What is considered Combat Related to you?

The problem is that he was not classified as "the enemy" even though he sided with the enemy and engaged US troops. It's the same reason the people attacked by MAJ Hassan were considered casualties of workplace violence rather than a terrorist attack. I think the rules should be changed so that insider threats are considered enemy combatants.

Maybe this will be unpopular, but I'm going to say it anyway. No, it's not combat related. You were attacked, and that means something. However, it's not the same as combat. I'm not familiar with the VA process here because I overcame PTSD on my own by coming to terms with what happened, and recognizing that it is a part of war, which has been part of humanity for thousands of years. Do you need the combat related rating for some extra benefit?

Did they tell you that he used civilian grenades?

SPC James Seigars to me combat related is reliving your vivid memories of a trauma event, that you can't get out of your head. Good movie to watch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Ladder_(film)

What is considered Combat Related to you?
When you have spent hours under intense, non-stop fire from an enemy combatant, who cares nothing for your existence, who will hunt you down til you're exhausted, whose definition of human life is not the same as yours...you will know what is considered combat-related.

When you have spent every second, every minute, every hour of the day soaking wet, bone dry thirsty, burning hot, ducking lead and hiding so you can jump some poor, unsuspecting soul...you will know the difference.

When you're hiking a dirty trail, look up and your buddies head disappears in front of you from a sniper hiding in a spider hole, then you'll know what combat-related is.

When you have spent a day praying that you can find a place to relieve yourself or just take a sh** because your constipated belly hurts so bad...without getting shot...then you will know the difference.

When you are faced with whether to shoot a little 8 yr. old girl holding an M29 (pin pulled) that will blow you to pieces, you will know the difference.

When you are done picking up the pieces of your best friend, an ammo bearer shot by a sniper round, then you will know the difference.

Trust me...having some irrational idiot come running into a barracks and blow up some friendly hardly defines a combat zone...yeh, I feel bad for those poor souls and their families but if I were you I would read the local papers...they are full of gang-related kills no different than the event you are describing....and it happens every day...in the good ole USA. You don't have to go to Kuwait.

My Son (a Marine Sniper for the 3/4 during the hunt for Saddam H.) lost both his legs while chasing down some of those combatants...ask him what Combat-related is?

When a person has really been in combat, they don't ask this question...they know the difference. PTSD? Hell, I'm pretty sure you don't know what that is. I was shot three times in the same operation near Duc Hoa, Vietnam on a search and destroy (at least that's what we were told)...year and a half in the hospital and 100% disability...to date I've had about 40 surgeries in as many years. I know what combat is...it will never change. It's a nasty business but mostly...hauntingly unforgettable.

Count yourself Lucky and move on! This kind of bull*** makes me sick because it makes it difficult for the real combat people...civilians look you in the face and ask themselves "...if you're one of those?..."...you know...the guy with the Purple Heart awarded for diving on the ground and running a stick up his nose.

BTW: You don't say how you came by this PTSD? Were you involved with the Sgt while he performed this dastardly act? Hand-to Hand? Taking shots? Or were you watching the activity? if that's the case we should diagnose most of the kids in the USA with PTSD...they watch this kind of stuff everyday on their TV sets and through their video games. Call me...I'll give you some therapy stories you'll never forget. I might be wrong but I'm guessing that the probability is high that the greater part of any given population, if properly examined, would already have some sort of PTSD...they don't have to be in the Military. Some of the activity that goes on in the inner cities rivals any combat conditions. Hope this helps...Unfortunately, I haven’t forgotten any of this...that’s Combat-related PTSD! Good Luck!

There are 3 types of PTSD. Combat PTSD, Personal PTSD, and Military Sexual Trauma. The PTSD you mention is based on fear of hostile military action or an event. In this case, your event qualifies you individually to claim PTSD because you were in fear for your life with the attack by that turncoat and also it was a hostile act. You'd straddle the line between combat and a personal action PTSD. Even so, VA is not going to nitpick it if you can establish you were there during the event. If you can't VA has to establish it through a memo to JSSRC which may slow your claim down, but in the long run, if it's substantiated and if the Comp and Pen examiner opines that you have PTSD due to fear and easing standards, you'll get it. I can't tell you what percentage but that would be based on the diagnosis the examiner gave.

Sorry brother, you got BOHICA'd on that one. I'm talking major green weenie. Personally, I don't see it as anything but combat related. Deployed to the CENTCOM AOR, drawing combat $$, and grenades going off by a traitor, etc. The second he turned traitor and attacked blue forces he was an enemy combatant. Was this considered workplace violence? Incredible.

You were in the CENTCOM AOR when this happened which, at the time. was a war zone. Early in OIF they changed the rules so that one day in CENTCOM AOR qualified you for the combat patch. If I were your treating physician, I would have definitely have listed this as a combat injury

http://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/topic-compensation-pension.asp Has some information, but I didn't see the distinction in the C&P Raters guide (near the bottom of the center of the page) between combat and non-combat related PTSD (maybe I over looked it).

This second link is a search of VA's guidelines, for which there are many. http://www.index.va.gov/search/va/va_search.jsp?NQ=URL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.benefits.va.gov%2FWARMS%2Fwhats_new.asp&QT=combat+related+ptsd+definition&submit.x=23&submit.y=19

Never heard of combat-related, non-combat related - it's most certainly SERVICE-CONNECTED and I thought that's all the VA cared about or rated for. I would guess the "combat-related" would come in for a decision to award the Purple Heart. Although friendly fire, it occured in a combat zone (declared by an executive order by the president) and therefore one would think it's combat-related however, the definition of combat (to oppose in battle, fight against) is slightly different for the military (an action fought between 2 military forces).