Medical Disability Discharge Procedures

An active duty member of the Armed Forces who is unfit to perform his or her duties because of a disability incurred while entitled to basic pay may be retired or separated from military service if the disability is permanent. At the end of FY 1990, 134,137 personnel were receiving disability retirement pay. During FY 1990, approximately 5,000 personnel retired and 13,900 personnel were separated from active duty because of disabilities. In FY 1990, the estimated cost of disability retirement pensions and severance pay was 1.6 billion. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether military members identified as medically disabled were expeditiously discharged from the Services, and to assess the effectiveness of the discharge process and related internal controls.