MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va., (April 1, 2011) -- Personnel administration can seem tedious to most people, but for Mr. Terry Herron his work at the Wounded Warrior Regiment in Quantico, Va. has always been rewarding. At the Regiment, Mr. Herron is the supervisor of pay and entitlements where he and his staff of four assist Marines through their financial hardships.
Since April 2007, the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment has been tracking wounded, ill and injured Marines and providing assistance to all of their non-medical needs. April 2011, marks the Regiment’s forth anniversary and the pay and entitlement staff continues to set high standards by evaluating their program routinely.
“This year the pay and entitlement staff plans on examining ways to extensively cut through the red tape and provide Marines with the entitlements they deserve,” said Terry.
Ambitious and hardworking, Terry remembers joining the Marine Corps in 1982, the day after he graduated from high school. He walked into the recruiting station in Portsmouth, Va., to join the Few, the Proud, the Marines because, “the structure and discipline was exactly what I needed,” said Terry.
Twenty-six years in the personnel administrative field in the Marine Corps prepared Terry for his life after the Corps.
“When I left active duty I wanted to continue assisting Marines,” said Terry.
Today, Terry helps the Wounded Warrior Regiment provide financial structure to wounded, ill and injured Marines nationwide. Under Terry’s guidance, the pay and entitlement section ensures a timely and accurate payment of a Marines entitlements and benefits. They familiarize each Marine and their units on eligibility requirements and provide education on the rigorous components dealing with payment procedures.
April 16, 2010 Terry and his staff assisted with the implementation of several updates to the pay and allowance continuation MARADMIN 227/10. According to the PAC policy, this program ensures pay and allowance continue for a service member who incur, a wound, injury or illness while serving in a combat operation or a combat zone, while serving in a hostile fire area or while exposed to a hostile fire event (regardless of location), and is hospitalized for treatment of the wound, injury or illness.
The revised policy now eliminates the requirements for patients to be assigned to a medical or patient unit if they are a PAC recipient, medically restricts duty status for PAC recipients in order to continue receiving PAC and authorizes reinstatement of PAC under limited circumstances.
With the new initiatives under PAC, Marines can now collect more money for injuries incurred during service in the Global War on Terrorism. In addition, PAC pay provisions can be granted to Marines diagnosed with physical or behavioral injuries. This includes Marines that have acquired post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries after departing overseas areas.
This is just the beginning of the pay and entitlement initiatives at the Wounded Warrior Regiment.
“The biggest challenges that the pay and entitlement section incurs is raising the awareness that this [pay and entitlement] is an urgent matter,” said Terry.
Terry and his staff continue to search for opportunities to streamline the PAC pay provisions. Their efforts include initiatives to increase support for non-medical attendants. A NMA is a family member or guardian assigned to provide non-medical assistance to a Marine during his recovery. January 25, 2011 the Joint Federal Travel Regulations, along with the approving authority of the Wounded Warrior Regiment pay and entitlement staff, initiated policy that now authorizes more than one NMA to be designated to a seriously wounded, ill and injured Marine.
“Family members performing non-medical attendant duties provide an invaluable service to our wounded, ill and injured service members, and this much-needed policy change will greatly enhance and facilitate their recovery and rehabilitation efforts,” said Terry.
Marines who do not know what benefits they are entitled can always count on Terry and the rest of the pay and entitlement staff at the Regiment to notify them about payment rates.
Established in 2007, the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment was created to provide and facilitate non-medical care to combat and non-combat wounded, ill, and injured Marines, and sailors attached to or in direct support of Marine units and their family members in order to assist them as they return to duty or transition to civilian life. The Regimental Headquarters element, located in Quantico, Va., commands the operations of two Wounded Warrior Battalions located at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., and multiple detachments in locations around the globe.
For more information about the Wounded Warrior Regiment or the pay and continuation program, go to: www.woundedwarriorregiment.org or call the Sgt. Merlin German Wounded Warrior Call Center 24/7 at (877) 487-6299.