WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2007 – The Defense Department is putting in place reforms to its disability evaluation system and working to ensure the decisions of the Disability Advisory Council are fast and fair, Pentagon officials said today. The system is used to evaluate servicemembers’ disabilities and separate or retain them, as appropriate. Servicemembers who are separated with at least a 30 percent disability rating receive disability retirement pay, medical benefits and commissary privileges. With a rating below 30 percent, veterans receive severance pay, but no benefits. In the past, each service had its own disability evaluation system. Now DoD...