Did you wait till you were out to get your disability rating? If so, how long before you made your first claim?

Did it while in since it was a physical retirement.

I got out in 1972 filled my first claim in 2011 by 2014 I was rated at 100percent

I had a disability rating right out of the Air Force. I spent the next 15 years listening to VA denials.

The process began before separation. I was a reserve airman on Title 10 active duty 25+ years ago. That meant separation from active duty and then retirement from the Air Force Reserve.

It was during the first drawdown after Desert Storm and the specific position number and PAS code that I occupied was being returned back to the Regular Air Force.

I didn't qualify for any of the different special severance incentives given to those whose bases were being shuttered by BRAC or assigned to units being deactivated. This was because I was formally assigned to a geographically separated forward operating location with personnel records at one base, while the finance and medical records were at another.

This occurred years before concurrent receipt, and I was actually given a choice between VA Disability Compensation and Reserve Retirement. I chose the VA disability because I was moving to a rural area, geographically separated from anything military. The retirement request, itself, was submitted to ARPC in advance and was partially processed, awaiting when my records would flow electronically from what was then AFMPC to ARPC.

I've always enjoyed the fact that my retirement orders were published two weeks after my actual retirement date -- go figure.

So my medical records were copied, the copies handed to me and I was given specific instructions that I had to acknowledge on what had to happen when I finished terminal leave. Even got a letter from AFMPC with a bar code and tracking information, showing when the VA took custody of my records and where they physically were. The military records were then sent to ARPC. I then traded what was then a green ID card for a blue one.

It helped that the state veterans counselor that I used was also retired from the Air Force. Then it got really interesting when the Air Force got directly involved in the disability rating process -- ever see a physical get remanded back to a VAMC for re-physical with a castigating reprimand because the VA in Washington already had the Air Force proof.

Four months before. Congressional and bad press 14 months after, and it went VERY expedited. Got lost in the shuffle but still complete in two weeks!!

Waited 2 years

When I got out, the first time in 1980, the E7 doing the outprocessing handed us all a VA form. He said, "If there's anything wrong with you now, that wasn't wrong when you enlisted, fill this firm out!" I did based on my knees. They gave me 0% for my knees and 10% for hypertension. I didn't have hypertension, it was just they measured my blood pressure right after I got into a very heated argument with the 90 year old VA doctor about my knees. A year or so later they did a reevaluation and reduced me to 0%. About 30 years later a former Air Force guy I worked with said I should apply again. I did and now I have 0% for hypertension and 20% for my knees.

65 years

I tried in 1968 to apply with the VA but back then they were a joke. My shrapnel and hearing loss from Viet Nam wasn't that big of a deal for them. My son-in-law retired from the Coast Guard after 30 years and during his exit meetings was asked if he knew any Viet Nam Vets, he mentioned me. His advisor gave him a name to contact, I contacted the person and he set me up with an appointment. My shrapnel wounds were not enough as they had healed over 50 years (scars still there) and weren't large enough but my hearing loss did get me a 10% disability for tentinituis (sp) and after two years I am scheduled for another hearing test for a hearing aide. I now have a much better feeling with the VA. Also with my purple heart I now have access to bases after registering.

I got out in 1970. I didn’t learn about disability ratings until 1999. I applied and got my disability rating in 2003.