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

Hi! Kiwi vet here. I realise it's a little different for us. There was no claim for military service injury as we have National Insurance called Accident Compensation. Tell you what though, when you go back to university to do your Masters you wave your service record around and you get a government family allowance equal to a basic wage! Do you guys get that in the States? One would hope so for service. Cheers from Roy in NZ!

I got my rating after I got out.

11 years for me. I ran from the VA, didn't want to face anything about my health until I was hospitalized. VA nurse told me to stop being an idiot so I filed, got 80% on the first go.

I got out in 1999 and the VA and my local VFW helped me submit the paperwork in 2018. I was always of the mindset that my issues werent that bad, I could deal with it and I could have\can but VFW & VA convinced me I needed to do it for other vets, ensure we are counted and the issues that effect us, even if only an annoyance it helps keep funding going for our future brothers and sisters.

I didn’t worry about it when I retired. Later, (years later) my primary physician suggested I file. I flew fighters for 10 years and got used to hurting. Never realized the damage it did to my neck and back. Still fighting with the VA over it. I didn’t want to get in front of any Iraq Afghanistan Vets and frankly never really was concerned about it. Seeing how the younger Vets work the system made me rethink the process.

Also like you I was diagnosed with diabetes during my retirement physical. The doctor made a copy of the necessary paperwork and directed me to go to the DAV Office on base (Norfolk) when I left the clinic. I was in and out of the DAV Office within an hour with my claim processed. Now, after I retired I started having medical complications associated with diabetes. I had to go to a VA Service Office and apply for a higher rating. It took a while because the VA sent me to outside doctors for evaluations and recommendations. I guess I was one of the lucky (?) ones. All of the doctors I saw were very helpful and eventually I got a 100% rating.

As an 11 Charlie it comes with the MOS.

I waited about 18 yrs. I just thought my problems were normal except for the pain. My hearing got worse and so I went to file. My service officer asked about "Any" thing else that happened while in. Since I was in the Navy, then Army, and Air Force reserves plenty had happened. Over the years I had received a 40% disability but I brought up my nightmares and after the VA tested me for PTSD they said I had severe depression and anxiety but of course not military related. I have been fighting for 10 yrs and finally received a granted from Wash. DC. Then a 50% rating for PTSD. I am working on TDIU now. I was terminated from the VA hospital as a Police Dispatcher because they said due to my physical and mental disability they could not find me a position. Which is bull c rap. I'm 61 and have been disability retired from the VA for 9 years now. I will continue to fight for TDIU. its true the path to any compensation is a long one. Their main reason was I never reported anything while in. But in their own words PTSD can happen years after so its a contradiction. My advice keep fighting never give up. For those that are still serving document every tiny incident, even if its just a cut finger or pulled muscle. They get precise and so should you. God Bless.

My recommendation to everyone is that they go through the process with a Veteran Service Organization (VSO) prior to leaving the military. You can file prior to leaving the military and a VSO can file for you-meaning they can handle all the paperwork.

I know there can be a lot of stigma around filing for disability. I had a number of friends who felt that way and didn't do it on their way out. They are now suffering but either don't have time in their careers to go through the process or they are too far removed from their time in service.

Better to go through the process and get anything documented, and not receive any compensation, than not go through it all.

At the urging of members in my Marine Corps League Detachment I filed for VA disability again after being retired for 30 years. When I first retired since I had not gone to Viet Nam (2 sets of orders canceled) and I did not meet the financial threshold I was denied. When I again applied the same was true but I the VA councilor instructed me to have the American Legion representative assist me in the application. I took almost a year but I was given 60% for a back injury I sustained in an aircraft crash.