A resume lands on your desk. The candidate looks strong. Then you see two words near the bottom: medically retired. Now you pause. What does that mean? Can this person do the job? Are you even allowed to ask? Many hiring managers see those words and quietly move the resume to the "no" pile. That is a mistake. It often means passing on one of the best candidates in the stack.

Medically retired does not mean unable to work. It is a status on a military record. It tells you the person left the service through a formal process. It does not tell you what they can do in your job. Those are two different things.

This guide breaks down what medically retired means. You will learn what the MEB and PEB are. You will learn what a disability rating does and does not tell you. And you will learn how to evaluate one of these candidates fairly and legally. This is about the medical retirement status and job fit. It is not about accommodation mechanics. For that, see the linked accommodation guides below.

What does "medically retired" mean for a veteran?

Every branch has a system to answer one question. Can a service member still do their military job after a serious injury or illness? That system is the Disability Evaluation System, or DES. Most people go through the joint version run by the Defense Department and the VA together. It is called the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES).

Here is how it starts. A service member gets hurt or sick. They get treatment for months. At some point a doctor decides the condition may keep them from doing their job. That kicks off the process. Two boards then review the case. First the MEB. Then the PEB. We will cover both in a minute.

The result depends on the rating and the years served. The rules live in DoD Instruction 1332.18 and Chapter 61 of Title 10. If the person is found unfit and gets a military disability rating of 30% or more, they are medically retired. If they have 20 or more years of service, they are also retired. If the rating is under 30% and they have under 20 years, they get a one-time severance payment instead. That is called medical separation, not retirement.

So the word "retired" here has a specific meaning. This retirement has nothing to do with age. The person's career ended early because of a medical condition. The person may be 26 years old. They may have a decade of hard experience. They were on a career track and the military ended it for medical reasons.

What is the difference between an MEB and a PEB?

These two boards do different jobs. People mix them up all the time. The order matters and the roles are not the same.

The Medical Evaluation Board (MEB)

The MEB is the medical step. A group of doctors reviews the case. They look at the medical records and exam results. Their job is narrow. They document the conditions. Then they decide if each condition meets the military's retention standards.

Think of it as a fact-finding step. The MEB does not decide if someone stays or goes. It does not set pay. It just answers a medical question. Does this condition meet the standard to keep serving, or not? If a case involves a mental health condition, the board adds a mental health provider.

The Physical Evaluation Board (PEB)

The PEB is the fitness step. It takes the MEB findings and makes the call. Is this person fit or unfit to do their military job? If unfit, the PEB names the condition that makes them unfit. Then it assigns the military disability rating.

This is the board that ends the career. A person found fit goes back to duty, sometimes in a lighter role. A person found unfit is separated or retired based on that 30% line we covered above.

One more detail helps here. A rating can be permanent or temporary. If the condition is stable, the retirement is permanent. If it is not stable yet, the person goes on a temporary list and gets re-checked over the next few years. Either way, the person is already out and looking for civilian work.

What does a disability rating tell you about job fit?

Almost nothing. This is the part most employers get wrong. A military disability rating is a number for pay and benefits. It does not measure what someone can do at work.

The rating answers a narrow question. How much did this condition affect the person's ability to do their specific military job? A knee injury can end an infantry career. That same knee has zero effect on a data analyst role. The rating reflects the military standard, not your job.

There is a second trap. A military disability rating and a VA rating are not the same number. The military only rates the condition that made the person unfit. The VA rates all service-connected conditions. So the VA number is often higher. Neither number tells you how well someone will run your warehouse, close deals, or write code.

So when you see a rating, do not read it as a risk score. Read the work history instead. If you want a refresher on reading the rest of the record, see our guide on how to evaluate a veteran's resume. Judge the person on what they have done, not on a benefits number.

Are medically retired veterans good hires?

Often, yes. And the reason is simple. These are people the military invested in heavily. Then the military lost them to a medical condition, not to poor performance. That talent is now on the open market.

Think about who ends up in this group. Many are young. Many have years of real responsibility. They ran teams, managed equipment worth millions, and made calls under pressure. A career-ending injury does not erase any of that skill. It just means one specific set of physical demands no longer fits.

Many medically retired veterans also count as protected veterans under federal rules. That can matter for contractors who track hiring goals. To see how the categories work, read what is a protected veteran. It also helps to know what counts as a veteran for hiring programs before you build a plan.

What can you legally ask a medically retired candidate?

This is where employers get nervous, and for good reason. The Americans with Disabilities Act sets clear limits. The rule is easier than it sounds. Focus every question on the job, not on the person's medical history.

Before you make a job offer, you cannot ask about a disability. You cannot ask what caused the medical retirement. You cannot ask about the rating or the condition. You also cannot ask a question that forces the person to reveal a need for help. The EEOC preemployment guidance lays this out.

You can always ask about the job. You can ask if the person can perform the essential functions of the role. You can describe the physical or mental demands and ask if they can meet them. You can ask everyone the same job-based questions. That is fair game and it is the smart way to screen.

After you make a conditional offer, the rules loosen a bit. At that stage you may ask medical questions if you ask them of everyone entering that job. If a candidate then asks for a change to how the work gets done, that is a reasonable accommodation request. You handle that through a back-and-forth, not a rejection. Our guide on interview questions you cannot ask veterans covers the wording traps in detail.

How do you evaluate a medically retired veteran fairly?

Use the same process you would use for any strong candidate. The goal is a clean, job-based review that treats this person like everyone else. Here is a simple way to run it.

Start by writing down the essential functions of the role. Be honest about what the job truly requires. Then ask every candidate the same questions about those functions. Score the resume on the work and the results, not on service dates or a benefits status. If the person is the best fit, make the offer. If they later request an accommodation, work it out through a normal conversation.

Keep in mind that the DoD rating you might see on a record is job-specific to the military. It was set for a role with its own physical demands. Your role is different. So treat the rating as background, not as a decision point. For the mechanics of confirming service, our guide on how to read a DD-214 shows what the paperwork actually confirms and what it does not.

What mistakes do employers make with these candidates?

The biggest one is reading the rating as a warning label. A high rating is not a red flag. It reflects a military standard for a military job. It has nothing to do with your open role. Screening someone out over it can also put you on the wrong side of the ADA.

The second mistake is asking about the medical history in the interview. It feels natural to ask "what happened?" Do not. That question is off limits before an offer, and it makes a good candidate feel like a risk instead of a hire. Ask about the job instead.

The third mistake is assuming the person needs a lot of help. Most do not. And when a change is needed, it is usually small and cheap. The accommodation piece is a separate topic with its own guides. For the deep dives, see how to hire disabled veterans, plus the focused guides on accommodating PTSD and TBI, hearing loss, and mobility.

Where do you find medically retired veteran candidates?

These candidates do not carry a sign. Many will not mention the medical retirement at all, and they are not required to. So the move is not to hunt for the status. The move is to build a steady pipeline of veteran talent and evaluate each person on the work.

That is what Best Military Resume was built to help with. Over 1,000 new veteran profiles are added every month, and more than 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. That is a fresh, growing pool of veteran candidates, many of them mid-career people with real leadership behind them.

If you want direct access to that pool, reach out through our hire page. You can also learn more about working with us at partner with us. Build the pipeline, ask job-based questions, and judge people on their work. The medically retired veterans in that pool will hold their own.