Veterans Blog

Hello Friends!

My name is Mike Serovey and I am a veteran of both the US Air Force and the US Army. I joined the Air Force in 1976 and made it half way through basic training before they disqualified me from the job that was guaranteed in my enlistment contract. They wouldn't train me in the jobs that I wanted and I wouldn't take what they offered so I ended up taking an honorable discharge and went home after only 21 days active duty. I later wished that I had stayed in the Air Force because I missed out on the old GI Bill and the new Montgomery one too! Also, I would have had a better life in the Air Force than I did in the Army.

A few months after I got out of the Air Force I joined the Army. Both times I used the delayed enlistment option that they had. I went on active duty in the US Army in September of 1977. I went through basic training and AIT at Fort Sill, OK. Fort Sill is just outside Lawton, OK. That is one place that I have no desire to ever return to.

After that I was stationed at Fort Carson, CO. At first I was assigned to HHB, Division Artillery and a few months later I was transferred to C Battery, 1/29 Field Artillery. I remained with C Battery until my first reenlistment. During the time that I was at Fort Carson my MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) was 13E, Canon Fire Support, Fire Direction Specialist. I told the gun crews which way to point the canons and what charges to use and what the shell/fuse combinations were. I also gave them the setting for timed fuses.

After a while I wanted out of the cold of Colorado and out of artillery. So, when the reenlistment NCO came by to talk to me about reenlistment I told him that I wanted a medical MOS. The first school that came open was 91G, Behavioral Science Specialist. I took it and reenlisted for another 3 years if I remember right. I had considered getting out of the Army at the end of my first enlistment but I was told that there were no jobs back home and I didn't have enough money saved up for college. I also had no real job experience outside of field artillery so I decided that reenlisting for a change of MOS was my best option. Besides, at that time I had a wife and new baby daughter to support.

I went through training as a 91B (Medic) and 91G at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. I liked Ft. Sam and would be happy to be stationed there permanently. After that I was transferred to Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. It was a very rainy place and that is where I first developed depression. My son was born during the time that I was stationed there. My job during the entire time I was at Madigan was a drug and alcohol rehab counselor. At first I liked the job but then I got tired of it and wanted to do something else.

Eventually it was time for me to go to Germany so I reenlisted again for 6 years this time. I reenlisted on the last day that they were paying a bonus for 91Gs to reenlist. While in Germany I was stationed at Giessen Milcom. My job there was again as a drug and alcohol rehab counselor. However, I got on the wrong side of a few people and got kicked out of the rehab agency. They made me the assistant training NCO (read that "go fer") until I completed my tour in Germany. At the end of my 3 years in Germany I had orders in my hand to go to Fort Ord, CA. Those orders were rescinded and I was held in Germany and extra 2 weeks so that they could kick me out for unsatisfactory performance. I spent about a day and a half at Fort Jackson, SC out processing the Army.

When I got out I almost immediately filed a claim for VA benefits. However, I didn't know that I could claim some of my conditions as service connected nor did I know that I could get free help in filing my claim from service organizations like the DAV and American Legion. I filed by myself and got a measly 10% rating. It took me about 9 years to discover that I could get free help from the Military Order of the Purple Heart. I met a guy named Herschel Lane while he was on a cigarette break and told him about how I got cheated by the VA on my rating. He stated that he could help me to get a higher rating and he did. He got me from 10% service connected to 50%. I am currently at 50% until the paperwork gets processed to pay me for the increase in the rating on my back. I am supposed to be at 20% for my back but I am still at 10% until my paperwork finally gets processed.

My current ratings are: flat feet 30%; back problem 10% (supposed to be at 20%); tinnitus (ringing in my ears) 10%; left shoulder problem 10%; right shoulder problem 0%; and hearing loss 0%.

In the future I will post more of my adventures in the Army and what I have had to endure with the VA in order to get the rating that I believe that I deserve.

Labels: About Me

posted by Unknown @ 6:14 PM