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

A couple of months

Make copies of all your records . GOV will conveniently loose stuff .. especially anything covert you were involved in . A personelman saved me by having me do this . List any and all injuries . Time date , where , what you where doing . Witnesses. I don't care if you slipped and fell . You will be surprised how many times you get injured thinking it's minor and it later turns major . VA is not your friend . They will make it hard on you . Sometimes you will get evaluator who's pussed because he or she never did or went anywhere and they get envious . I was covert . Had pictures of me in front of dogs showing I was in Diego Garcia . They tried to say I might have been on vacation on a highly classified island . It might have changed now . If your going to need social security good luck . I ended up homeless waiting on them . They are the worst . It will take 9 months to a year . They deny you . First they said they don't recognize veterans disabilities .Second denial they said I was too well educated . I suggest you file everything while active . They want you to prove your claim . Get the DAV to represent or you will get nowhere. Social security same thing unless you hire a lawyer .

It’s easier to file while you’re still in. If you wait til you get out, it’s an extremely long and excruciating process!! The VA makes it so hard that many will give up trying after a few denial letters..
I had to hire a lawyer firm that specializes in VA Benefits!! I had used DAV as well as American Legion and they went as far until I got my 1st Denial letter.. they helped appeal it Once and then when I got my 2nd Appeal Denial they walked away and didn’t help any further..
At that point my wife started to look for a lawyer who specializes in VA Benefits and found a firm in FL even though we don’t reside there. We didn’t pay anything up front and we only paid a percentage to them when I won.. You don’t pay them if you don’t win.
Again, this process takes forever especially if your case is complicated and as always each case varies.
It well worth hiring them though.. The law firm also tries to get Dr’s outside the VA or not affiliated with the VA so they can get an honest Dr’s view without having to worry that the DR is gonna automatically find in favor of the VA..
This part only happens if they need to have Dr’s evaluations done for the appeal..
Good luck

35 years!!! I had no idea I was eligible and one day I took a friend to the local VA office and while waiting a rep started talking to me as he noticed I had much trouble getting around. He encouraged me to file due to my back injury while on active duty that only got worse over the years. I did and was rated about 12 months ago. So thankful for the benefits at a time when I could really use them but a little frustrated that all those years I was eligible for benefits I earned and had no idea it was available to me........ would been nice to get some type back pay but I an too blessed to live there...

I'm rated, but didn't know for years (separated in 1991 and found out in 2016) that you could apply. Even went without health insurance for years.
If you are separating soon, please contact a veterans service organization. I'm partial to the DAV as they have a huge presence on Capitol Hill fighting for Veterans' Rights/Benefits. (It's one thing that gets the most support).
They can help you fill out an Intent to File. This will hold your date for ONE YEAR. (And don't wait till day #364 to apply either). Then, if you are approved, they will pay you from the date you filled out the Intent, instead of the actual file date.
Please don't do it yourself, or go through a lawyer- at least not unless it's the last resort. (You are likely to lose $$ this way).
To find a local DAV representative: https://www.dav.org/find-your-local-office
Good Luck and thank you for your service!

It took me 10 years of getting the run-around with little to no assistance or even knowing who the right people were to get mine straightened out. Wasn't until a friend of my folks (retired CSM that did non-profit work helping with these issues) got the ball rolling the right direction and got me in contact with the right VSOs that actually WOULD help me navigate the system.

I was out for at least 10 years before I joined the VA, and then started the Disability claim process. It was harder than it should have been, but I was not aware of what all went wrong that I needed to claim til later in life.

I got out in 1984 and didn't want to be a financial burden to my country. Mr Obamas bringing in so many outsiders and setting them up comfortably made me reconsider the wisdom of my thinking so I filed in 2014. It wasn't long at all before i was 100% T&P. Armor is hard on your body. Short answer, 30 years.

I waited 49 years.

I waited 49 years.