Navy Board reverses decision giving Seabee benefits

Navy Board reverses decision, giving local seaman benefits
I-Team Investigation Cited
By: Alan Cohn
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A Navy board has reversed itself and has ruled that a Petty Officer from Wesley Chapel, who suffered traumatic brain injury after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq, is not fit for duty and does deserve service-connected benefits.

However, Sigurd Mathisen’s battle against the Navy, where he served for over 22 years, may not be over.

The I-Team uncovered in July the Navy was forcing the decorated Petty Officer to drill with his unit even though both his commanding officer as well as physicians at the James Haley VA hospital in Tampa warned his injuries made him “unfit for duty.”

In a split decision, the Navy’s Physical Evaluation Board granted the 58-year old Seabee 40% disability, meaning he will receive approximately $1,500 a month in benefits.

The Board’s decision is temporary and will be re-evaluated in 18-months.

Mathisen and his wife traveled to Washington in July to appeal an earlier decision finding him fit for duty and requiring him to drill with his unit based at Mac Dill Airforce Base.

But in the newly released decision, the board writes, “The formal board finds the member unfit for naval service due to his traumatic brain injury. The member’s symptoms of his TBI prevent him form performing the functions of his office, grade, rank and rating because he is unable to operate construction equipment safely.”
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