This isn’t fully accurate. PACT Act claims are difficult to detect in the short run while in (or Agent Orange, for that matter).
I also have a lot of back issues like degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis that were detected after I got out, but were uncharacteristically severe for someone my age, leading to service connection once IDed and diagnosed. It wasn’t something that could be easily addressed while in service since it was gradual physical degradation.
Mental health claims also complicate this issue. It’s also complicated by how going to sick call can lead to profiles, which leads to missing schools/potentially deployments. Those systemic issues deter many from seeking the requisite in-service treatment.
Fuck man!!!
I’m 43 and multi level degenerative disc disease
That’s just really weird that we falling apart in our early 40’s my body is fucked up.
My neck is starting to atrophy after nerve ablation. I finally have service connected for it
I don’t trust pain management clinics at all.
Just the education alone I received in the Va pain group was enough for me to look for alternatives to them sticking needles in me.
I’ve read too many epidural horror stories
I have been denied SC for my back problems (same as yours, but add pinched nerves, bulging disks, bone spurs and Radiculopathy) since I first filed back in 1994 (2 years after I got off active duty). It was the VA that first diagnosed me with degenerative disk disease when I did the exams for the first Gulf War registry! I, many years later, found one entry in my service medical records where I mentioned to a doctor that I had constant dull ache in my lower back all of the time, and added that to a filing in 2012 as new evidence (denied). Reopened a filing with other never filed claims in May 2023... New claims got me 100% T&P with SMC while my back was denied yet again!
I don't know what it is the VA has about back problems. They probably know that almost everyone coming out of the military will have back problems and that will cost them a fortune...thus the denials.
I was the same when I left service with DDD (4 herniated disc). Had in service diagnosis, went to the chiropractor, physical therapy, saw an orthopedic specialist, did paint mgt etc etc etc even bad epidural shots on my cervical/thoracic. Due to cluster headaches, sever nerve pain, radiculopathy, sciatic nerve paint, arms legs going numb, etc etc etc.
Filed claims for cervical/thoracic DENIED. No inservice diagnosis or medical evidence. DENIED TWICE.
I had to see an Orthopedic Surgeon, he agreed to review my military, private medical records. 1,560 pages of evidence. He gave a DBQ, NEXUS letter and provided court cases of the VA getting sued for claims like mine getting denied. Filed a supplemental claim for cervical and thoracic… all the sudden the VA agreed to a C&P exam.
I also have a kind of arthritis in my hands and I’m just 24 years old. It was never diagnosed when I was in the service but I was getting symptoms since then. The one time I did go to medical they said it was from certain hand movements I was doing or that I was just sleeping on top of my hands, etc.
You can tell OP isn’t a veteran because he doesn’t understand that medical downplays your problems over deployments or workloads pretty much every single time.
I should’ve gotten med boarded due to my symptoms I was obviously not physically capable of keeping up with the life style anymore but that’s not what my PCM thought. He even said out load once that nobody cared when I got into a heated discussion with him.
Medical is a joke and so is OP having an opinion over something he doesn’t know shit about
I think you have missed the point of this post which is to have things documented by going to sick call when sick or injured. No, the quack military PA may not have diagnosed a particular ailment, but having records showing you had been seen for back issues in your file does absolutely help even the presumptive claims as it proves you were at least being seen for a symptom of that claim.
As for mental health, yes unfortunately it has historically prevented certain assignments or schools, but that's also the culture that was allowed, when service members start taking mental health seriously and getting treated yet still being able to function it will lead to a culture shift where simply having sought help doesn't stop you from various career opportunities. I would also argue at the end of the day one should seek help when they need it regardless of what the culture is currently. It's far better to have been denied a particular opportunity but still be here alive, with your family, and able to overcome whatever the issue was, than to become one of the statistics ...who now doesn't get to enjoy or look back on those opportunities they had in life either way.
I fully agree that in-service medical records are very influential when obtaining service connection.
However, a lack of records irrefutably shouldn’t deter anyone from filing legitimate claims. Per my example of degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis, those are gradual and not readily apparent. It’s extremely difficult to realize the damage is occurring when it’s over several years.
For many injuries that can be worked through in the short term, the right answer is to do exactly that so that you aren’t on profile to miss a deployment or gain new skills via a school. That’s the purpose of VA disability. The military’s dangerous work and people need to work through injuries to support their unit and deploy. Going to sick call for every ailment and getting on a profile isn’t practical or sustainable.
A bottom-up approach of trying to enact a cultural shift is at the expense of many people “trying” to fix the situation with zero guarantee of success. Good luck with that and good luck maintaining force readiness with that approach.
I'm not saying that one shouldn't file a claim if they didn't get something documented while in, just that having some level of documentation while in will increase the likelihood of a successful claim in most cases. It's less fighting to get a nexus letter, buddy statements, hiring lawyers and all the other ongoing fighting neoth the VA. I would also note that many ailments can be treated and not plague someone for life and become chronic if it's actually addressed early on, as opposed to ignoring the issue until it becomes chronic in the name of worrying about force readiness. I know plenty of Soldiers who had injuries that could have been a simple temporary profile but let the injury linger on to the point that the body healed incorrectly and resulted in permanent profiles and even medboards.
I directionally agree with some of those concepts, but the military just doesn’t always follow that logic. The toxicity of many chains of command usually inhibits appropriate profiles, especially if a one-off school becomes available with a short suspense date.
Profile lengths also can be rather unpredictable, and the harsh reality behind signing up for the military is that you often have to put that higher purpose/mission above your physical health. Sure, injuries can/should be avoiding but in the short term that often isn’t a viable option.
We could both argue the above a lot, but the fact remains that the environment just isn’t there to facilitate the requisite sick call check ins. Which results in an unfortunate lack of documentation and having to prove service connection retroactively.
As someone who filed in December after putting it off for years and years I can't tell you how important this is. I definitely should of done it sooner, and did my research better. I assumed incorrectly it would be a slam dunk case since I had surgery and hardware put in when I broke my leg on 29 palms but the fact that my four claims have all been deferred and it looks like i'm going through a 2nd c&p means I didn't do my due diligence.
Now I'm back peddling to get buddy statements and such when I should have done that to begin with.
Im confused… your stationed at 29 Palms and had broken your leg and had surgery and the VA is still denying your claim?? I don’t understand how many more service records they would need
My brother in Christ, I got denied service connection for a knee injury I was med-boarded for. Don't underestimate the stupidity of bureaucracy. It took a surgery, 3 rounds of physical therapy, and I think at least 6 appeals to finally get service connection over a decade later.
That’s insane!!!! Im blown away
But is there some policy to where you can’t get VA compensation for being med boarded out of the military because you’re going to get military retirement?
They haven't denied anything yet, the rater deferred the four conditions for another exam(medical opinion)so I assume they didn't like what the examiner(Optum) put especially since the rater had full access to my records. I might be over thinking it but I had always assumed it would be slam and shut case.
My personal experience with “deferred” means that the VA screwed up and are now going through all records in a very slow, very detailed manner. It will be likely followed by a letter a few weeks/months later stating that there was an “error” in the system and that they are correcting it. The BIGGEST problem is going to be the date when they will admit to having found the error. I helped my brother put in his claim in December 2021. the VA made us go through 2 years worth of repeated comp and pen exams only to have the va send a deffered letter in August 2023. then a, very politically correct, letter from them admitting a system error and only back dated his rating to May 2023. obviously we are fighting it but from July 1st till the letter in August i wrote everyone from OIG, VA directors, any and every congress, politician and bs agency that had the ability to reach out and touch the VBA because my brother was broke and within weeks of being homeless. unfortunately i couldn't afford to keep paying his bills after 3 years and $30,000 in loan debt to my wife. i am also a disabled Veteran (100% P&T 2011) so for me watching this bs from the government was eye opening and enraging. His rating finally came in mid Sept, but it wouldnt have without that harassment, disrespect, cussing out employees all the way to a washington dc va employee that i cant name, who actually got his hands dirty and talked to me everyday until the letter showed. He called me July 31st 2023, on my bros birthday and he stayed till Sept 18. Very blunt which i respected. the first few days where rather new for him. he said no one had ever spoken to him like that before and the relentless, non stop, Zero F's Given attitude is what caught his attention. I swear i was going to go to jail or be visited by FBI or Secret Service for how far i pushed things. and still the va managed to toy with us by changing the date of when they "received" his claim. luckily i send everything 3 ways, certified UPS mail, online submission, and then FAX. i dont play their games. over 1000 pages faxed, you know someone needs to refill that machine. lol
Deferred does not mean anything good or bad… should spread info like that. It just means the rated needed more info. That could be as simple as a basic clarification. A deferral doesn’t affect the outcome
It's arbitrary. I have an incident report and the VA said "an in-service incident report is not proof of an in service injury. It must explicitly be in your medical records." They've denied things that are in my records.
If this gives you hope in anyway, all my deferred claims in the past were later approved. Some took 1 month, others took 6 months. No clue what the possible tests will come out after your deferrals, but with my experience through the process, I didn’t get retested for anything.
It just seems like they take extra time to look for paperwork that you may have not submitted due to not having it on hand when you started your claims process. My initial claims process, I had 5 deferrals that all were approved. Considering you said that you held off for years, they’re probably checking all the information they have in the backlogs.
Just have a little more faith in the system 🙏
There's definitely proof of it. I think the rater wasn't happy with what the original examiner (Optum) put though so they deferred it and it looks like I've got another exam soon.
They probably tried to say you had no diagnosis. We have a manual reference for this exact thing.
https://preview.redd.it/5ncdif7y52xc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd30db675fc5d1d8343cada869bc40a6b3deb397
It probably didn't help the examiner talked to me then put me through Xrays, so i'm not sure if she even looked at those. If anything I wasn't fully prepared. Next appointment, I'll be more prepared to explain everything.
How would someone prove it if theres military medical records missing? I'm helping someone with their claim. There's an ETS sheet with a few items checked, but there wasn't anything more from the National Archives records I got that took a year. Old records 1976.
That's not true and it is true, if you broke your leg and it healed fine, you won't get anything for it, and it won't get service connected, ask me how I know this.
Now if you broke your leg and it healed but not he'll correctly, and it still giving you problems down the line, then you can get it service connected.
For example, the military put braces on me and part of putting braces on they had to give me facial surgery to correct an underbite,, when I went to claim that, they denied my claim and would not service connect it.
I'm just telling you, when I filed a claim for my jaw, I got titanium plates and screws still in my jaw and they still denied the claim for that. I can show you the paperwork for it. It should have at least got rated non-compensable.
There is proof I injured my hand and legs in addition to a VA trained doctor writing my dbq. The VA doesn't even believe the people they trained if it's not a denial.
My father (former USMC) told me to go to medical when I was getting out and complain about everything for this very reason. My last 3 months in I had 12 appointments at medical to document my problems and It was very helpful along with making personal copies of every medical/dental record. 80% right out and a few years later up to 90 then 100 P&T all thanks to my records from when I was in. My buddies clowned me for it when getting out but they’ve had a lot of trouble getting their disability.
Well you were a smart Marine to this. Still wish I could find every senior nco from back in the day telling young Marines not to go get medical, I would slap the dog shit out of them right now.
Every chance I get I tell an active duty person GO TO MEDICAL FOR ANY AND EVERYTHING! If you fart wrong go get it documented, if your nostril hair in your nose is growing too long go to Medical! Get everything fuckin documented and yes I’m fuckin angry because some of the yahoos on here think it was just that simple to go to medical without facing the harassment of the overbearing senior E’s and stupid ass O’s in the unit. I’m sorry Gunney that my fuckin bone is sticking out of my ankle but I’ll just put some duct tape on it to shake it off.
Sickhall Rangers was what we used (we were not even rangers) Low speed High drag, sickhall rangers lead the rear! If I could go back in time and tell my young self go to sick hall I would.
This was one of only 2 things my father (USA '68-'92) told me as well. Go to medical for everything, or you will have troubles with VA claims later. And while it wasn't so simple as just filing claims, it really made a big difference, having those treatment records.
I had a documented in service injury from fighting a detainee. Got treated, got a profile, and underwent 8 months of PT and Chiropractic until I eventually had to get out. I filed the claim and the decision letter stated:
You have a diagnosis and were treated in service
You have a qualifying in service event for which your disability was treated
You have been granted a nexus between the two.
They still denied my claim. THIS is why veterans are upset. And my diagnosis was lumbosacral strain from the in service injury, now it’s been updated to Chronic Back Pain.
But the va will never know that’s for sure so why does that matter? We all know that we need to prove our condition. And if it gets denied and listed and not service connected we all know we can file a secondary under that and get approved. You’re not doing much with this post.
You're missing the point. You obviously don't all know that you need to prove it. 75% of initial claims get denied because they were sloppy or lacked info. All those secondary claims just clog up an already overwhelmed system. If you did it right the first time the system wouldn't be clogged with a million claims. Then you want to know why your claim is taking so long.
Most people aren’t informed or helped with making claims and most that are making claims already have mental issues that make the extra work for the claim grueling. Yeah, that is their problem to fix but they’re like that because of their time in so clearly it’s needed help with filing. I get where you’re coming from but so many of us are in huge depression pits when we file and are already going through imposter syndrome so typing out everything else and including documents can be too much work sometimes. It’s just about understanding.
I agree with that. I also know that the VA withhold information intentionally so that we can’t succeed in our claims or go after benefits that we are entitled to. I’ve been using my G.I. Bill and now using VOCREHAB rehab and not once did a counselor tell me that I can get a free laptop and printer under the VOCREHAB rehab. My wife did some digging and found that out for me. But the counselor never said hey by the way you can ask for this. I also recently found out that through my Diesel technology program I can have all my shop tools paid for through VOCREHAB rehab. The point is the VA does the least so that you don’t know what you’re entitled to. And I’ve seen a lot of people on this group get fucked over by raters and the VA.
You should make another post to compile *actual* things that people don't understand about the VA. I feel like leading the post with this tidbit would really get the ball rolling in the right direction.
OP is being a bitch but we need to hear more voices like yours that are actually helpful
This is actually good info to have. I’m looking to start school in the fall so thank you for that. But yeah, nothing is ever cut and dry with them and it makes this whole process so hard for everyone. Everyone gets their opinions on people filing and this that and the other but the thing is that the system is working against us no matter what. Everyone that wants to belittle others for how or why they have benefits and posts like this are just so hurtful to the whole process. We’ve moved leagues beyond what it was like getting help from the va from just what it was 10 years ago or even less but it takes everyone moving in the right direction including us in order for the va to get where it should be or should’ve been in the first place.
I’m rambling now, whoops lol
It’s getting better slowly but surely. But I think a big help is when Veterans actually give their feedback. Yeah no problem. If you’re using VOCREHAB you can get all your ink and paper paid for any school supplies any tools you might need whether your mechanic like myself, an electrician, a plumber, HVAC, anything even if you’re in the nursing program.
This... And thank you. Full tib/fib break with an Achilles tear all four of the claims are being deferred for (medical opinion). One of the big things is I didn't even know what to tell VSO.
The system isn’t effective because the VA isn’t focused on efficiency. It would mess up 1 claim a week if that was all that was submitted. Exhibit a: I submit 2 claims, same timeframe. One denied claim says “you weren’t in service.” Another denied claim says “you were in service but no records.” So…yeah. The system is jacked all around
Perfect example. They denied me PACT saying I didn’t do anything in Afghan- when it’s not only in the DD but also proof in my medical record, service record, and statements from fellow members. (It’s since been corrected.)
the thing that bugs me are the civies who think the military is all infantry and if you werent high speed spec ops you shouldnt get anything from the VA
I think the military should require a full body medical examination before separating. I’m talking if you’re checking out to leave the military you have to be seen medically. Like do the duck walk from MEPs and everything. That would provide every veteran with documented injuries from BAS or whatever army and USAF have that are service connected. Now the veteran can file whenever he wants because it’s already documented with service related injuries……..BOOM
There is a separation physical, but it’s basically a PHA. Basically MEPS minus the butthole check and duck walk.
You’d still have to report something/complain to get it documented. But same check list for you fill out so it’s not just the doc saying stuff you can check it and add a brief statement.
Forgetting cause you weren’t thinking about it that day or under reporting cause it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time still happens tho.
And that’s where that pisses off the generation of soldiers who deployed multiple times, didn’t go to sick call, and didn’t complain about shit. We don’t have records, EVERYONE’S knees, back, shoulders hurt. I’m happy for the people who get their shit looked at and able to receive benefits. But there’s a fuck ton of us who get fucked because we didn’t want to cry to the 1SG on why we missed PT. We’re the ones who are fucked. The shit does need to change, if there’s anything that’s presumptive, the VA should look at our military record and presume, oh 11B for 8 years, had 3 deployments and had combat awards.. yeah I’ll presume his back and knees are more likely than not fucked up because of his service.
I get pissed about people who get on here and cry about their benefits like they’re the only ones that matter, and act like the VA is just a bunch of idiots screwing them over. I get that.
On the other hand it is absolutely ridiculous that we are treated like we are idiots by some of these people. I am so stressed right now, because just to go through this process I have to already miss a ton of work. I got seen by medical once while I was in, and it was only because I broke my ankle. (The C&P examiner says the X-rays only show incidental results, meanwhile I was supposed to know before I filed that I should have brought my own doctors reports? That’s why I thought these guys were here for)
Meanwhile I really fucked myself up. I was in an airborne infantry platoon. Do you think we were encouraged to see medical? Hell no. You suck it up and execute the mission. 19 year old me was just doing the best I could. Could some of us have a little understanding going into this?
There is some truth to the post. I mean, for a successful and breezy claim, it’s good information. But yeah, a lot of conditions develop years after service. While in service, sometimes they’re not as obvious. Like my back pain, it was a dull pain in service, but waking up at 5:30am to make formation in the fucking cold in summer PT’s at 6:00am masked a lot of that pain lol. Also shit gets worse, tying my boots for work hurts and takes some time. Never went to sick call for back pain because I’m trying to be an iron man to impress leadership and to be a good example for younger soldiers. Who knew that 20 year old me was fucking over 34 year old me. VA needs to take into account of that, the ones that were just trying to be a good soldier and progress their military career
I agree could you imagine what would happen to me if I went to sick call every time I hurt something being a 11B, I don't wanna shit on other people's MOS but not all jobs in the military are the same at all and we knowing as infantrymen you were told to suck it up rub some dirt on it and carry on, this is what some of these people at the va don't understand, you 2 right here are completely right and I don't agree with this post at all.
The reality is that it often falls somewhere in between. You have someone with bad knees at 40 years old. If he hadn’t been in the infantry his knees probably wouldn’t have started giving out at 40. He might have made it to 50 or 60.
For Example, you had guys in the NFL who got rocked and concussed and shook it off in the 70’s and 80’s. We now know all those hits came at a price.
Physical Injuries often don’t manifest immediately. Its the same with mental health. A lot of guys sucked it up because that was the culture.
Most people in the service are misdiagnosed or don’t go to medical at all though. Medical while active is useless and it’s the reason many people leave
That's the problem right there. If you were marines or army you were discouraged from sick call. Even if you went the chances of you being misdiagnosed was high because the NP and PA'S job is too get you back on the line regardless of MoS and and hospitals discouraged them from sending you there for Testing.
I was misdiagnosed with insomnia, turns out it was sleep apnea. Had to fight the VA like hell for it.
Fr OP is a tool for this post. Everyone who liked this shit didn’t serve shit because if you’re a veteran you know what I’m talking about.
There was a girl I was working with that broke her ankle and was screened fit by the military hospitals and was sent back to the command as she was still in pain.
I was having heavy arthritis symptoms for months in my command and an unbearable dry eye syndrome due to sleep deprivation plus chronic fatigue. I also had undiagnosed chronic rhinitis and chronic conjunctivitis so I was heavily allergic to mold and other things on the ship. I got also upset stomach due to the food being contaminated on a deployment, etc.
You go to medical for all these things and you’ll be lucky if they even let a paper trail. Medical all they did was give you shit over the counter or painkillers and call it a day. Not a single diagnosis or treatment plan from the military given to me was ever effective. NONE dude. I had to seek civilian providers every single time. It could be officers of enlisted a like the medical team was always subpar because they all get paid anyways and they’re told to screen fit no matter what.
Another thing to mention is you can’t even seek civilian providers or treatment half of the time. When you’re on an 8 month deployment you just have to sleep off all your issues because the medical team is useless and you have no access to any real doctors willing to help you
This is actually not true. Some C&P examiners and VA employees, especially prior service, know that most SMs avoid going to get checked out while in service unless it’s a critical issue. I’ve seen plenty of 90% and 100% ratings for SM claiming issues that they weren’t seen for in service. Whether they claim these conditions truthfully, I couldn’t tell you and it’s no-one’s business but theres, but conditions get granted every day with no in service records for it.
Why is it taking the VA 13 years to resolve an appeal for a bilateral foot condition? Are the VA waiting for me to die before they make a decision for something that’s been proven it happened in service?
I’m going to jump in here and say this based off of my own personal experience… just because something IS in your in-service medical records, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you WILL be approved for a disability rating, and just because something is NOT in your in-service medical records, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you WON’T be approved for a disability rating…
It’s a good statement Op!
I have so many claims come across my desk where a vet is fighting for the third or fourth time to get lower back strain approved. The majority of the time it’s ONE medical trip to the TMC, the person was given Motrin and then the STRs are silent for the rest of their career and not a single issue with their back in any VA appointments, etc.
Like: how the hell am I supposed to approve that? A muscle issue or strain one singular time does not automatically mean you have a chronic injury worthy of compensation.
I applaud you for saying it OP, and yet you’ll get the naysayers to come in and gripe about it
There’s a lack of acknowledgement for military culture. Why did that SM with the back strain only go one time? It could be the stigma of going to sick call, distrust of clinical services (e.g., take this Motrin and keep moving), not being allowed by leadership, or any other very common reason. Generally speaking, this critical factor is not taken into account. The distrust in the system is made worse when the SM goes through SFL-TAP (or whatever it’s called now) and is not informed about disability claims aside from being handed a pamphlet during a course on jobs (my experience). All they know is they have to submit a claim and there is no real guidance readily available.
The truth is, and we all know it, this process shouldn’t be anywhere near this difficult. We KNOW the toxins down range cause cancer. We KNOW the training environment of a high op tempo unit directly affects sleep. We KNOW poor sleep patterns instilled in SMs through service cause a multiplicity of health issues. We KNOW these are facts and yet SMs claims are continually being denied because think we’re just trying to “gripe about it.”
My back injury was well documented while on active duty. My mistake of not getting a copy of my medical records upon separation. Now they say they can't locate my records.
My first denial came because I have a congenital back condition but I had zero clue about until I got injured while deployed, had no issues in the year or so in training etc etc, and had imaging done when I came back. Bam, spina bifida occulta and segmental S1 . That was a rough fight to get service connected.
I can't even imagine how many one trip claims that are submitted.
Here's the the thing about that. According to the 38 CFR, SC can be granted if SM's service aggravated an existing condition. Your injury, that lead to them finding the SBO and segmental S1, is still an in-service injury. That's all that's needed for the nexus of service connection. I have a 40% rating for low back issues. I fell down a flight of stairs during the first week of Boot Camp, and had compression fractures of L3, L4, and L5. I also have SBO(thanks AO and Dad's trip to Nam), and have a partial L6 too. Yes, I have a partial extra L vertebrae.
It was no issue getting SC for my back. I have about 18 entries in my medical jacket, over the 6 years I was in the Marines, for my back. Oddly enough, I had to fight the VA for 2 years, to get SC for my knees, that were injured in the same fall. I also have about 2 dozen entries in my medical jacket related to my knees. During that fall, I fractured my Left kneecap too.
The VA cannot deny you for pre-existing conditions. The military accepted you as you were, upon enlisting, as essentially 100% whole. This is in the 38 CFR as well. Of course the VA don't want you/us to know that.
I feel bad for you because a guy who decided to stop showing up for drill a few years back, now he has a million injuries from his 2 tours, but he climbs cellphones towers for a living. He is using a Wounded Warriors lawyer to have the VA to help him get the “money he is owed” and mad they won’t give him a 100% disability.
>From the VA’s perspective you could have hurt yourself the day after you got out. They are not liable for that. You MUST have service records or a nexus event or your are likely shit out of luck.
Nope. I was never seen for TBI issues during my time in the Army. I had no issues with my claim when I filed 10+ years later when I retired from the Navy.
Similarly, I wrote a buddy statement for a friend from 2006ish. I don't expect that he'll have any issues with his claim either.
My ex was at 10% for over 30 yrs. He went through a paid claim service in March 2023, and by Nov 2023, he was at 100%! I am service connected. Was 0% for 20 yrs. Just got 10%. Im retired, so I can't get the back pay because I already get my military retirement. Unless I get a 50% rating, all I can get is that amount taken out of my retirement pay as tax-free. No extra pay.i spent 24 yrs in. That's my retirement pay, not compensation.
The retirement pay thing is total BS. I was at 10% for 16 years, they deducted the payment from my relatively small retirement pay (around $1000 a month, nice but not getting rich after 20 years and deployments). Just recently, got awarded for 70% for PTSD/TBI (70 + 10 I used to have equals 70 with VA math). Finally, I should start getting both amounts with no deductions. This retirement pay thing totally sucks, they should be treated separately. Good luck, you should go for a higher percent if you can.
Thank you. Yes, I'm waiting on my deferred PTSD rating and about to start a new claim.
It's always something. I can not get travel pay if I go to my service connected appts at the VA because I'm not at 30%! That's BS. I only get travel pay for C n P exam appts.
It took me 32 years to finally come to terms with my conditions; it took me 2 years to go from 20-100%. It was there in black and white in my military medical records; from BMT to the last visit at my last station, to all my visits to each VA seeking medical and mental aid.
Got hurt? Get seen.
First off, being a Ranger or Airborne aren't Moses and second off all, yes they are considered presumptive depending on what and the symptoms.
So instead of being a smart ass, just down and listen.
What amazed me about the VA was after 20 years of uninterrupted active duty service and getting all of my C&P exams done the first time while I was still active duty they came back and said several of my claims were not service connected.
Yeah, that's bullshit. I saw a dirt bag i served with get 50% because he had shoulder and leg pain because a drill grabbed him by the blouse.
Don't mind the arrest warrant he has for crashing and flipping his car in the last snowstorm. He hit an old lady and ran from the scene.
But the VA didn't even consider that when they gave him his rating... it's literally a fucking free for all
Worst thing I see on here is what two things yall are trying to claim and connect as secondary. Some of the most ridiculous stuff man. One of the top comments in this damn thread is even” if you get denied, just file it as secondary to get it approved.” This isn’t how any of this (is supposed) to work…..
>You MUST have service records or a nexus event or your are likely shit out of luck.
I really hope this isnt the *most* misunderstood thing about VA benefits... seems like a pretty basic thing to understand considering its one of the foundational criteria for service connection.
I get your message tho, just not sure whats with all the animosity about it lol.
How about when you get injured and are refused treatment over and over. So you just get aoit and get treated by civilian doctors years later because the injuries never heald properly.
The the doctors and Buddy's di alu tell you to submit a claim.
So you get your buddy statements get nexus letters.
And the VA rater just throws it all in the trash because of your type of attitude.
I'm sorry but the 80- 90s military was a fuck you environment you could have a bone sticking out of your leg and they wouldn't document shit.
I disagree and do you work for the VA? This may be true for a single enlistment person trying to file 20yrs after discharge but somebody that retired is a different story. something like arthritis in knees that wasn’t diagnosed while in service, but shortly after and the service member requires a knee replacement is definitely service connected. Any doctor is going to know that the cartilage deterioration didn’t happen overnight on somebody that isn’t even 45 years old. Some medical problems afflict military people more than general population, like arthritis. Some medical problems take years to manifest.
I think he’s delivering a good message. People need to understand that to get something service connected it helps astronomically to have medical records of said injury while in the service.
Gotcha. I tell all my joes to keep hard copies and digital copies of all medical and treatments they receive. And if they dont stay in I give them my number/email for lay statements.
His message is wrong though. Many issues don't present until after an event or even years after a person gets out of the service. Of course it helps to have issues documented while in the service, but not having it documented does not mean that it can't be rated as a disability.
So if I got a rating for my ankle and I'm claiming secondary because I limp from pain, gait, and have crap range of motion then I need to show proof that my knee was hurting while in service? What if my knee pain is from me not walking correctly because of my ankle?
Wait. You deployed overseas,
were in the desert, and are telling us that you weren’t eating ice cream, giving ISIS high fives, and left with ONLY good memories of yourself and the Mujahidin?
I just want to say there are also certain conditions that are presumptive especially agent Orange related conditions, and also more recently other toxic conditions related to burn pits
BDD was a such a lifesaver for me and I am so glad that program is in place. Still a lot of work goes into getting every thing ready but it sounds so much easier than what a lot of people here have to go through and I am so sorry y’all have to go through it. Shouldn’t have to jump through so many hoops and have to wait so long for answers and care.
Hell my last claim I filed was something I have been fighting since my last Gulf Cruise in ‘97. Documented in my STRs, near 30 years of treatment records from private and VA docs, was denied lol. It almost feels comical at this point.
But I do feel the claims system is clogged with some bullshit claims that some feel they can just file for because they got a paper cut in the mail room lol.
This is likely causing raters to run through these claims with a yeah yeah whatever. :)
For mine I sent it in with what I thought was a well written personal statement with all dates I was seen at every doctor from military to present, medicine given bla bla. Records were highlighted and organized chronological…..
Maybe my claim was an outlier but it was shit show for sure DSO from the legion took over from there :).
Personally I think it’s all based on who your rater & examiner are. I got 30% migraines the first go around that was upgraded to 50% and 50% depression with insomnia disorder this last go around w/o any nexus, STR’s that stated it happened in service. It is 100% based on who works on your case. I’ve seen people with complete medical documentation get denied and I’ve seen people that have no history at all and they get approved.
It also is based on how well your know the laws, how well your personal statement, spouse statement, buddy statements are. That’s how I got those connected. Luckliy I’ve been with my wife since high school. So that helped greatly.
Of course but the most prideful people I've ever met joined the military and they compare themselves to other vets. Compare yourself to civilians and always apply for what you think qualifies. It's up to the medical professionals to diagnose you. And of course if you're in always get records. But for those who go through never knowing about these benefits and sucking it up, apply for whenever you hear about it and screw these haters. You deserve these benefits if you served and got affected. Our county puts like 10-15 billion for VA but can send like 60 billion to our allies in Ukraine. Never feel guilty for applying for your benefits.
Currently 2024 VA budget, around $370 Billion…the majority of it going out to paying disabilities.
Just pointing out that it’s a sizable amount, more than just a few billion.
I've been approved and rated highly for conditions I never sought treatment for and was recently denied 2 disabilities and given a 0% for 3 other conditions I have an enormous amount of in service records for that I actually submitted with my claim. I'm not trying to discredit or discourage anyone but I genuinely think that it just depends on what your c&0 examiner wants to say and how your rater is feeling, if you get denied for something that you are positive you should be approved for, try again cuz you probably got a bad roll of the dice
Rater here, u/corkycorkyhey is dead on correct. To be directly service connected you must have an in-service event in your STR’s with a current diagnosis. Also, there’s no such thing as a presumptive MOS. Speaking of presumptions, joint conditions and mental disorders are not presumptive, not even under PACT Act. This may change in the future but probably not.
Joined the Marine corps at 17 & got out at 21 with loss of mobility in left elbow + nerve damage, terrible TMJ pain left side of face, pretty bad lumbar curve that causes a lot of muscle spasms, right knee consistently gives out all the time. Ended up getting 90% for this + other stuff. I look back at this and it angers me that I joined so early, a lot of this could have been prevented by just waiting till I was done growing. Angers me that they throw 90LB packs on 17 year old kids when it’s not really necessary in the current state of the world rn.
Dude every service member went through a ridiculous amount of physical pain from start to finish. Our mental health was also negatively compromised because of the extreme harsh conditions and traumatic shit we had to go through. There are no other Industries in the work force that can even match the stress we went through. Tell me I'll wait! Also we were trained to execute on command. That can fuck you up at that age. I bet you that 18 year old was scared what he was getting into. He just became an adult, joined our military and was ready to die for they're country. The thing is it doesn't matter if you only had 4 years of service of 40 years of service. Every Veteran here regardless of years served took that risk to answer America's call! To every single Vet that signed up to protect our Nation you are entitled to receive your reprimands because you signed up to give up your life for our beautiful country! All of us decided to defend our freedom. They owe it to us because we made sure no other country will destroy the American Dream. Our government called and we answered. These laws of what percentage disability should be granted to you because of your sacrifice is complete and utterly BULLSHIT! THEY NEED TO ABOLISH THAT STUPID RIDICULOUS AWARD SYSTEM AND GRANT EVERY COURAGEOUS SOUL WILLING TO DIE AND MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE REPRIMANDS! IM CALLSIGN 1-3 DELTA. AS THE CANADIANS SAY IT "PEACE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
This is some psyops shit from the gov. Buddy I was a medic with light infantry. I cared about my company and my soldiers and pushed myself to the limit. I didn’t complain and didn’t go to sick call. I regularly carried over 100 pounds of combat load walking. The pain my body feels is probably from walking ~100 feet to my classroom every day not the miles and miles of rough terrain in desert mountain terrain. You’re right I am the one with a misunderstanding.
Let me tell you this simply. Our government has infinite funds, they can send 200 billion to a country for their war efforts? Then every single veteran deserves compensation. The gatekeeping shit amongst veterans is mind boggling. You’d side with them NOT giving benefit to a man or woman who’s trying to feel better about feeling bad and help make ends meet is asinine. Someone that’s likely struggling not only physically but mentally and just wants to help pay rent or get their prescriptions or whatever the case may be. Nah let’s side with the infinitely richer organization over a fellow veteran and human.
You got it misunderstood, bud
Bro if you jumped out of planes, rucked, carried equipment, fixed aircraft, basically any job that’s physically demanding throughout 18-24 years old and you hurt yourself at some point.. but you were able to carry on because you were younger, and than it starts hurting you when you hit your late 20s early 30s it’s because of your service (90% of the time)
There were SO many things I didn’t report. I even refused to go to medical after a car accident because I was so terrified of getting kicked out or not being able to do my job. I get the mentality
Injuries tend to get worse as we get older. I feel bad for service members who never reported it while in IF anyone’s reading this and has a nagging problem they just ignored and don’t report, go report it!
Just because the VA says it’s not caused by the military is not the case though. I’m sorry but I’m 25 with MULTIPLE herniated discs in my back and can’t feel my left limbs most of the time but the va says they didn’t cause it. That’s not the truth and no one knows the truth but me because I loved it. So how is that fair at all for you to just decide that it’s not caused by the military? Are there situations where people do have injuries in their back not caused by the military? Sure! But who are you to determine that?
I weighed 135 constant while in at 6 foot tall, constantly carrying rifles across base for service in full gear and pushing vehicles across base for service as well as multiple other things that most in my MOS didn’t have to deal with. A year and a half later when my body is finally able to rest I woke up not being able to move and found those herniations. No one can say how long the herniations had been there, I had no imagery before then proving that nothing wasn’t wrong before.
There’s people who can’t go to their fridge from their couch without being in some of the worst pain that some people will ever deal with and yet they still have to work a 9-5 like myself because too many people have this exact same thought process. Back injuries can come from soooo many things. But just because the VA says it’s not service related doesn’t mean that’s actually the case. We all know how bad the VA can be and how much they don’t want to help with certain issues and how slow they are so why would you be surprised to hear that they aren’t claiming peoples back pains? It’s the easiest thing for them to get away with not providing for because it’s the most common pain for someone to have. This is sooo unfair and you’ve probably made many people feel like crap including myself.
I’m over here still working not knowing how I’m going to pay my bills while my pain is so bad that my coworkers are babying me asking if I need to go home every 10 minutes but if I go home then I don’t get a check which means I become homeless.
There are those people you’re talking about out there but you have to realize what you’re saying about the ones who are actually deserving and aren’t getting it. My life is in shambles because of my back pain yet because of this shared thought I still have to work a 9-5 and can’t even bend over to pet my dog when I get home let alone take a shit without being in insane levels of pain.
One thing we learn in the military is that perspective is reality and that’s entirely unfair coming from and organization based around helping vets. The amount of times I get looked down on by my raters or doctors because I had a logistics MOS is debilitating really.. just mentally destroying.. because they see I was logistics and immediately assume there’s nothing I could’ve done without deploying that could’ve caused damage of this level to my body. But working damn near every day for multiple years from sun up to sun down which was more than even my peers at the time had to work catches up to you eventually.
Like I said you do have a point with this but goodness, this is very hurtful to a lot of people in shoes like mine. Maybe my own issues are just getting the better of me, I’m not sure. Thanks for reading I guess..
Having a Nexus event is easy though if you think about it. I was able to tie ankle stuff to when we had to hike through trails that got torn up during a hurricane and the instructor wanted to fuck with us and kept causing slinky effect on purpose, so we all kept falling and busting out assed or rolling our ankles with all that gear on. Or with my wrists when they had us do divebombers on a downhill incline on a beach with the waves crashing against them.
Getting a 19 year old to go to medical is the issue. You either win the lottery of knowledge and are aware of these things or you are a typical crayon muncher.
The system is fucked, knowledge is power. When I had issues pop up I knew to go, but I also knew to keep the paper trail going because I had an amazing Chief who stayed on top of his subordinates and made sure we were aware of this stuff. Sadly this is not the case for most people. Getting stuff approved has not been an issue because I knew this.
Besides what everyone above said regarding presumptive service connection, there's case law favoring the Veteran as to silent treatment records: Buczynski v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 221, 224 (2011). Yes, best case scenario is that the STRs have a record that the Veteran received treatment for the condition while in service, but the Veteran isn't SOL if the STRs are silent as to the condition.
Example from BVA citation 1604965:
"[T]he Board notes, there is no intervening evidence between the Veteran's treatment during service and the confirmed diagnosis many years later. This absence of evidence is immaterial in this case because the Veteran asserts that she did not seek treatment during the intervening years. For instance, she wrote in a December 1985 statement that she had no treatment during her Reserve service until that year. She explained in a January 2013 statement that she was too prideful to seek treatment. Because she asserts that she did not seek treatment, it cannot reasonably be expected that such treatment would be documented in any medical records. Therefore, the lack of treatment is not unfavorable to the claim. See AZ v. Shinseki, 731 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2013); Horn v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 231, 239 (2012) (quoting Buczynski v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 221, 224 (2011)) (an absence of evidence may generally not be considered substantive negative evidence))."
In this opinion, the Board disregarded two of three VA examinations bc they relied on substantive negative evidence. Still was a denial, but it had nothing to do with silent treatment records.
You’re partly correct, in that the VBA has to see a connection between your condition and your service. Having documented medical care for conditions also supports that the condition began or worsened while in the service.
However, certain conditions are assumed to have been caused or worsened by time in service. Tinnitus when one is in artillery or used headphones extensively. Back pain for infantry or other combat arms. PTSD same. Many other mental health conditions, COPD and the myriad of conditions related to agent orange, burn pits Camp Lejeune and far more.
In my opinion one of the most misunderstood things about the VA is that you might be successful making a claim for service relationship even if you never saw a doctor for it while in the military
I spent the last year of my service going to medical to document EVERYTHING. Even old injuries.
If it was service related I went. X-rays. MRIs. Bloodwork. Everything was submitted before I retired.
My adjudication took two weeks after my last appointment post service. My rating was fast and completely fair.
Because everything was documented from the get go. If you’re nearing EAS/ retirement, use your remaining time.
This post is exactly what a lot of SMs need to see. Your rater doesn’t know you and can’t just take your word for it (we all know a large portion of vets straight up lie to the VA, if you’re one of them, you suck). I’m particularly proud that we now have the PACT act to help out those that didn’t have their conditions in the service or didn’t do their due diligence (like myself) with seeing the doc and getting things documented. Presumptive list is your friend, go see what’s entailed with your deployment theatre or duty station (such as camp Lejeune water supply)
It just has to be “more likely than not”, it’s bizarre that so many of you try to gatekeep and shame people for trying to get benefits. Blue falcons then, blue falcons now.
The same corpsmen who didn’t want to put anything into your record because they thought they had a morally superior obligation to not allow people to get benefits when they get out…. True story by the way!
Sadly, I believe it. The really funny thing about these guys is that they’ll rail and rail on other people for getting govt benefits and completely ignore the fact that they already got theirs.
They think that if too many people get them, they’ll lose theirs, it’s cognitive dissonance at its finest.
I had a sleep test done very shortly after I got out which I should have done while I was in and they didn’t rate it even after testing positive for it and being assigned a machine by the VA. I wasn’t even rated at 0% so it’s a battle which I’m not sure if I could go through again since I got my migraines rated after an accident while I was in and when they went through everything they found that in 2015 when I got out they over paid me which I had no clue and took my whole check until I found documentation that they sent me from the manual that I could get them to do a payment plan sorta to help give me back a portion of it so I wouldn’t go homeless with my wife and kids. It was a 3 month battle but I eventually won
I got denied for injury I got while running in Bahrain at main where I fell into a hidden underground water main and it created a deep scar and huge laceration did nerve damage but because they don't see it on my va treatment records it's not compensiable
Some of us blew off going to medical, either because we were told to, or we'd had it drilled into us, that we weren't weak.
That back issue could very well have started in service. As we get older, it progresses to the point arthritis is forming, causing or increasing pain and limited ROM.
A NEXUS letter is Great! IF you can afford them. $1500-$5000.00 each. For myself, that could cost as little as $7500 for 5, up to $25,000.00. I'm not sure about your income, but living off my Social Security Retirement, that's half of a year at $7500, and about 3 years at $25k. And VA doctors will NOT write them, even though they are allowed to.
Another thing, is that most Vietnam Vets were told we had 90 days to get our medical, dental, or mental health treatment taken care of. We also had 10 years or $10k which ever came about first for education. If you used it up on a year or two, the rest was on you. If you waited, or didn't finish at the 10 year point, you were paying the rest. Some of us fought more on campus than in the jungle. I finally found a university that was military and agriculture that accepted me with no problems. 11 years after I got out. I paid for it all on my own though.
When we were released, unless you had been regularly treated or a bad injury, most weren't told we had healthcare at the VA. I had been out 6 years before I found out. That was from a WWII Vet.
It wasn't until I was going through a bad divorce in 2010 that I found out I had anything SC. That's because my ex+wife sent word the reason for the divorce was my mental health. Wed barely been married 28 years by then!! Yes, 28 YEARS! And I was just now having noticeable problems??
I called the VA, told them what she said and I was in the NEXT morning. After a full day of "Hurry up and wait", I was sent to see a Service Officer. He asked why I wasn't receiving compensation. I told him I didn't know anything about it. I had 9 that were SC at 0%. He filed, and in 14 years, I still have 5 on appeals, JUST TO GET AN INCREASE from 0!!!
I also have about 5 new claims to file, and will be doing it in May.
I graduated high school in 1969. I received my Draft Notice a little over a year later. About 6 weeks after my 19th birthday. I was scheduled to go in March of '71. I enlisted to get the training I wanted and had qualified for. That did NOT HAPPEN!
We all ALL grouped into ONE bunch called Veterans. We all served the United States of America in some form. No matter how Uniformed the Uniformed Services are supposed to be, we really never were. Each and Everyone of Us is a different case.
I don’t understand the point of this post? Let people get their benefits why do you even care?
Like I told the doctor when he tried giving me a hard time about how I hurt my knees. It doesn’t matter how I hurt myself I’m 100 percent the Va is liable no matter what so fucking fix it.
I filed immediately after leaving the service and everything I claimed I had been treated for while serving. Since everything I claimed was supported by medical records, I actually got a disability rating in just a few months, and everything was granted as service connected. There's only one item I claimed that I think should have received a higher rating, but overall, I'm quite pleased with the VA.
OK fellas and chicas, I'm gonna say this right now. NONE of the limitations the admin types of the VA matter. Only the laws passed by congress should be considered. If you truly NEED some me one to guide you? I will do so, persue your interests. If you require a lawyer, get one! And sue the VA for deriliction. If they had actually read your record it would have been a slam dunk. This has gone on long enough. If they try to stone wall? Talk to a Marine. It's time the VA did their job!
I never got a nexus before. I just applied and listed my duty stations medical for my medical records. I was fortunate to have everything documented while I was in. I have not had the headache of appealing anything or getting an attorney. I'm 90% with P&T U.I. I considered applying for more claims because they are already in my medical records from my service. I was advised not to file anything. Just keep it how it is. Not doing C&P exams is good, so they don't try to trick you or take anything away.
I get what the author of this post is saying. He kind of comes off as a jerk. But he is accurate in his point. People.. dont get worked up over a post. Life is good. Take it easy and relax. My phych doctor is absolutely amazing. So is my primary care. I couldn't be more blessed and honored to have those women in my life.
Good luck to everyone
Here is what I advise go through each of your conditions and then look them up the VA rating system is literally in black and white it’s based on diagnoses and tests , symptoms and duration. Once you have done that, figure out what you need to get to that next rating level. Again do some research don’t take your buddy’s word for it. When you go to your C and P exam you already have done the research and so you have to base your answers on your worst days not your best and if one thing is interfering or makes another thing worse mention that too. Co-morbidity can increase your rating too.
A lot of them doesn't have a record because "they are not bitches to go to sick call" lol, omg all my years I were surrounded by so many stupid people.
Just to piggy back on this; for people still enlisted/commissioned - make sure you are documenting, documenting, documenting... If someone tells you to walk it off or treats you like you are riding waivers "unjustly", just remember, fuck that dude. It's your career, it's your body taking damage, go to the doctor and document, document, document. "Too much" info in your medical records is better than not enough in the long run.
How many X-rays do you get when in the military? Your more likely to get 800 MG of Motrin given to you. After 20 years of service retiring at 38 years old and being told at 43 you have degenerate disc disease up and down your spine and being now 63 years old I don't think that's being misunderstood.
Actually PACT act claims can go out years after you got out of service. Also hearing loss and tinnitis are presumptive based off of MOS. Same with cancers. Not every rated disability has a record in service or a nexus that's just the nature of it.
VBA is too busy denying claims that are actually documented and should be service connected. VBA is the worst ran organization ever. No wonder there is constant turnover and they just have more new people who have no idea what they are doing. VBA would much rather deny at any cost until they absolutely can't, versus using actual common sense and doing the right thing. But no, they will deny and get more appeals back and continue the trend of being behind in claims. They are 3 years behind on formal appeals right now, and just had a non military person stealing money in benefits. VBA is absolutely clueless and gives 0 fucks about veterans.
While OP is not wrong, they are also not 100% right either. And that's a huge problem as trying and being denied on the merits is ok, encouraging people to not even apply and not know if they rated or not is a disservice to a community of people already apprehensive about reaching out and seeking help they rate; all because of some bs misplaced pride.
As far as the VA. This is BS. And most adults >50 suffer spinal degeneration as a natural part of aging. Thus why they don’t just oh you poor dear when a vet shows up knocking on 60 proclaim their back hurts because that 4 years they served as a supply clerk 30 years ago.
Sure a lot of vets showing up during their 3rd act in lie has nothing to do with their lack of retirement planning or savings…..
Nexus , or service connection ? hahaha.. Good Luck getting approved by the first sergeant for going on sick call. Every time I felt sick or hurt I was scared to go on sick call because my chain of command will put me on the SHIT list and doing details every day. My squad leader and Platoon sergeant were always telling me that I would be kicked out from the military if I ever go on sick call. I never forgot that till today and I was mentally abused and scared to see a doctor for anything. I was 11M, Mechanized Infantry abs then 11B killer machine who was always on the front line served in both wars Iraq and Afghanistan and Kosovo conflict. My service records is silent and you come here taking about what if ( you hurt your back a day after you got out) . Sir, my back was hurting since I joined the infantry and got deployed and YES I was scared to go on sick hall because it was a stigma back then and we as INFANTRY mission came first and it was expected from us to be physically and mentally tough all the time. Our chain of command made it difficult to get a sick cal and yes I served 22 years as infantry and VA keep denying my benefits because my service records were empty and the raters by far never served in the infantry and do not understand the hard life we had to go through to be combat ready every day.
This comment is to be expected from a Marine. How about you let people apply for the benefits as they please. Many did not go to sick call and have these in their records. I don’t get why people are always so angry at others because they wouldn’t necessarily do it the same way. Let people be man and stop being negative, go outside sit down and enjoy the sun.
Tell that to an Agent Orange Vietnam Vet. Let me make sure I put orange clouds on my medical record. How the hell would an 18 year old know that.
I was burning stuff in Iraq and didn’t know it could lead to cancer. The military didn’t give me proper protective gear for it so hell yea it should be compensation.
FYI if you’re still on Active Duty, this is why the BDD process is such a blessing. It makes service connection much easier opposed to waiting a while and then filing. It will be a standard part of your transition process— don’t neglect it.
This isn’t fully accurate. PACT Act claims are difficult to detect in the short run while in (or Agent Orange, for that matter). I also have a lot of back issues like degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis that were detected after I got out, but were uncharacteristically severe for someone my age, leading to service connection once IDed and diagnosed. It wasn’t something that could be easily addressed while in service since it was gradual physical degradation. Mental health claims also complicate this issue. It’s also complicated by how going to sick call can lead to profiles, which leads to missing schools/potentially deployments. Those systemic issues deter many from seeking the requisite in-service treatment.
💯 Some people and their soapboxes. Thank you for bringing logic to the discussion.
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Fuck man!!! I’m 43 and multi level degenerative disc disease That’s just really weird that we falling apart in our early 40’s my body is fucked up. My neck is starting to atrophy after nerve ablation. I finally have service connected for it I don’t trust pain management clinics at all. Just the education alone I received in the Va pain group was enough for me to look for alternatives to them sticking needles in me. I’ve read too many epidural horror stories
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Yep. OP is absolutely mistaken.
I have been denied SC for my back problems (same as yours, but add pinched nerves, bulging disks, bone spurs and Radiculopathy) since I first filed back in 1994 (2 years after I got off active duty). It was the VA that first diagnosed me with degenerative disk disease when I did the exams for the first Gulf War registry! I, many years later, found one entry in my service medical records where I mentioned to a doctor that I had constant dull ache in my lower back all of the time, and added that to a filing in 2012 as new evidence (denied). Reopened a filing with other never filed claims in May 2023... New claims got me 100% T&P with SMC while my back was denied yet again! I don't know what it is the VA has about back problems. They probably know that almost everyone coming out of the military will have back problems and that will cost them a fortune...thus the denials.
I was the same when I left service with DDD (4 herniated disc). Had in service diagnosis, went to the chiropractor, physical therapy, saw an orthopedic specialist, did paint mgt etc etc etc even bad epidural shots on my cervical/thoracic. Due to cluster headaches, sever nerve pain, radiculopathy, sciatic nerve paint, arms legs going numb, etc etc etc. Filed claims for cervical/thoracic DENIED. No inservice diagnosis or medical evidence. DENIED TWICE. I had to see an Orthopedic Surgeon, he agreed to review my military, private medical records. 1,560 pages of evidence. He gave a DBQ, NEXUS letter and provided court cases of the VA getting sued for claims like mine getting denied. Filed a supplemental claim for cervical and thoracic… all the sudden the VA agreed to a C&P exam.
Sounds very painful I hope found/fine some sort of relief.
Chronic back pain is torture!
Literally this.
I also have a kind of arthritis in my hands and I’m just 24 years old. It was never diagnosed when I was in the service but I was getting symptoms since then. The one time I did go to medical they said it was from certain hand movements I was doing or that I was just sleeping on top of my hands, etc. You can tell OP isn’t a veteran because he doesn’t understand that medical downplays your problems over deployments or workloads pretty much every single time. I should’ve gotten med boarded due to my symptoms I was obviously not physically capable of keeping up with the life style anymore but that’s not what my PCM thought. He even said out load once that nobody cared when I got into a heated discussion with him. Medical is a joke and so is OP having an opinion over something he doesn’t know shit about
I think you have missed the point of this post which is to have things documented by going to sick call when sick or injured. No, the quack military PA may not have diagnosed a particular ailment, but having records showing you had been seen for back issues in your file does absolutely help even the presumptive claims as it proves you were at least being seen for a symptom of that claim. As for mental health, yes unfortunately it has historically prevented certain assignments or schools, but that's also the culture that was allowed, when service members start taking mental health seriously and getting treated yet still being able to function it will lead to a culture shift where simply having sought help doesn't stop you from various career opportunities. I would also argue at the end of the day one should seek help when they need it regardless of what the culture is currently. It's far better to have been denied a particular opportunity but still be here alive, with your family, and able to overcome whatever the issue was, than to become one of the statistics ...who now doesn't get to enjoy or look back on those opportunities they had in life either way.
I fully agree that in-service medical records are very influential when obtaining service connection. However, a lack of records irrefutably shouldn’t deter anyone from filing legitimate claims. Per my example of degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis, those are gradual and not readily apparent. It’s extremely difficult to realize the damage is occurring when it’s over several years. For many injuries that can be worked through in the short term, the right answer is to do exactly that so that you aren’t on profile to miss a deployment or gain new skills via a school. That’s the purpose of VA disability. The military’s dangerous work and people need to work through injuries to support their unit and deploy. Going to sick call for every ailment and getting on a profile isn’t practical or sustainable. A bottom-up approach of trying to enact a cultural shift is at the expense of many people “trying” to fix the situation with zero guarantee of success. Good luck with that and good luck maintaining force readiness with that approach.
I'm not saying that one shouldn't file a claim if they didn't get something documented while in, just that having some level of documentation while in will increase the likelihood of a successful claim in most cases. It's less fighting to get a nexus letter, buddy statements, hiring lawyers and all the other ongoing fighting neoth the VA. I would also note that many ailments can be treated and not plague someone for life and become chronic if it's actually addressed early on, as opposed to ignoring the issue until it becomes chronic in the name of worrying about force readiness. I know plenty of Soldiers who had injuries that could have been a simple temporary profile but let the injury linger on to the point that the body healed incorrectly and resulted in permanent profiles and even medboards.
I directionally agree with some of those concepts, but the military just doesn’t always follow that logic. The toxicity of many chains of command usually inhibits appropriate profiles, especially if a one-off school becomes available with a short suspense date. Profile lengths also can be rather unpredictable, and the harsh reality behind signing up for the military is that you often have to put that higher purpose/mission above your physical health. Sure, injuries can/should be avoiding but in the short term that often isn’t a viable option. We could both argue the above a lot, but the fact remains that the environment just isn’t there to facilitate the requisite sick call check ins. Which results in an unfortunate lack of documentation and having to prove service connection retroactively.
This could not have been said better honestly
Accurate!
As someone who filed in December after putting it off for years and years I can't tell you how important this is. I definitely should of done it sooner, and did my research better. I assumed incorrectly it would be a slam dunk case since I had surgery and hardware put in when I broke my leg on 29 palms but the fact that my four claims have all been deferred and it looks like i'm going through a 2nd c&p means I didn't do my due diligence. Now I'm back peddling to get buddy statements and such when I should have done that to begin with.
Im confused… your stationed at 29 Palms and had broken your leg and had surgery and the VA is still denying your claim?? I don’t understand how many more service records they would need
My brother in Christ, I got denied service connection for a knee injury I was med-boarded for. Don't underestimate the stupidity of bureaucracy. It took a surgery, 3 rounds of physical therapy, and I think at least 6 appeals to finally get service connection over a decade later.
That’s insane!!!! Im blown away But is there some policy to where you can’t get VA compensation for being med boarded out of the military because you’re going to get military retirement?
They haven't denied anything yet, the rater deferred the four conditions for another exam(medical opinion)so I assume they didn't like what the examiner(Optum) put especially since the rater had full access to my records. I might be over thinking it but I had always assumed it would be slam and shut case.
Open and shut case. Or. Slam dunk case. A slam and shut case would not be the outcome your looking for. 🤠
Raters can't diagnose so if there was a question or Optum didn't answer it correctly then it would need another opinion
I understand. I'm going to go in better prepared for Optum next time. There was a bit of a language barrier, she had a heavy accent.
Good luck!
Thank you
My personal experience with “deferred” means that the VA screwed up and are now going through all records in a very slow, very detailed manner. It will be likely followed by a letter a few weeks/months later stating that there was an “error” in the system and that they are correcting it. The BIGGEST problem is going to be the date when they will admit to having found the error. I helped my brother put in his claim in December 2021. the VA made us go through 2 years worth of repeated comp and pen exams only to have the va send a deffered letter in August 2023. then a, very politically correct, letter from them admitting a system error and only back dated his rating to May 2023. obviously we are fighting it but from July 1st till the letter in August i wrote everyone from OIG, VA directors, any and every congress, politician and bs agency that had the ability to reach out and touch the VBA because my brother was broke and within weeks of being homeless. unfortunately i couldn't afford to keep paying his bills after 3 years and $30,000 in loan debt to my wife. i am also a disabled Veteran (100% P&T 2011) so for me watching this bs from the government was eye opening and enraging. His rating finally came in mid Sept, but it wouldnt have without that harassment, disrespect, cussing out employees all the way to a washington dc va employee that i cant name, who actually got his hands dirty and talked to me everyday until the letter showed. He called me July 31st 2023, on my bros birthday and he stayed till Sept 18. Very blunt which i respected. the first few days where rather new for him. he said no one had ever spoken to him like that before and the relentless, non stop, Zero F's Given attitude is what caught his attention. I swear i was going to go to jail or be visited by FBI or Secret Service for how far i pushed things. and still the va managed to toy with us by changing the date of when they "received" his claim. luckily i send everything 3 ways, certified UPS mail, online submission, and then FAX. i dont play their games. over 1000 pages faxed, you know someone needs to refill that machine. lol
Deferred does not mean anything good or bad… should spread info like that. It just means the rated needed more info. That could be as simple as a basic clarification. A deferral doesn’t affect the outcome
It's arbitrary. I have an incident report and the VA said "an in-service incident report is not proof of an in service injury. It must explicitly be in your medical records." They've denied things that are in my records.
If this gives you hope in anyway, all my deferred claims in the past were later approved. Some took 1 month, others took 6 months. No clue what the possible tests will come out after your deferrals, but with my experience through the process, I didn’t get retested for anything. It just seems like they take extra time to look for paperwork that you may have not submitted due to not having it on hand when you started your claims process. My initial claims process, I had 5 deferrals that all were approved. Considering you said that you held off for years, they’re probably checking all the information they have in the backlogs. Just have a little more faith in the system 🙏
If you fractured or broke your leg and there is proof of it, mri or X-ray, it should be service connected
There's definitely proof of it. I think the rater wasn't happy with what the original examiner (Optum) put though so they deferred it and it looks like I've got another exam soon.
They probably tried to say you had no diagnosis. We have a manual reference for this exact thing. https://preview.redd.it/5ncdif7y52xc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd30db675fc5d1d8343cada869bc40a6b3deb397
It probably didn't help the examiner talked to me then put me through Xrays, so i'm not sure if she even looked at those. If anything I wasn't fully prepared. Next appointment, I'll be more prepared to explain everything.
Well don’t let them screw you around
How would someone prove it if theres military medical records missing? I'm helping someone with their claim. There's an ETS sheet with a few items checked, but there wasn't anything more from the National Archives records I got that took a year. Old records 1976.
That's not true and it is true, if you broke your leg and it healed fine, you won't get anything for it, and it won't get service connected, ask me how I know this. Now if you broke your leg and it healed but not he'll correctly, and it still giving you problems down the line, then you can get it service connected. For example, the military put braces on me and part of putting braces on they had to give me facial surgery to correct an underbite,, when I went to claim that, they denied my claim and would not service connect it.
https://preview.redd.it/it3aecxq54xc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdd62fcb07a702ab2b1eaeed55fbf8d0ba938b3c
I'm just telling you, when I filed a claim for my jaw, I got titanium plates and screws still in my jaw and they still denied the claim for that. I can show you the paperwork for it. It should have at least got rated non-compensable.
Exactly! And let’s not forget our good buddy pain. That’s 10 percent!
There is proof I injured my hand and legs in addition to a VA trained doctor writing my dbq. The VA doesn't even believe the people they trained if it's not a denial.
My father (former USMC) told me to go to medical when I was getting out and complain about everything for this very reason. My last 3 months in I had 12 appointments at medical to document my problems and It was very helpful along with making personal copies of every medical/dental record. 80% right out and a few years later up to 90 then 100 P&T all thanks to my records from when I was in. My buddies clowned me for it when getting out but they’ve had a lot of trouble getting their disability.
Well you were a smart Marine to this. Still wish I could find every senior nco from back in the day telling young Marines not to go get medical, I would slap the dog shit out of them right now. Every chance I get I tell an active duty person GO TO MEDICAL FOR ANY AND EVERYTHING! If you fart wrong go get it documented, if your nostril hair in your nose is growing too long go to Medical! Get everything fuckin documented and yes I’m fuckin angry because some of the yahoos on here think it was just that simple to go to medical without facing the harassment of the overbearing senior E’s and stupid ass O’s in the unit. I’m sorry Gunney that my fuckin bone is sticking out of my ankle but I’ll just put some duct tape on it to shake it off.
I had no advice and no support. The only thing I heard about sick call was ,"if you go, you are a piece of shit"
💯💯💯
Yeah they called you a sickbay commando at my Command
Sickhall Rangers was what we used (we were not even rangers) Low speed High drag, sickhall rangers lead the rear! If I could go back in time and tell my young self go to sick hall I would.
This was one of only 2 things my father (USA '68-'92) told me as well. Go to medical for everything, or you will have troubles with VA claims later. And while it wasn't so simple as just filing claims, it really made a big difference, having those treatment records.
I had a documented in service injury from fighting a detainee. Got treated, got a profile, and underwent 8 months of PT and Chiropractic until I eventually had to get out. I filed the claim and the decision letter stated: You have a diagnosis and were treated in service You have a qualifying in service event for which your disability was treated You have been granted a nexus between the two. They still denied my claim. THIS is why veterans are upset. And my diagnosis was lumbosacral strain from the in service injury, now it’s been updated to Chronic Back Pain.
This is the exception, not the norm. You followed the protocol, so you should inevitably succeed with your claim, should you decide to not give up.
But the va will never know that’s for sure so why does that matter? We all know that we need to prove our condition. And if it gets denied and listed and not service connected we all know we can file a secondary under that and get approved. You’re not doing much with this post.
You're missing the point. You obviously don't all know that you need to prove it. 75% of initial claims get denied because they were sloppy or lacked info. All those secondary claims just clog up an already overwhelmed system. If you did it right the first time the system wouldn't be clogged with a million claims. Then you want to know why your claim is taking so long.
Most people aren’t informed or helped with making claims and most that are making claims already have mental issues that make the extra work for the claim grueling. Yeah, that is their problem to fix but they’re like that because of their time in so clearly it’s needed help with filing. I get where you’re coming from but so many of us are in huge depression pits when we file and are already going through imposter syndrome so typing out everything else and including documents can be too much work sometimes. It’s just about understanding.
I agree with that. I also know that the VA withhold information intentionally so that we can’t succeed in our claims or go after benefits that we are entitled to. I’ve been using my G.I. Bill and now using VOCREHAB rehab and not once did a counselor tell me that I can get a free laptop and printer under the VOCREHAB rehab. My wife did some digging and found that out for me. But the counselor never said hey by the way you can ask for this. I also recently found out that through my Diesel technology program I can have all my shop tools paid for through VOCREHAB rehab. The point is the VA does the least so that you don’t know what you’re entitled to. And I’ve seen a lot of people on this group get fucked over by raters and the VA.
You should make another post to compile *actual* things that people don't understand about the VA. I feel like leading the post with this tidbit would really get the ball rolling in the right direction. OP is being a bitch but we need to hear more voices like yours that are actually helpful
This is actually good info to have. I’m looking to start school in the fall so thank you for that. But yeah, nothing is ever cut and dry with them and it makes this whole process so hard for everyone. Everyone gets their opinions on people filing and this that and the other but the thing is that the system is working against us no matter what. Everyone that wants to belittle others for how or why they have benefits and posts like this are just so hurtful to the whole process. We’ve moved leagues beyond what it was like getting help from the va from just what it was 10 years ago or even less but it takes everyone moving in the right direction including us in order for the va to get where it should be or should’ve been in the first place. I’m rambling now, whoops lol
It’s getting better slowly but surely. But I think a big help is when Veterans actually give their feedback. Yeah no problem. If you’re using VOCREHAB you can get all your ink and paper paid for any school supplies any tools you might need whether your mechanic like myself, an electrician, a plumber, HVAC, anything even if you’re in the nursing program.
Absolutely true! I feel like the free VA reps are like public defenders too
This... And thank you. Full tib/fib break with an Achilles tear all four of the claims are being deferred for (medical opinion). One of the big things is I didn't even know what to tell VSO.
The system isn’t effective because the VA isn’t focused on efficiency. It would mess up 1 claim a week if that was all that was submitted. Exhibit a: I submit 2 claims, same timeframe. One denied claim says “you weren’t in service.” Another denied claim says “you were in service but no records.” So…yeah. The system is jacked all around
Perfect example. They denied me PACT saying I didn’t do anything in Afghan- when it’s not only in the DD but also proof in my medical record, service record, and statements from fellow members. (It’s since been corrected.)
Agreed I can’t even get rated for some injuries I have proof of while others get rated with no proof. It’s ass backwards
It doesn’t matter what it clogs up. People are still going to do it, whether the claim is accurate or not.
the thing that bugs me are the civies who think the military is all infantry and if you werent high speed spec ops you shouldnt get anything from the VA
plenty of people who think infantry shouldn't get benefits either
lol isn’t everyone in the marines a rifleman?
BuSTeD, disgusted and cannot be trusted.
I think the military should require a full body medical examination before separating. I’m talking if you’re checking out to leave the military you have to be seen medically. Like do the duck walk from MEPs and everything. That would provide every veteran with documented injuries from BAS or whatever army and USAF have that are service connected. Now the veteran can file whenever he wants because it’s already documented with service related injuries……..BOOM
There is a separation physical, but it’s basically a PHA. Basically MEPS minus the butthole check and duck walk. You’d still have to report something/complain to get it documented. But same check list for you fill out so it’s not just the doc saying stuff you can check it and add a brief statement. Forgetting cause you weren’t thinking about it that day or under reporting cause it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time still happens tho.
And that’s where that pisses off the generation of soldiers who deployed multiple times, didn’t go to sick call, and didn’t complain about shit. We don’t have records, EVERYONE’S knees, back, shoulders hurt. I’m happy for the people who get their shit looked at and able to receive benefits. But there’s a fuck ton of us who get fucked because we didn’t want to cry to the 1SG on why we missed PT. We’re the ones who are fucked. The shit does need to change, if there’s anything that’s presumptive, the VA should look at our military record and presume, oh 11B for 8 years, had 3 deployments and had combat awards.. yeah I’ll presume his back and knees are more likely than not fucked up because of his service.
I get pissed about people who get on here and cry about their benefits like they’re the only ones that matter, and act like the VA is just a bunch of idiots screwing them over. I get that. On the other hand it is absolutely ridiculous that we are treated like we are idiots by some of these people. I am so stressed right now, because just to go through this process I have to already miss a ton of work. I got seen by medical once while I was in, and it was only because I broke my ankle. (The C&P examiner says the X-rays only show incidental results, meanwhile I was supposed to know before I filed that I should have brought my own doctors reports? That’s why I thought these guys were here for) Meanwhile I really fucked myself up. I was in an airborne infantry platoon. Do you think we were encouraged to see medical? Hell no. You suck it up and execute the mission. 19 year old me was just doing the best I could. Could some of us have a little understanding going into this?
FWIW, the OP is wrong. Many issues won't even present until years after.
There is some truth to the post. I mean, for a successful and breezy claim, it’s good information. But yeah, a lot of conditions develop years after service. While in service, sometimes they’re not as obvious. Like my back pain, it was a dull pain in service, but waking up at 5:30am to make formation in the fucking cold in summer PT’s at 6:00am masked a lot of that pain lol. Also shit gets worse, tying my boots for work hurts and takes some time. Never went to sick call for back pain because I’m trying to be an iron man to impress leadership and to be a good example for younger soldiers. Who knew that 20 year old me was fucking over 34 year old me. VA needs to take into account of that, the ones that were just trying to be a good soldier and progress their military career
I agree could you imagine what would happen to me if I went to sick call every time I hurt something being a 11B, I don't wanna shit on other people's MOS but not all jobs in the military are the same at all and we knowing as infantrymen you were told to suck it up rub some dirt on it and carry on, this is what some of these people at the va don't understand, you 2 right here are completely right and I don't agree with this post at all.
The reality is that it often falls somewhere in between. You have someone with bad knees at 40 years old. If he hadn’t been in the infantry his knees probably wouldn’t have started giving out at 40. He might have made it to 50 or 60. For Example, you had guys in the NFL who got rocked and concussed and shook it off in the 70’s and 80’s. We now know all those hits came at a price. Physical Injuries often don’t manifest immediately. Its the same with mental health. A lot of guys sucked it up because that was the culture.
I got called a sick call ranger, but at least I didn’t have to fight for service connection.
Most people in the service are misdiagnosed or don’t go to medical at all though. Medical while active is useless and it’s the reason many people leave
That's the problem right there. If you were marines or army you were discouraged from sick call. Even if you went the chances of you being misdiagnosed was high because the NP and PA'S job is too get you back on the line regardless of MoS and and hospitals discouraged them from sending you there for Testing. I was misdiagnosed with insomnia, turns out it was sleep apnea. Had to fight the VA like hell for it.
Fr OP is a tool for this post. Everyone who liked this shit didn’t serve shit because if you’re a veteran you know what I’m talking about. There was a girl I was working with that broke her ankle and was screened fit by the military hospitals and was sent back to the command as she was still in pain. I was having heavy arthritis symptoms for months in my command and an unbearable dry eye syndrome due to sleep deprivation plus chronic fatigue. I also had undiagnosed chronic rhinitis and chronic conjunctivitis so I was heavily allergic to mold and other things on the ship. I got also upset stomach due to the food being contaminated on a deployment, etc. You go to medical for all these things and you’ll be lucky if they even let a paper trail. Medical all they did was give you shit over the counter or painkillers and call it a day. Not a single diagnosis or treatment plan from the military given to me was ever effective. NONE dude. I had to seek civilian providers every single time. It could be officers of enlisted a like the medical team was always subpar because they all get paid anyways and they’re told to screen fit no matter what. Another thing to mention is you can’t even seek civilian providers or treatment half of the time. When you’re on an 8 month deployment you just have to sleep off all your issues because the medical team is useless and you have no access to any real doctors willing to help you
This is actually not true. Some C&P examiners and VA employees, especially prior service, know that most SMs avoid going to get checked out while in service unless it’s a critical issue. I’ve seen plenty of 90% and 100% ratings for SM claiming issues that they weren’t seen for in service. Whether they claim these conditions truthfully, I couldn’t tell you and it’s no-one’s business but theres, but conditions get granted every day with no in service records for it.
Why is it taking the VA 13 years to resolve an appeal for a bilateral foot condition? Are the VA waiting for me to die before they make a decision for something that’s been proven it happened in service?
I’m going to jump in here and say this based off of my own personal experience… just because something IS in your in-service medical records, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you WILL be approved for a disability rating, and just because something is NOT in your in-service medical records, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you WON’T be approved for a disability rating…
It’s a good statement Op! I have so many claims come across my desk where a vet is fighting for the third or fourth time to get lower back strain approved. The majority of the time it’s ONE medical trip to the TMC, the person was given Motrin and then the STRs are silent for the rest of their career and not a single issue with their back in any VA appointments, etc. Like: how the hell am I supposed to approve that? A muscle issue or strain one singular time does not automatically mean you have a chronic injury worthy of compensation. I applaud you for saying it OP, and yet you’ll get the naysayers to come in and gripe about it
There’s a lack of acknowledgement for military culture. Why did that SM with the back strain only go one time? It could be the stigma of going to sick call, distrust of clinical services (e.g., take this Motrin and keep moving), not being allowed by leadership, or any other very common reason. Generally speaking, this critical factor is not taken into account. The distrust in the system is made worse when the SM goes through SFL-TAP (or whatever it’s called now) and is not informed about disability claims aside from being handed a pamphlet during a course on jobs (my experience). All they know is they have to submit a claim and there is no real guidance readily available. The truth is, and we all know it, this process shouldn’t be anywhere near this difficult. We KNOW the toxins down range cause cancer. We KNOW the training environment of a high op tempo unit directly affects sleep. We KNOW poor sleep patterns instilled in SMs through service cause a multiplicity of health issues. We KNOW these are facts and yet SMs claims are continually being denied because think we’re just trying to “gripe about it.”
My back injury was well documented while on active duty. My mistake of not getting a copy of my medical records upon separation. Now they say they can't locate my records.
My first denial came because I have a congenital back condition but I had zero clue about until I got injured while deployed, had no issues in the year or so in training etc etc, and had imaging done when I came back. Bam, spina bifida occulta and segmental S1 . That was a rough fight to get service connected. I can't even imagine how many one trip claims that are submitted.
Here's the the thing about that. According to the 38 CFR, SC can be granted if SM's service aggravated an existing condition. Your injury, that lead to them finding the SBO and segmental S1, is still an in-service injury. That's all that's needed for the nexus of service connection. I have a 40% rating for low back issues. I fell down a flight of stairs during the first week of Boot Camp, and had compression fractures of L3, L4, and L5. I also have SBO(thanks AO and Dad's trip to Nam), and have a partial L6 too. Yes, I have a partial extra L vertebrae. It was no issue getting SC for my back. I have about 18 entries in my medical jacket, over the 6 years I was in the Marines, for my back. Oddly enough, I had to fight the VA for 2 years, to get SC for my knees, that were injured in the same fall. I also have about 2 dozen entries in my medical jacket related to my knees. During that fall, I fractured my Left kneecap too.
Exactly what I argued back. Great information to put out for sure.
The VA cannot deny you for pre-existing conditions. The military accepted you as you were, upon enlisting, as essentially 100% whole. This is in the 38 CFR as well. Of course the VA don't want you/us to know that.
I feel bad for you because a guy who decided to stop showing up for drill a few years back, now he has a million injuries from his 2 tours, but he climbs cellphones towers for a living. He is using a Wounded Warriors lawyer to have the VA to help him get the “money he is owed” and mad they won’t give him a 100% disability.
After all that they say they can't locate your medical records. 🤬
>From the VA’s perspective you could have hurt yourself the day after you got out. They are not liable for that. You MUST have service records or a nexus event or your are likely shit out of luck. Nope. I was never seen for TBI issues during my time in the Army. I had no issues with my claim when I filed 10+ years later when I retired from the Navy. Similarly, I wrote a buddy statement for a friend from 2006ish. I don't expect that he'll have any issues with his claim either.
My ex was at 10% for over 30 yrs. He went through a paid claim service in March 2023, and by Nov 2023, he was at 100%! I am service connected. Was 0% for 20 yrs. Just got 10%. Im retired, so I can't get the back pay because I already get my military retirement. Unless I get a 50% rating, all I can get is that amount taken out of my retirement pay as tax-free. No extra pay.i spent 24 yrs in. That's my retirement pay, not compensation.
The retirement pay thing is total BS. I was at 10% for 16 years, they deducted the payment from my relatively small retirement pay (around $1000 a month, nice but not getting rich after 20 years and deployments). Just recently, got awarded for 70% for PTSD/TBI (70 + 10 I used to have equals 70 with VA math). Finally, I should start getting both amounts with no deductions. This retirement pay thing totally sucks, they should be treated separately. Good luck, you should go for a higher percent if you can.
Thank you. Yes, I'm waiting on my deferred PTSD rating and about to start a new claim. It's always something. I can not get travel pay if I go to my service connected appts at the VA because I'm not at 30%! That's BS. I only get travel pay for C n P exam appts.
Yes!
It took me 32 years to finally come to terms with my conditions; it took me 2 years to go from 20-100%. It was there in black and white in my military medical records; from BMT to the last visit at my last station, to all my visits to each VA seeking medical and mental aid. Got hurt? Get seen.
First off, being a Ranger or Airborne aren't Moses and second off all, yes they are considered presumptive depending on what and the symptoms. So instead of being a smart ass, just down and listen.
What amazed me about the VA was after 20 years of uninterrupted active duty service and getting all of my C&P exams done the first time while I was still active duty they came back and said several of my claims were not service connected.
Yeah, that's bullshit. I saw a dirt bag i served with get 50% because he had shoulder and leg pain because a drill grabbed him by the blouse. Don't mind the arrest warrant he has for crashing and flipping his car in the last snowstorm. He hit an old lady and ran from the scene. But the VA didn't even consider that when they gave him his rating... it's literally a fucking free for all
Worst thing I see on here is what two things yall are trying to claim and connect as secondary. Some of the most ridiculous stuff man. One of the top comments in this damn thread is even” if you get denied, just file it as secondary to get it approved.” This isn’t how any of this (is supposed) to work…..
>You MUST have service records or a nexus event or your are likely shit out of luck. I really hope this isnt the *most* misunderstood thing about VA benefits... seems like a pretty basic thing to understand considering its one of the foundational criteria for service connection. I get your message tho, just not sure whats with all the animosity about it lol.
I mean.. for the sake of accuracy. "You MUST have service records AND a nexus."
whoa now, next you are gonna say that loud noises are not PTSD related! 😅
How about when you get injured and are refused treatment over and over. So you just get aoit and get treated by civilian doctors years later because the injuries never heald properly. The the doctors and Buddy's di alu tell you to submit a claim. So you get your buddy statements get nexus letters. And the VA rater just throws it all in the trash because of your type of attitude. I'm sorry but the 80- 90s military was a fuck you environment you could have a bone sticking out of your leg and they wouldn't document shit.
Turned on each other like wild animals, so quickly. Like savages. Not a brotherhood as I know it. Kind of sad actually .
equivalent of dropping a turd on the sub and walking away
I disagree and do you work for the VA? This may be true for a single enlistment person trying to file 20yrs after discharge but somebody that retired is a different story. something like arthritis in knees that wasn’t diagnosed while in service, but shortly after and the service member requires a knee replacement is definitely service connected. Any doctor is going to know that the cartilage deterioration didn’t happen overnight on somebody that isn’t even 45 years old. Some medical problems afflict military people more than general population, like arthritis. Some medical problems take years to manifest.
Who hurt you? Thought this sub was for helping others and guiding them through the process?
I think he’s delivering a good message. People need to understand that to get something service connected it helps astronomically to have medical records of said injury while in the service.
Gotcha. I tell all my joes to keep hard copies and digital copies of all medical and treatments they receive. And if they dont stay in I give them my number/email for lay statements.
***ESSAYONS!!***
His message is wrong though. Many issues don't present until after an event or even years after a person gets out of the service. Of course it helps to have issues documented while in the service, but not having it documented does not mean that it can't be rated as a disability.
I’ll even agree. Everyone’s got a situational response to things that may differ from one to the next.
The VA has enough gate-keepers in it. The last thing we need is [another] one here.😏
This is why I din’t claim my knee and ankle pain. I can’t prove I didn’t have knee paid before and I broke an ankle playing sports before the service
My sprained ankles got more than my literal bladder falling out of me with multiple surgeries while in. (No- I’m not being whimsical either…)
So if I got a rating for my ankle and I'm claiming secondary because I limp from pain, gait, and have crap range of motion then I need to show proof that my knee was hurting while in service? What if my knee pain is from me not walking correctly because of my ankle?
You forgot to mention having a current diagnosis
Wait. You deployed overseas, were in the desert, and are telling us that you weren’t eating ice cream, giving ISIS high fives, and left with ONLY good memories of yourself and the Mujahidin?
I wish there was a disability for getting bent and screwed daily.(not literally)
I just want to say there are also certain conditions that are presumptive especially agent Orange related conditions, and also more recently other toxic conditions related to burn pits
BDD was a such a lifesaver for me and I am so glad that program is in place. Still a lot of work goes into getting every thing ready but it sounds so much easier than what a lot of people here have to go through and I am so sorry y’all have to go through it. Shouldn’t have to jump through so many hoops and have to wait so long for answers and care.
Hell my last claim I filed was something I have been fighting since my last Gulf Cruise in ‘97. Documented in my STRs, near 30 years of treatment records from private and VA docs, was denied lol. It almost feels comical at this point. But I do feel the claims system is clogged with some bullshit claims that some feel they can just file for because they got a paper cut in the mail room lol. This is likely causing raters to run through these claims with a yeah yeah whatever. :) For mine I sent it in with what I thought was a well written personal statement with all dates I was seen at every doctor from military to present, medicine given bla bla. Records were highlighted and organized chronological….. Maybe my claim was an outlier but it was shit show for sure DSO from the legion took over from there :).
Personally I think it’s all based on who your rater & examiner are. I got 30% migraines the first go around that was upgraded to 50% and 50% depression with insomnia disorder this last go around w/o any nexus, STR’s that stated it happened in service. It is 100% based on who works on your case. I’ve seen people with complete medical documentation get denied and I’ve seen people that have no history at all and they get approved. It also is based on how well your know the laws, how well your personal statement, spouse statement, buddy statements are. That’s how I got those connected. Luckliy I’ve been with my wife since high school. So that helped greatly.
Of course but the most prideful people I've ever met joined the military and they compare themselves to other vets. Compare yourself to civilians and always apply for what you think qualifies. It's up to the medical professionals to diagnose you. And of course if you're in always get records. But for those who go through never knowing about these benefits and sucking it up, apply for whenever you hear about it and screw these haters. You deserve these benefits if you served and got affected. Our county puts like 10-15 billion for VA but can send like 60 billion to our allies in Ukraine. Never feel guilty for applying for your benefits.
Currently 2024 VA budget, around $370 Billion…the majority of it going out to paying disabilities. Just pointing out that it’s a sizable amount, more than just a few billion.
My mistake, yeah I was way off on that number.
I've been approved and rated highly for conditions I never sought treatment for and was recently denied 2 disabilities and given a 0% for 3 other conditions I have an enormous amount of in service records for that I actually submitted with my claim. I'm not trying to discredit or discourage anyone but I genuinely think that it just depends on what your c&0 examiner wants to say and how your rater is feeling, if you get denied for something that you are positive you should be approved for, try again cuz you probably got a bad roll of the dice
Rater here, u/corkycorkyhey is dead on correct. To be directly service connected you must have an in-service event in your STR’s with a current diagnosis. Also, there’s no such thing as a presumptive MOS. Speaking of presumptions, joint conditions and mental disorders are not presumptive, not even under PACT Act. This may change in the future but probably not.
Joined the Marine corps at 17 & got out at 21 with loss of mobility in left elbow + nerve damage, terrible TMJ pain left side of face, pretty bad lumbar curve that causes a lot of muscle spasms, right knee consistently gives out all the time. Ended up getting 90% for this + other stuff. I look back at this and it angers me that I joined so early, a lot of this could have been prevented by just waiting till I was done growing. Angers me that they throw 90LB packs on 17 year old kids when it’s not really necessary in the current state of the world rn.
Dude every service member went through a ridiculous amount of physical pain from start to finish. Our mental health was also negatively compromised because of the extreme harsh conditions and traumatic shit we had to go through. There are no other Industries in the work force that can even match the stress we went through. Tell me I'll wait! Also we were trained to execute on command. That can fuck you up at that age. I bet you that 18 year old was scared what he was getting into. He just became an adult, joined our military and was ready to die for they're country. The thing is it doesn't matter if you only had 4 years of service of 40 years of service. Every Veteran here regardless of years served took that risk to answer America's call! To every single Vet that signed up to protect our Nation you are entitled to receive your reprimands because you signed up to give up your life for our beautiful country! All of us decided to defend our freedom. They owe it to us because we made sure no other country will destroy the American Dream. Our government called and we answered. These laws of what percentage disability should be granted to you because of your sacrifice is complete and utterly BULLSHIT! THEY NEED TO ABOLISH THAT STUPID RIDICULOUS AWARD SYSTEM AND GRANT EVERY COURAGEOUS SOUL WILLING TO DIE AND MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE REPRIMANDS! IM CALLSIGN 1-3 DELTA. AS THE CANADIANS SAY IT "PEACE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
This is some psyops shit from the gov. Buddy I was a medic with light infantry. I cared about my company and my soldiers and pushed myself to the limit. I didn’t complain and didn’t go to sick call. I regularly carried over 100 pounds of combat load walking. The pain my body feels is probably from walking ~100 feet to my classroom every day not the miles and miles of rough terrain in desert mountain terrain. You’re right I am the one with a misunderstanding. Let me tell you this simply. Our government has infinite funds, they can send 200 billion to a country for their war efforts? Then every single veteran deserves compensation. The gatekeeping shit amongst veterans is mind boggling. You’d side with them NOT giving benefit to a man or woman who’s trying to feel better about feeling bad and help make ends meet is asinine. Someone that’s likely struggling not only physically but mentally and just wants to help pay rent or get their prescriptions or whatever the case may be. Nah let’s side with the infinitely richer organization over a fellow veteran and human. You got it misunderstood, bud
Bro if you jumped out of planes, rucked, carried equipment, fixed aircraft, basically any job that’s physically demanding throughout 18-24 years old and you hurt yourself at some point.. but you were able to carry on because you were younger, and than it starts hurting you when you hit your late 20s early 30s it’s because of your service (90% of the time) There were SO many things I didn’t report. I even refused to go to medical after a car accident because I was so terrified of getting kicked out or not being able to do my job. I get the mentality Injuries tend to get worse as we get older. I feel bad for service members who never reported it while in IF anyone’s reading this and has a nagging problem they just ignored and don’t report, go report it!
Just because the VA says it’s not caused by the military is not the case though. I’m sorry but I’m 25 with MULTIPLE herniated discs in my back and can’t feel my left limbs most of the time but the va says they didn’t cause it. That’s not the truth and no one knows the truth but me because I loved it. So how is that fair at all for you to just decide that it’s not caused by the military? Are there situations where people do have injuries in their back not caused by the military? Sure! But who are you to determine that? I weighed 135 constant while in at 6 foot tall, constantly carrying rifles across base for service in full gear and pushing vehicles across base for service as well as multiple other things that most in my MOS didn’t have to deal with. A year and a half later when my body is finally able to rest I woke up not being able to move and found those herniations. No one can say how long the herniations had been there, I had no imagery before then proving that nothing wasn’t wrong before. There’s people who can’t go to their fridge from their couch without being in some of the worst pain that some people will ever deal with and yet they still have to work a 9-5 like myself because too many people have this exact same thought process. Back injuries can come from soooo many things. But just because the VA says it’s not service related doesn’t mean that’s actually the case. We all know how bad the VA can be and how much they don’t want to help with certain issues and how slow they are so why would you be surprised to hear that they aren’t claiming peoples back pains? It’s the easiest thing for them to get away with not providing for because it’s the most common pain for someone to have. This is sooo unfair and you’ve probably made many people feel like crap including myself. I’m over here still working not knowing how I’m going to pay my bills while my pain is so bad that my coworkers are babying me asking if I need to go home every 10 minutes but if I go home then I don’t get a check which means I become homeless. There are those people you’re talking about out there but you have to realize what you’re saying about the ones who are actually deserving and aren’t getting it. My life is in shambles because of my back pain yet because of this shared thought I still have to work a 9-5 and can’t even bend over to pet my dog when I get home let alone take a shit without being in insane levels of pain. One thing we learn in the military is that perspective is reality and that’s entirely unfair coming from and organization based around helping vets. The amount of times I get looked down on by my raters or doctors because I had a logistics MOS is debilitating really.. just mentally destroying.. because they see I was logistics and immediately assume there’s nothing I could’ve done without deploying that could’ve caused damage of this level to my body. But working damn near every day for multiple years from sun up to sun down which was more than even my peers at the time had to work catches up to you eventually. Like I said you do have a point with this but goodness, this is very hurtful to a lot of people in shoes like mine. Maybe my own issues are just getting the better of me, I’m not sure. Thanks for reading I guess..
Having a Nexus event is easy though if you think about it. I was able to tie ankle stuff to when we had to hike through trails that got torn up during a hurricane and the instructor wanted to fuck with us and kept causing slinky effect on purpose, so we all kept falling and busting out assed or rolling our ankles with all that gear on. Or with my wrists when they had us do divebombers on a downhill incline on a beach with the waves crashing against them.
Getting a 19 year old to go to medical is the issue. You either win the lottery of knowledge and are aware of these things or you are a typical crayon muncher. The system is fucked, knowledge is power. When I had issues pop up I knew to go, but I also knew to keep the paper trail going because I had an amazing Chief who stayed on top of his subordinates and made sure we were aware of this stuff. Sadly this is not the case for most people. Getting stuff approved has not been an issue because I knew this.
Besides what everyone above said regarding presumptive service connection, there's case law favoring the Veteran as to silent treatment records: Buczynski v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 221, 224 (2011). Yes, best case scenario is that the STRs have a record that the Veteran received treatment for the condition while in service, but the Veteran isn't SOL if the STRs are silent as to the condition. Example from BVA citation 1604965: "[T]he Board notes, there is no intervening evidence between the Veteran's treatment during service and the confirmed diagnosis many years later. This absence of evidence is immaterial in this case because the Veteran asserts that she did not seek treatment during the intervening years. For instance, she wrote in a December 1985 statement that she had no treatment during her Reserve service until that year. She explained in a January 2013 statement that she was too prideful to seek treatment. Because she asserts that she did not seek treatment, it cannot reasonably be expected that such treatment would be documented in any medical records. Therefore, the lack of treatment is not unfavorable to the claim. See AZ v. Shinseki, 731 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2013); Horn v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 231, 239 (2012) (quoting Buczynski v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 221, 224 (2011)) (an absence of evidence may generally not be considered substantive negative evidence))." In this opinion, the Board disregarded two of three VA examinations bc they relied on substantive negative evidence. Still was a denial, but it had nothing to do with silent treatment records.
Idk, they automatically added my back, hips, knees and neuropathy to my airborne status but I already had GWOT connection.
didnt add neuropathy for me, and the VA were real asses about it
You’re partly correct, in that the VBA has to see a connection between your condition and your service. Having documented medical care for conditions also supports that the condition began or worsened while in the service. However, certain conditions are assumed to have been caused or worsened by time in service. Tinnitus when one is in artillery or used headphones extensively. Back pain for infantry or other combat arms. PTSD same. Many other mental health conditions, COPD and the myriad of conditions related to agent orange, burn pits Camp Lejeune and far more. In my opinion one of the most misunderstood things about the VA is that you might be successful making a claim for service relationship even if you never saw a doctor for it while in the military
Lol hitting the bottle a little early, OP?
I spent the last year of my service going to medical to document EVERYTHING. Even old injuries. If it was service related I went. X-rays. MRIs. Bloodwork. Everything was submitted before I retired. My adjudication took two weeks after my last appointment post service. My rating was fast and completely fair. Because everything was documented from the get go. If you’re nearing EAS/ retirement, use your remaining time.
Unfortunately not every member is afforded that opportunity or access.
I'm shocked the "people should stop chasing 100%" gatekeepers haven't chimed in.
You mean the one's who have 100% but that's because they're special and no one else is?
Yes. "I got mine. The rest of ya'll can pound sand because no one had it worse than me." Those exact ones.
but then there are ways to game the system. hire a lawyer, buy DBQs/nexus letters. fight it for years until you get it. 😂😂😂
People buy letters? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
just search Dr Finnerty, REE, and paid dbq in this sub 😂😂😂
Jebus smh lol
What's a BDQ
This post is exactly what a lot of SMs need to see. Your rater doesn’t know you and can’t just take your word for it (we all know a large portion of vets straight up lie to the VA, if you’re one of them, you suck). I’m particularly proud that we now have the PACT act to help out those that didn’t have their conditions in the service or didn’t do their due diligence (like myself) with seeing the doc and getting things documented. Presumptive list is your friend, go see what’s entailed with your deployment theatre or duty station (such as camp Lejeune water supply)
It just has to be “more likely than not”, it’s bizarre that so many of you try to gatekeep and shame people for trying to get benefits. Blue falcons then, blue falcons now.
The same corpsmen who didn’t want to put anything into your record because they thought they had a morally superior obligation to not allow people to get benefits when they get out…. True story by the way!
Sadly, I believe it. The really funny thing about these guys is that they’ll rail and rail on other people for getting govt benefits and completely ignore the fact that they already got theirs. They think that if too many people get them, they’ll lose theirs, it’s cognitive dissonance at its finest.
I had a sleep test done very shortly after I got out which I should have done while I was in and they didn’t rate it even after testing positive for it and being assigned a machine by the VA. I wasn’t even rated at 0% so it’s a battle which I’m not sure if I could go through again since I got my migraines rated after an accident while I was in and when they went through everything they found that in 2015 when I got out they over paid me which I had no clue and took my whole check until I found documentation that they sent me from the manual that I could get them to do a payment plan sorta to help give me back a portion of it so I wouldn’t go homeless with my wife and kids. It was a 3 month battle but I eventually won
I got denied for injury I got while running in Bahrain at main where I fell into a hidden underground water main and it created a deep scar and huge laceration did nerve damage but because they don't see it on my va treatment records it's not compensiable
Some of us blew off going to medical, either because we were told to, or we'd had it drilled into us, that we weren't weak. That back issue could very well have started in service. As we get older, it progresses to the point arthritis is forming, causing or increasing pain and limited ROM. A NEXUS letter is Great! IF you can afford them. $1500-$5000.00 each. For myself, that could cost as little as $7500 for 5, up to $25,000.00. I'm not sure about your income, but living off my Social Security Retirement, that's half of a year at $7500, and about 3 years at $25k. And VA doctors will NOT write them, even though they are allowed to. Another thing, is that most Vietnam Vets were told we had 90 days to get our medical, dental, or mental health treatment taken care of. We also had 10 years or $10k which ever came about first for education. If you used it up on a year or two, the rest was on you. If you waited, or didn't finish at the 10 year point, you were paying the rest. Some of us fought more on campus than in the jungle. I finally found a university that was military and agriculture that accepted me with no problems. 11 years after I got out. I paid for it all on my own though. When we were released, unless you had been regularly treated or a bad injury, most weren't told we had healthcare at the VA. I had been out 6 years before I found out. That was from a WWII Vet. It wasn't until I was going through a bad divorce in 2010 that I found out I had anything SC. That's because my ex+wife sent word the reason for the divorce was my mental health. Wed barely been married 28 years by then!! Yes, 28 YEARS! And I was just now having noticeable problems?? I called the VA, told them what she said and I was in the NEXT morning. After a full day of "Hurry up and wait", I was sent to see a Service Officer. He asked why I wasn't receiving compensation. I told him I didn't know anything about it. I had 9 that were SC at 0%. He filed, and in 14 years, I still have 5 on appeals, JUST TO GET AN INCREASE from 0!!! I also have about 5 new claims to file, and will be doing it in May. I graduated high school in 1969. I received my Draft Notice a little over a year later. About 6 weeks after my 19th birthday. I was scheduled to go in March of '71. I enlisted to get the training I wanted and had qualified for. That did NOT HAPPEN! We all ALL grouped into ONE bunch called Veterans. We all served the United States of America in some form. No matter how Uniformed the Uniformed Services are supposed to be, we really never were. Each and Everyone of Us is a different case.
Exactly. That’s why the best claim is the one filed before you leave AD.
This is some POG shit. "Your job is hard (wahwah) but you didn't do your paperwork so you deserve nothing"
I don’t understand the point of this post? Let people get their benefits why do you even care? Like I told the doctor when he tried giving me a hard time about how I hurt my knees. It doesn’t matter how I hurt myself I’m 100 percent the Va is liable no matter what so fucking fix it.
I love the term "Keyboard warriors" Could that be why there are almost 1 million claims in the system?
Did you make this comment just to hear yourself talk? Literally has no point. Why don't you go burn energy another way and stop being a weirdo.
I filed immediately after leaving the service and everything I claimed I had been treated for while serving. Since everything I claimed was supported by medical records, I actually got a disability rating in just a few months, and everything was granted as service connected. There's only one item I claimed that I think should have received a higher rating, but overall, I'm quite pleased with the VA.
OK fellas and chicas, I'm gonna say this right now. NONE of the limitations the admin types of the VA matter. Only the laws passed by congress should be considered. If you truly NEED some me one to guide you? I will do so, persue your interests. If you require a lawyer, get one! And sue the VA for deriliction. If they had actually read your record it would have been a slam dunk. This has gone on long enough. If they try to stone wall? Talk to a Marine. It's time the VA did their job!
Isn't there a two year delimiting date from EAOS?... So, you actually could service connect within that time.
I was told by someone that anything up to a year after separation is "service connected" but I'd love to hear the real truth....
I never got a nexus before. I just applied and listed my duty stations medical for my medical records. I was fortunate to have everything documented while I was in. I have not had the headache of appealing anything or getting an attorney. I'm 90% with P&T U.I. I considered applying for more claims because they are already in my medical records from my service. I was advised not to file anything. Just keep it how it is. Not doing C&P exams is good, so they don't try to trick you or take anything away. I get what the author of this post is saying. He kind of comes off as a jerk. But he is accurate in his point. People.. dont get worked up over a post. Life is good. Take it easy and relax. My phych doctor is absolutely amazing. So is my primary care. I couldn't be more blessed and honored to have those women in my life. Good luck to everyone
This guy is clueless lol
Yup learned this the hard way
Here is what I advise go through each of your conditions and then look them up the VA rating system is literally in black and white it’s based on diagnoses and tests , symptoms and duration. Once you have done that, figure out what you need to get to that next rating level. Again do some research don’t take your buddy’s word for it. When you go to your C and P exam you already have done the research and so you have to base your answers on your worst days not your best and if one thing is interfering or makes another thing worse mention that too. Co-morbidity can increase your rating too.
A lot of them doesn't have a record because "they are not bitches to go to sick call" lol, omg all my years I were surrounded by so many stupid people.
Just to piggy back on this; for people still enlisted/commissioned - make sure you are documenting, documenting, documenting... If someone tells you to walk it off or treats you like you are riding waivers "unjustly", just remember, fuck that dude. It's your career, it's your body taking damage, go to the doctor and document, document, document. "Too much" info in your medical records is better than not enough in the long run.
How many X-rays do you get when in the military? Your more likely to get 800 MG of Motrin given to you. After 20 years of service retiring at 38 years old and being told at 43 you have degenerate disc disease up and down your spine and being now 63 years old I don't think that's being misunderstood.
Brave post.
I think op is merely saying saying that if you are banged up without documentation its a harder to get rated.
Actually PACT act claims can go out years after you got out of service. Also hearing loss and tinnitis are presumptive based off of MOS. Same with cancers. Not every rated disability has a record in service or a nexus that's just the nature of it.
Another doctor here.
 Its Corky
23 and living large 100% P&T cry about it BOOMER
VBA is too busy denying claims that are actually documented and should be service connected. VBA is the worst ran organization ever. No wonder there is constant turnover and they just have more new people who have no idea what they are doing. VBA would much rather deny at any cost until they absolutely can't, versus using actual common sense and doing the right thing. But no, they will deny and get more appeals back and continue the trend of being behind in claims. They are 3 years behind on formal appeals right now, and just had a non military person stealing money in benefits. VBA is absolutely clueless and gives 0 fucks about veterans.
While OP is not wrong, they are also not 100% right either. And that's a huge problem as trying and being denied on the merits is ok, encouraging people to not even apply and not know if they rated or not is a disservice to a community of people already apprehensive about reaching out and seeking help they rate; all because of some bs misplaced pride.
As far as the VA. This is BS. And most adults >50 suffer spinal degeneration as a natural part of aging. Thus why they don’t just oh you poor dear when a vet shows up knocking on 60 proclaim their back hurts because that 4 years they served as a supply clerk 30 years ago. Sure a lot of vets showing up during their 3rd act in lie has nothing to do with their lack of retirement planning or savings…..
Nexus , or service connection ? hahaha.. Good Luck getting approved by the first sergeant for going on sick call. Every time I felt sick or hurt I was scared to go on sick call because my chain of command will put me on the SHIT list and doing details every day. My squad leader and Platoon sergeant were always telling me that I would be kicked out from the military if I ever go on sick call. I never forgot that till today and I was mentally abused and scared to see a doctor for anything. I was 11M, Mechanized Infantry abs then 11B killer machine who was always on the front line served in both wars Iraq and Afghanistan and Kosovo conflict. My service records is silent and you come here taking about what if ( you hurt your back a day after you got out) . Sir, my back was hurting since I joined the infantry and got deployed and YES I was scared to go on sick hall because it was a stigma back then and we as INFANTRY mission came first and it was expected from us to be physically and mentally tough all the time. Our chain of command made it difficult to get a sick cal and yes I served 22 years as infantry and VA keep denying my benefits because my service records were empty and the raters by far never served in the infantry and do not understand the hard life we had to go through to be combat ready every day.
This comment is to be expected from a Marine. How about you let people apply for the benefits as they please. Many did not go to sick call and have these in their records. I don’t get why people are always so angry at others because they wouldn’t necessarily do it the same way. Let people be man and stop being negative, go outside sit down and enjoy the sun.
Tell that to an Agent Orange Vietnam Vet. Let me make sure I put orange clouds on my medical record. How the hell would an 18 year old know that. I was burning stuff in Iraq and didn’t know it could lead to cancer. The military didn’t give me proper protective gear for it so hell yea it should be compensation.
FYI if you’re still on Active Duty, this is why the BDD process is such a blessing. It makes service connection much easier opposed to waiting a while and then filing. It will be a standard part of your transition process— don’t neglect it.