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

I waited 37 years and it was granted....probably because hearing loss isn't deniable for those who were artillerymen. So I suppose the allowable wait time depends on the problem.

I retired in 2010 but did not file until 2019. Rated at 90 percent. Should have done it much earlier.

You have 1 year from time of discharge to file a VA claim. of course there is always a waiver to this. You usually can start your claim while your at the end if your enlistment but you should do it no later then 12 months from discharge

Did mine before I retired, went to one of the VAs in San Diego. Was lucky enough to speak with a representative from the DAV who advised me all things I was eligible for. The seminars that were held on base were nothing to what I learned at the VA. My advise, get a jump on it about a year out so you don't have to rush. When I hung up my uniform for the last time my bennies were already in motion.

I received 10% on discharge. After 28 years I am at 70% with an appeal that's been with the board for 7 years.

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!!