Patient Administration - Army Publishing Directorate - U.S. Army

(6) Those involving ROTC members on a training tour (annual training camps and training encampments at military
installations)—
(a) Who may be eligible for benefits under the OWCP because of an injury incurred or a disease contracted during
their training tour (para 5-9 and AR 145-1).
(b) Who require hospitalization beyond the termination of their training tour.
(7) Those involving mental competency.
(8) Those involving persons scheduled for separation under AR 600-8-24 or AR 635-200 when it appears that a
mental illness, medical condition, or physical defect is the direct cause of unfitness or unsuitability. Referral into the
PDES takes precedence over enlisted administrative separations except where the regulatory provisions authorize a
discharge characterized as Under Other Than Honorable Conditions. Officers pending administrative separations are
generally dual processed.
(9) Those involving persons who are being considered for expeditious discharge under AR 635-40. This also
includes personnel who request waiver of the PEB evaluation for non-service aggravated, pre-existing conditions.
(10) Those deemed necessary by the appointing authority.
c. As required, the responsible MTF will use an MEB to determine mental competency of any military member who
is hospitalized in a non-Federal facility. The Departments of the Navy, Air Force, and VA are authorized to determine
mental competency of retired Army members when such persons are hospitalized in a facility under their jurisdiction.
7–6. Sanity boards
A sanity board consists of one or more medical officers and is convened according to Rule 706, Manual for Courts-
Martial, 1995 edition (Misc Pub 27-7), to inquire into the mental condition of an accused. Findings of the sanity board
concerning the person’s sanity, including specific answers to the questions posed in Rule 706, will be submitted in
writing to the parties concerned. The members of the board will be furnished all facts and circumstances of the incident
or occurrence that led to convening the sanity board. This will include a copy of the investigation conducted under
UCMJ, Article 32. Officers serving on sanity boards may be physicians (preferably psychiatrists) or licensed clinical
psychologists. At least one member must be a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist. Licensed psychologists are
included on sanity boards so that they can provide appropriate tests and evaluations-different from psychiatric
evaluations-to determine the mental competency or responsibility of the accused. The selection of officers to be
appointed to a sanity board is the responsibility of the MTF commander who should decide, based on the individual
case and on the differences between psychiatric and psychological examinations, which of the two disciplines (if not
both) should be represented on the sanity board.
7–7. Medical evaluation board proceedings
MEBs operate informally and may assemble to discuss and evaluate the patient’s case. Clinical, health, and other
records, as appropriate, are reviewed. If deemed appropriate and when a patient’s condition permits, the patient may be
given the opportunity to appear in person and present their views relative to the proposed disposition. Medical fitness
standards are contained in AR 40-501 for military members and for ROTC members.
7–8. Recording proceedings
a. MEB proceedings will be recorded on DA Form 3947 (Medical Evaluation Board Proceedings). DA Form 3947 is
available on the APD Web site (www.apd.army.mil). The following general instructions apply in the completion of DA
Form 3947: A brief, but complete, clinical history prepared by the patient’s attending physician on SF 502 will be
attached to the board proceedings as enclosure 1. This will include a summary of available prior medical records and
information from the HREC and the DD Form 2808 prepared at the time of entry into Service.
(1) For patients with a mental disorder, regardless of etiology, include a statement indicating whether the patient
is—
(a) Mentally competent for pay purposes.
(b) Capable of understanding the nature of, and cooperating in, PEB proceedings.
(c) Dangerous to himself, herself, or others.
(2) For psychiatric illnesses considered to have begun or existed at the time of entry into the Service, include in the
narrative summary all available clinical and social data concerning the conditions of the patient’s entry into Service.
The summary should also show significant behavior and the patient’s attitude toward the Army and toward the act of
entry into Service. It should also include data upon which to base a judgment on whether or not the patient was
mentally competent to understand the nature of the act of entry into Service. If the patient is considered to have been
incompetent to understand the act of entry into Service, then the clinical data should show the subsequent date when
the patient did become competent to understand the nature of this act. If the patient never became so competent,
clinical data should be sufficient to support this opinion.
(3) When an EPTS condition is judged to be aggravated by service, the severity and circumstances will be clearly
indicated in the narrative summary.
54 AR 40–400 27 January 2010/RAR 15 September 2011