Should Veterans feel bad about being awarded and receiving VA disability compensation for non-combat related injuries?

I was in the National Guard on an m-day weekend, basically drill weekend. I was jump qualified and on jump status. We jumped daytime, hardly any winds from a Chinook, I had a really bad landing as I had to speed up to avoid a tree. It caused bulging disk in back and SI Joint /pelvic contusion this was in 2019. I was medically retired in 2021. It also brought on nerve and sleep issues. They considered the airborne accident combat related since it came from an instrument of war. There is a law called CRSC and it allows if you qualify to get all your VA disability, but you also get your retirement on top even if you opted to get VA funds to replace your retirement. It is combat related special compensation. if your an m-day then you would get a portion of your DOD retirement based off how many points you had fully acquired. CRSC is also tax free. So there is a way to get added benefits IF in fact it was war, instrument of war, etc.. that caused or aggrevated your disability.

SGT (Join to see) - Those of us who were "Cold War" service members (after the Vietnam era and before the War on Global Terror) were screwed for pretty much everything. Our education benefits were essentially none. Weight control was the number one thing on everyone's list. Then they had "courtesy patrols" outside of military reservations ... I could go on and on. Bottom line however, at every opportunity you were screwed out of every conceivable benefit.

SGT Beth Day - I originally joined in 1994, couple Bosnia tours, i did sign up for Chap 31 GI Bill which is weak compared to what they get now. I am not sure what benefits you mean or if your disagreeign with what I posted earlier or what? CRSC is law no matter when you served and I think the back pay goes back to 2008

Its basically the military's workman's compensation.

Speaking as a board-certified PTSD therapist, PTSD is not a “combat” disorder. It is a situational disorder. I work with veterans as well as law enforcement, medical staff, firefighters, and others with legitimate PTSD who never stepped foot into a combat zone. Police officers who have cumulative PTSD from working horrific accidents or having had near miss death experiences; children caught in a hurricane who had the house collapsed on them and had to be dug out days later; women who were serially raped; adolescents who were in a horrific accident and left hanging upside down in their vehicle for hours with their passengers having broken necks and other bloody injuries next to them. Yes, combat trauma frequently leads to PTSD, but it doesn’t have ownership of the issue.

MAJ Jack Horn, LPC, NCC, CCMHC, CCTP, CCTP-II, CCFP, CDBT - Very true. People don't understand that PTSD is not just combat-related. I think it makes it that much harder for veterans to recognize their own symptoms when people keep labeling it as a combat related symptom.

I am one hundred percent disabled, service connected. I lost my hearing due to exposure to loud noise's , exposed to agent Orange with which according to the VA caused my heart disease. And I was exposed to the water at Camp Lejeune, Which caused my lung cancer. No, I don't feel any guilt at all for my disability. I was awarded my disability before the water of Camp Lejeune. This was before I knew about the water contamination .

Thank you so much for your service and sacrifice. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful to be born a free American woman at the cost of those who have served. I put my time in, 2 tours in Desert Storm, but was medically discharged after fracturing my neck in a fluke accidental fall in the motor pool while stationed in Korea. Lead, follow, or get out of the way! What good is a soldier who cannot wear a helmet? I don't feel bad about receiving my disability, especially after 2 surgeries and loss of the sensation in my hands, but my issues pale by comparison to yours. God bless you, and all my best regards!

Sandy Linden - Sandy, yet there are kids who don't even complete boot camp/basic training, the claim to be alcoholics because they can't deal with the depression from failing to complete training and they get 100% - it is amazing what I've seen.

PO3 Michael MacKay - I submitted an appeal two times, through the state VA. My ankle was sprained so badly it was in a cast for six weeks. No that I'm older and it's bothering me. they don't acknowledge it, again, with whatever the DA/DD form issued by the Madigan Army Medical Center. Thank you for your input and help though, your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I would not advise going tothe VA direct, trust me, they are a devil I know well, contact DAV they will be able to help you out and sort out the paperwork.

My wife worked for the VA. There are not enough veterans working there. Some of the assumptions that they made were just ignorant. Also, they often tried to evade the Soldier and Sailor's Civil Relief Act with the guardsmen and reservists that worked for them.