How do I prove to VA that I was exposed to burn pits in deployments?

2019-05-07T14:26:23-04:00

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 7 at 2019 2:44 PM

2019-05-07T14:44:52-04:00

There is a burn pit registry; that is where it starts.
HOWEVER -
Burn pit exposure is not a presumptive nor is it an identified contributing factor to any Service Connected issues at this time. I say that as a man that lived right next to a big one in Mosul for 11 months.
What you should do is get diagnosed, then work the service connection via before and after medical exams with the time of exposure in between. I think that if you take a strictly burn pit angle, you will be frustrated in your claim. Take it as a general degradation of your health with exposure to (burn pit, environmental hazards, etc) while in Iraq or what have you. Your odds of getting a fair rating on the first throw are pretty good if your service medical records are in order.

Feel free to contact me directly if you want to go deeper in the weeds.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 7 at 2019 3:06 PM

2019-05-07T15:06:47-04:00

http://www.vetadvocates.org

When we did my whole total perm disability thing, we started with a vet group, it just got WAY too complicated, though they were all good people, and really tried...trust me, this group, NOVA, I've sent it in here, as have others, COUNTLESS times, now, they're the top of the VA-disability food chain for organized professional groups in the US, they also involve ALL the major vet groups, call them, use their search engine, our guy did 3 yrs active, he also did 35-40 yrs of VA disability law, he even got pro-bono freebie help for him to help us from a major law group near us and him he knew partners at...give their guys whatever consult fee they'd want, ours was $500 bucks, the best money we ever spent...the man knew more about VA-disability law than God, in that, we most definitely lucked out, promise...he's one of the reasons my wife and I were taught, as I esp. was, that there's a very real reason God invented attorneys, honest...you can also try law school vet law clinics, our guy was involved in one we also tried, they just don't always take all cases...trust me, as I'd said, you want help, proper help, the RIGHT KIND of help, NOVA are the right guys, believe me, very much been there, done that (BTDT), you wanna yak more, I'm here, just ask, no rush, whenever you want, honest... as I'd said, trust Ben on this one, on Luke, Yoda knows all, sees all, promise, OK?

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Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2019 1:04 AM

2019-05-08T01:04:28-04:00

Do you have a disability or illness that is linked? This can be very elusive. I am currently on the burn pit registry and have a pretty significant illness due to it. Luckily I'm able to stay in the regular army and continue serving but thanks to it I have a permanent profile now. I have known many people to have tried to link something to the burn pits. It's extremely difficult to do. A lot of the illnesses we have could come for many reasons. If someone has a chronic cough 10 years after they separated the VA may not necessarily try to link it to burn pits.

Response by CW3 Jose Rivera made May 8 at 2019 9:49 PM

2019-05-08T21:49:06-04:00

If you had orders to a site and received an NCO evaluation or anything showing you were assigned to that area of operation. You can have a commander to senior NCO write a letter detailing your expose time frame.

Response by COL Gary Gresh made May 9 at 2019 8:35 PM

2019-05-09T20:35:57-04:00

File a claim thru your local VA Veterans affairs officer--usually there is a DAV repat thte actual VA Hospital or you should have a Veterans affairs officer atyour county of residence offices in the DSS building < Department Of Social Services...Perhaps you have some photos of the Burn Pits you were exposed to? Witness statements and your DD214 showing your locations in deployments? Good luck..Keep pressing..its perserverence that gets the rewards.

Response by SGM Kim Gillespie made May 10 at 2019 12:07 PM

2019-05-10T12:07:06-04:00

Step One, google va burn pit - this will bring up a number of items, among them will be the Burn Pit Registry and filing for a claim. Having said that, be prepared to provide fairly detailed information on the dates and locations where you were exposed.

Response by SSgt Daniel d'Errico made May 22 at 2019 4:23 PM

2019-05-22T16:23:06-04:00

Did you show any kind of signs associated with exposure to burn pit duty? Did you go to sick call when you felt sick after working at a burn pit? Did you make any kind of documented notes, showing the days and hours working at a burn pit? These are the things you'll need to show the VA along with your medical records. Otherwise you're SOL.

Response by SGT Joni Hughes made May 23 at 2019 8:20 AM

2019-05-23T08:20:17-04:00

If your VA has a Gulf War clinic, check with them, that's where I went. They can get you x-rays and such sometimes the same day depending on your VA and availability. But they can get you scheduled pretty quickly, after you receive your diagnosis, take it to whomever is your VSO (Veteran Service Officer) and they can get your claim in for you.

Response by SGT Juan Robledo made May 29 at 2019 4:14 PM

2019-05-29T16:14:26-04:00

My best guess is to have letters from former soldiers or even pictures showing you or s group of your peers being by the burn pits, or maybe even a letter from your command if your able to get one from them

Response by SMSgt Sheila Berg made Jul 1 at 2019 5:44 PM

2019-07-01T17:44:45-04:00

There is no standard criteria.

Response by CSM Steven Longwill made Jul 27 at 2019 5:19 PM

2019-07-27T17:19:09-04:00

Not trying to throw shade on anyone else's experience or advice, but I did get a 60% service-connected rating for respiratory disease listed as "Emphysema (claimed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) related to: Burn Pit Exposure". If you drill down into the C&P Exam and the enormous volume of medical notes in my record, the doctors clearly state that the disease is not actually Emphysema or COPD or Cystic-Boullous Lung disease (as another doctor called it) but rather they diagnose it as "respiratory distress caused by environmental exposures in the Middle East". It was note an easy road to get there, I started with the Burn Pit Registry and then the in person exam from the VA. I then, using my Tricare and Medicare, went to pulmonary doctors at two major medical centers, at one my case was evaluated by a panel of ten pulmonary doctors. Every single doctor stated they could not make a diagnosis except for the one issue they all agreed on; my problem was caused by environmental exposures. The actual problem is that my lungs are filled with many cysts that have reduced my lung capacity to 40%. The many doctors also agreed that a biopsy is not an option because the risk of rupturing a cyst, which may well kill me. Basically I am a dead man walking, but it is what it is and the VA, faced with overwhelming evidence, gave me the rating related to Burn Pit Exposure. So it can be done but it is not easy, and the thing I suggest to anyone with this problem is to seek the input from doctors outside the VA.