 as opposed to her version of the war in 2019, which gave to stark comparisons of how the war had changed and yet how many of the elements had remained the same.

I divided up my true war stories between the female protagonist and her father and I also inserted scenes where she faces sexism from soldiers and officers.  I interviewed a number of women about their experiences in the Army and in elite positions in order to get a flavor for the type of situation she would face.

It took me a year and a half to finish my first draft, which I used as my thesis for my MFA in Creative Writing.  I've spent the last six months editing and redrafting and submitting to agents.  No luck so far.

In future posts, I'll outline my new strategies for getting my book published and tell you what is working and not working.  If I can't find an agent to represent me, I'll self-publish.  that means I'll have to figure out how to market my novel, I'll probably use Kindle Publishing, and I'll have to find a cover.  More to follow.  Wish me luck.

RR

Resources:

Five Reasons How and Why Veterans Should Write a Book

Final Pay - Your Last Active Duty Check and other Retirement Pay Considerations

Final Pay Check

I have to tell you the truth, I was a little confused when I came out of the Finance Office about my separation pay.  DFAS says the following on its web-page with reference to your final paycheck in the military:

Regular pay is suspended during the month of separation to ensure that no overpayment exists. On the member's Date of Separation (DOS), the servicing finance office will have a payment sent to the member's bank account using the EFT process. From DOS through the next 20 days, the member's pay account will be monitored and additional pay action will be made for the final pay computation as required. Post separation pay audits are conducted regularly and may identify residual payments that are due to the member. If this occurs, DFAS (or in limited instances, the member's servicing finance officer) will pay the residual payments via paper check to the address that the service member provided during separation processing.


Below is the information that was given to me three months before my separation date, which is supposed to be 30Nov18:

Final Pay Check
1.  Your account will be suspended 10 days prior to your separation date.  If you separate on the 15th or 30th/31st of the month you will not receive your mid-month or EOM paycheck, you will receive a final pay from the Finance Office a week after date of separation
(This sounds confusing to me.  At first I thought that if I separated on 30Nov18, then I wouldn't get my mid-month pay.  Right now that is my separation date, and I checked on the MYPAY web-site and I'm scheduled to receive my mid-month pay, so maybe that was my misinterpretation of the document.  But I asked the lady who gave the brief and she seemed sure that I wouldn't receive my mid-month pay either.)

2.  Finance Office will pay 80% of the final pay on the Date of Separation which will show up in your current bank a week after Date of Separation.
(To me this means I not receive any money on 30Nov18, but on/about 10Dec18, which kind of sucks because I have mortgages to pay.  We'll see.)

3. The remaining 20% is held in case of any outstanding debts, and will be paid 30 to 45 days after Date of Separation.

Accrued Leave
My Finance Office told me that I can sell any unused accrued leave up to 60 days if character of discharge is 'Honorable' or 'General'.  For each day or leave accrued, the Soldier will receive one day's basic pay minus the standard 25% for federal tax and any applicable state tax.  Also, I was told that this 'sold leave' money would be available in my final pay, 80% of which will be available on 10Dec18.  Again, we'll see.

Terminal Leave and PTDY
I was told that while on terminal leave/ PTDY I will continue to receive my pay and I will receive BAH for the location where I am going on leave starting the first day of leave.

Retirement Pay
After speaking with my peers, every one of them who retired starting receiving their retirement pay beginning at the end of the next month.  It's important to note that Retirement pay only comes once a month at the end of the month, there is no mid-month retirement pay.

Veterans Disability Compensation Benefit
As I discussed in my post on the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program, most people who take advantage of the BDD program begin getting their payment benefit as soon as 1-3 months.  However, if you file after you separate, then you can expect it to take 1-3 months after your last appointment.

Summary
In summary, I hope to separate in about 15 days and I'll let you know in future posts how the final pay is actually working for me.

Good Luck!!

RR

How I wrote my Query Letter

Of course, after you write your novel, most of you know that if you want to pursue traditional publishing you need to find an agent to represent you and the first step to doing that is to write a Query Letter.

When I drafted my first query letter, I googled query letter and read around twenty articles on how to write successful query letters.  I then drafted mine in accordance with their varied instructions.

Query Shark

I then found the web-page Query Shark.  I followed her instructions (one of which is to read every entry to her blog), I learned a lot, and I revised my query letter.  I did submit my query letter to Query Shark, but she admits that because of the large amount of submissions, if she accepted the query letter to post on her site, it might take 3-6 months.



This Query Shark revised Query Letter is what I sent to the first 9 agents to seek representation.  On a side not, most agents require 30 pages or 2-3 chapters with the query letter, and most require that you send all of this in the body of an email, which requires you to copy and paste and reformat everything, so be aware.

From these original 9 agents I emailed 2 months ago, I have received 2 negative replies.  Most of the agent web-pages stated that if I received no contact after six weeks, then I should assume that they do not want to represent me.

Rachael Herron

Moving on, I paid a professional to look at my query letter and suggest improvements.  I paid $100 to Rachael Herron, self-proclaimed query letter whisperer.  I heard about her service on her podcast, How Do You Write?, and received her suggestions within 48 hours.  I rewrote my query letter and plan on sending them out as soon as I receive my manuscript back from the structure editor that I hired.





Here are reprints of my 1st draft, the draft after I read Query Shark, and the draft after I had Rachael Herron look at it:
Query Letter - 1st Draft
Query Letter - After Query Shark
Query Letter - After Rachael Herron

In future blog entries, I'll let you know about my success with my new query letter and let you know if I change them any more and why.

RR

Resources

Specific Web-pages for Query Letter assistance:
Query Shark Web-Page
Rachael Herron Web-Page

Query Letter Articles:
https://nybookeditors.com/2015/12/how-to-write-a-darn-good-query-letter/
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-write-the-perfect-query-letter
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/successful-queries

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) Program

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program allows service members to file for veterans disability compensation benefits prior to separation.  This can only be accomplished if the service member files the claim between 90 and 180 days prior to separation, which allows the Veteran’s Administration (VA) to schedule medical exams, review medical records, and evaluate the claim before separation.  The VA fact sheet on BDD claims that most service members can begin to receive their veteran’s disability compensation benefits the day of separation.

Medical Records

The first step is to get a copy of your medical records, either a paper copy or a digital copy, and go through the whole thing identifying your problem lists.  I personally went through my records with a trained member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), of which I am a member, and also the Veterans Benefits Advisers who also have this training.

Next, you need to set up your Ebenefits account if you haven’t already and upload your medical records and a laundry list of other documents listed there such as: marriage certificate, birth certificates for all children, divorce decrees for all divorces.  The veteran benefits advisers at your base should be able to help you with all of this, that is their job.



When I spoke with the VFW adviser, he recommended faxing or mailing all the paperwork, but the base veterans benefits advisers told me that the Ebenefits portal is the new and accepted and faster way.  I chose the Ebenefits portal route, and once I submitted I started to receive emails about my medical and exam appointments.  I also received emails identifying documents that I still needed to upload.

Uploading medical records to the Ebenefits platform is somewhat problematic as they only accept 10mb files or smaller, and my records were 800 pages long.  There is a work around that I tried to use, but ultimately I had to break down the 800 page PDF file that I received on a CD from my clinic into 10mb pieces.

Just be warned, you won’t actually be able to see what your disability rating is until you are finally separated from the military.  After which, if you are not happy with the rating, you can resubmit with supporting documents and try and get a better rating which should be backdated to your date of separation.

So far, since I am still active duty, the only part of this process I have experienced is uploading my documents onto Ebenefits, submitting my claim, and getting the VA exams done.  Now, I am waiting for my separation to see when I get my first payment and what I will have to do next.

From other veterans who have already separated, I have heard the veterans disability compensation benefit taking up to six months to begin, though the pay is backdated to your separation date.  From those veterans who have separated in the last year and used the BDD program, the time to being paid has significantly decreased to within a few months of separation.

In future posts, I will discuss the VA exams for getting your disability rating and how/ when I finally got paid my veteran disability compensation benefit.

RR

Resources:

BDD information: https://www.benefits.va.gov/predischarge/index.asp
Ebenefits: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov
BDD Factsheet: https://benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/factsheets/general/BDDFactSheet.pdf

The Evolution of my Novel - The Soldier's Journal

Here is my novel summary from the current version of my Query letter:

Riley Mason—primed to break the glass ceiling of Special Forces—has fought sexism her whole military career, and just as she discovers a mystery surrounding her father’s death, she finds herself fighting the system again while trying to keep her men alive.

Haunted by her father’s death in Afghanistan when she was only twelve, Captain Riley Mason follows in his footsteps, conducting combat operations in Iraq and becoming one of the first women to earn the coveted Green Beret. Even in the elite ranks, though, she is challenged by sexism at every turn. Pushed to the sidelines of the Afghan war and forced into an administrative job, she finally proves herself to her commander and is given the opportunity to lead a Green Beret team into combat.  Just before the team launches, however, she discovers her father wasn't killed by enemy fire, but by an American traitor.  Arriving in the same base where her father served his last days, she wrestles with combating the enemy and protecting her men.  All the while, she tracks her father's killer in order to bring him to justice.

The truth is, that description is a far cry from the original novel I planned before I began my studies for my MFA in Creative Writing, and was very different from the original thesis I began writing.  I'll try to break it down for you, in case there are some aspiring writers out there who are interested in how my novel evolved.

Military Short Stories

When I went to combat in Afghanistan for the second time, I began collecting true stories.  I didn't know what I was going to do with with, but I thought they were worthy of being remembered in detail if nothing else.  I also added stories from my first time to Afghanistan in 2002 and experience in Panama during Operation Just Cause in 1989.  These stories sat on my computer for over a decade.  During that time, I pursued a Master's in International Relations and a MBA, but I didn't enjoy either program, and I realized that what I really wanted to do was write.

Application to the MFA in Creative Writing program at UTEP

In order to apply for the MFA program, I had to submit 30 pages of a novel.  I combined the stories into a story.  I was accepted into the program.  When I look at the pages I submitted, I am embarrassed with the quality of work I submitted and surprised that they accepted me on the basis of those pages.  I am also grateful that they took a chance on me.

I assumed that I would have to write a lot of stories in the program, so my plan was to write scenes for a book that I called The Soldier's Notebook during the program, and then put the scenes together for my thesis.  The best laid plans and all that.

The Soldier's Notebook

My idea at that time was to write a story called the Soldier's Notebook which would be told in seven parts, each part from a different character's point of view and all would tell different sides of the war in Afghanistan.  

The first would be a Green Beret newly arrived in Afghanistan and assigned to do staff and admin work.  He finds the notebook for which the novel is named, and begins to use it to write his daily list of things to do, helping teams that are forward deployed, writing home, sending supplies forward, etc.  At the end of this part, he finally goes forward on a MEDEVAC and while he is there, he passes his notebook off to a soldier on the ground who needs paper to write down vital signs for the wounded soldiers.

The second part is told from the POV of the combat soldier who was passed the notebook.  He begins to use the notebook as a daily journal to tell about the combat missions he goes on, the firefights he is involved in, the interrogation of the enemy, the loss of friends and comrades.  This part ends with him passing the notebook to an Afghan girl during his last mission.

The third part is told from this Afghan girl's POV as she discusses her family life.  The girl uses the notebook to teach English to local girls.  Her brother returns from Pakistan where he was trained by the Taliban.  At first, she is glad to see him again, but then she realizes that he has been changed by his training.  At the end of this part, her brother threatens her because she is teaching girls and becoming educated herself.  he hits her and takes the notebook.

The notebook is used by the brother to learn how to set up IEDs.  Then he passes the notebook on to a protege.  The protege decides he does not agree with the Taliban way of life and betrays them to Americans, turning in the notebook.  the Americans turn the notebook in with the Taliban bombers they capture as evidence.

That was my first plot.  Obviously, that is not the novel I wrote as you can see from the query letter above.

MFA Program

The MFA Program was different than I expected.  I was forced to take the program online because I was still active duty military and had to work.  UTEP was one of the only universities that offered a degree completely online, so I was forced to take the program with them and as such I didn't do much research before I applied.  The program was primarily concerned with writing short stories.  I took one poetry class, no play writing classes were offered until my last semester, and I only saw one class orientated toward writing a novel.  I was told that the program had a lot of these classes on campus, but that the professors in their online classes didn't offer them.

When it came time to write my thesis, I decided to write a compilation of military stories  similar to Tim O'Brien's stories about Vietnam.  I decided this because I wasn't completely sure how to put a novel together and at the end of the program and I had a collection of short stories, so it seemed like the easy way to go.  for my first semester, I pursued this as my thesis.  After about four months, I had a dream or something, I don't really know how the idea came to me, but I came up with the idea described in my query letter at the top of this post.  I then spent the next 18 months writing it from scratch in chapter order.  I wrote the last 200 pages in two months in order to make my deadline.  (I had to extend my thesis twice, because the normal time for writing a thesis is only 1 year, but I took 2).

Aftermath

After I defended my thesis, and I received input from my panel, I waited about 45 days and didn't even look at my novel.  Then, I read the whole thing again, corrected all my spelling and grammar errors (once again, I'm surprised they passed my defense with all the errors I found).  I then wrote a query letter and sent the letter and the first 30 pages to 9 agents.  So far, to have replied that they are not interested.  I don't expect any replies from the rest since it has been a while.  Meanwhile, I rewrote some parts of the novel, sent the query letter to a query letter expert, and sent the whole novel to a structure editor.  And now the waiting begins.  After I get the editor's suggestions, I'll revise the novel again and send it to some more agents.  Simultaneously, I'm writing a few other non-fiction books and starting a fantasy novel and another fiction thriller.

Let me know if you have any questions on the evolution of this novel.  In future posts, I'll upload my original and revised query letters and the progress on agent hunting.

RR

Current VA Benefits Status November 10, 2018

Here’s my current VA benefits situation:

I used the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program to submit my veteran disability compensation benefit claim before my final retirement.  Since I’m not out yet, I don’t no what disability will be assessed by the VA, but supposedly I will receive my benefits soon after I leave the service.  We’ll see.

I also added my family members to the 9/11 GI Bill so I can let them use my education benefits after they graduate high school if they need the money.

I went to the Soldier for Life briefings twelve months before my separation date.

I set passwords for ebenefits, milconnect (both of these use the DS logon), mypay, and myhealthevet.
So now, I’m waiting for my separation to see what happens next.

Future posts will discuss my education benefits, the BDD program, life insurance considerations, health insurance considerations, and Soldier for Life.

I hope that the information I share about my retirement and VA experience helps you with your own experience.

RR

Resources:
BDD information in this blog: The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) Program

Ebenefits: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage
Milconnect: https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/
Mypay: https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx
Myhealthevet: https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/home

Current Writing Status November 10, 2018

Here’s my current status with writing.

I’m not retired yet, so I’m trying to work on some things and get some other works in the oven to see if I can make any money.

When I finished my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP), my thesis was a 400 page novel called The Soldier’s Journal.  I had to defend my thesis before a panel of professors, and I passed and received my degree.  Afterwords, took a month off and re-looked at the novel, and rewrote another draft.  I then wrote a couple drafts of a query letter and sent them to some agents attempting to get representation.  I sent two query letters nine weeks ago and one responded with a no.  I sent six more about six weeks ago, and one replied with a no, but most said on their web-page that they were busy and if I hadn’t heard back in six weeks then I should assume its a no.  So, I’m 0 for 8.  Since, then I paid a service to look at my query letter and rewrote it, I think it is a lot better now.  I also, sent my novel to a structure editor and am currently waiting for it to be returned to me with her edits and recommendations.

I have had 4 short stories published, two on line and two in a compilation book.  I didn’t get paid for any of these though, so, of course my goal is to get paid for my stories.  But at least I have some published for my resume.

So, while I’m waiting for my editor to get back to me, I’m working on a couple non-fiction works that I hope to have the first draft finished of one by the end of the year, and the second by February 2019.  I’m not really looking for representation for these books, I plan on using Kindle Publishing to get them on the market.  It will be my first time, so a learning process, and I’ll tell you all about it in case you are interested in doing the same.

So this is where I’m at in my writing career.  In future posts, I’ll keep you updated on my progress with my novel, non-fiction books, and short story publishing.  I also want to track the money I’m making to give new authors some realistic tracking and financial planning for themselves.  I’m fortunate to have a military retirement paycheck coming in when I finally retire next month, but I know a lot writers don’t have the safety net.  I also want to review some of the things I mentioned in this post such as: my MFA experience, my short story publication experience, my query letter, and my novel writing experience.

I look forward to sharing my writing experience with you guys, and I hope you find some information you can use.

RR

Now What? Retiring after 31 years, what's the next step?

Thirty-one years of working for the Army.  Thirty-one years of doing what the Army told me to do, and letting the Army take care of my health care, take care of my family, give me direction, pay my salary, having my back.  And now what?

I have all these veterans benefits that I have to figure out: health insurance, life insurance, education benefits.  They aren't black and white, and there seem to be a lot of decisions to make.  Thousands of veterans have done it already, so I thought it would be clear and easy, but it sure doesn't seem like that.  So, one of the things I want to do in this blog is clarify these benefits and the steps I went through to retire and receive these benefits.

So this is my blog.  It’s about the things that affect my current life.

Retirement.  After 31 years in the Army, my retirement was a little scary.  There were a lot of unanswered questions that I ‘googled’ and ‘yahooed’ and asked and searched for and never got complete and accurate answers.  So, for this part of my blog, I’m trying to keep my fellow soldiers informed.  Trying to pass on the information that I wanted when I was getting ready to retire.  Things I could have used, such as my finances during the first 6 months of my retirement, using the VA health system, using education benefits, and a myriad of other things that I don’t even know now to list here.

Writing.  I acquired my MFA in Creative Writing about 6 months before I retired.  Instead of working, my goal was to make up the difference in my salary by writing after I retired.  So the other half of this blog will be how I worked through the ins and outs of writing a novel, starting a platform, and making money and learning about writing.  Hopefully, this will help some other wayward writer or retiree to have realistic goals and aspirations.  I don’t intend to destroy dreams, rather, share my experience so they are better prepared.

Job hunting.  I'll have to search for another job in the mean time, until the writing money comes in, so I'll also discuss the ups and downs of that process.

I hope that the information here is helpful, for ultimately I hope to write something useful and if one person uses this information, then I will have succeeded.

For those of you who may not know, a PACE plan is a contingency plan.  PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency.  It's usually attributed to ways to communicate, four methods in case one or two don't work.  Here, I want to discuss the plans I made for my retirement and how my plans worked, or didn't work.

Thanks for joining me here on the blog, I hope the information is useful to you.

RS