VA Claims: Moving from PREPARATION FOR DECISION to COMPLETION. How long?

CSM Michael J. Uhlig - Right on, that's what they should be briefing when individuals are getting out. Very few people will tell you this, and very very few people will take the time to educate you on this. You become just another number for their clip board, I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a place and tried to find help and got nothing. I thought to myself, "Should I apply for that position, because I probably won't get it!" I did 15 years in the military, was forced out due to HYT but since 2000, shoot even before that I always lent a hand and will continue. The only difference between me and the senior NCO's I've been around are leadership classes associated with their rank and those extra headaches, (I would have gladly taken) that's it. There were 3 types of people in the Air Force I was in those that (just Help You), those that (Help You and Followed Through Helping you), then those that (Help You, Followed Through Helping You, and Followed Up.) We need more follow ups.

I got out in 1993 after Desert Storm. I'm now 52 and just last year submitted my claim for a number of ailments from in the Gulf War. First, when I got out in 93 I registered on the Gulf War Registry and was denied anything service connected at that time. I was 26 then, now I'm 52 and issues I either ignored and others are effecting my daily life. I tried filing my own claim 2 years ago. Worst mistake ever if you are expecting to get anything approved. I was referred to the VFW and two advocates that happened to work at Saddleback Church in Foothill Ranch Calif. They sat down with me and told me the exact way to put my claim together in order to get a service connected rating and for it to be approved in a timely manner. You need to tell a story with your health. You need both military and civilian medical records that substantiate what you are saying. For example, if you have an injury that you know happened while in service and have military medical records to prove it, and your civilian records to show the condition has continued. The final package that is sent to your regional VA office needs to have a table of contents telling them in bullet points what they are about to see in the rest of the pages. If you are claiming multiple conditions, each condition should have it's on section with supporting civilian and military medical records and a cover sheet. This seems like a lot of work, it is. That's why I was lazy and never did it until now. 1. Don't be lazy. 2. Don't wait until you are 52. 3. MAKE A COPY OF YOUR MILITARY MEDICAL RECORDS before you discharge. 3. Contact the VFW post closest to you and they can direct your to the VA Center that can help you with your claim. 4. Ask another veteran if they have submitted a claim, they may have a contact for you. 5. Not all VA advocates are the same!!!!. I submitted my complete package on 5/24/2017. It's June 27th and I've already had 4 of the 6 C&P exams for my conditions. I've got an apt for the 5th condition July 5th. My claim should have a decision by the end of July-August. I hope this helps someone.

Ron Knollenberg
USMC

Sgt Ron Knollenberg - All of your recommendations are spot on.
I got out in 94. Didn't find out about filing disability claim until 2018 when a non-veteran nurse told me at the VA about it! I hit the ground running with my paperwork. Yes, you'll hear ways how people started theirs and after several hits and misses and missed work hours, I went the American Legion here at the VA. I had my paperwork ready. Since I had made copies of my medical documents from the Army as well as from my civilian physicians, the representative was delighted that I have all my stuff ready to be faxed. I'm glad that your process is fast being you had your C&P within less than 2 months. Although I have my Intent to File in May, I handed my paperwork to the American Legion in mid June (2018), I'm just getting the Development Letter (according to eBenefits site).

Tell them to go to dav and they will claims and everything else

SGT Thomas Lucken I do feel some of your pain - though I cannot feel all of it of course. I wish I had an answer for your suppositions. I do know the issue(s) re: Agent Orange is a damned difficult one to deal with both on a personal basis and a disability claim basis. The disability claims for many Agent Orange cases seem to drag on longer than they should in general.

Yeah, even more so when outside the bogus presumptive dates for Korea! But the government has been dragging their feet with A.O. for over 40 years, and are afraid to admit the truth.

Thats just horrible.

I filed an increase claim in 2/2016 and it was raised from to 50% in October 2016 - but they said it wasn't raised to the max %70 (for that specific issue) because I have not documented any pain in that part of my body but I had 10 years of documented pain. So I then dug up civilian doctor reports and dates from when I went to VA doctors and submitted an appeal. After 7 months of no contact at all, I called my congressman who told me I’d have a better shot at a quicker reply for a "reconsideration' (which I’d never heard of). So I pulled my appeal case and replaced it with a reconsideration (via fax). Within 10 days of submitting it, I’m now in a reconsideration process with a status of ‘Preparation For Decision’ and the resolution dates are between 6/26/17 and 8/1/17. We’ll see.

From my understanding - every time someone inquires about status the claim then gets put back to the beginning of the hopper and actually delays it.

CSM Michael J. Uhlig, when I retired at the end of July this year, my appointments occurred in mid November. The push is for within 90 days but could stretch to 120. Some may vary depending how extensive your claim is. The other factor is how well documented you claim is, in other words, the VA didn't have to search the ends of the earth for medical docs. Doesn't always work that way, sometimes they will ask for something, be sure you have extra copies. As I said it varies with each individual and the extensiveness of the claim.

Wait period will vary for a number of reasons, the area you are in, the availability of VA facilities in that area and the number of claims being worked in that area. What makes a difference is making sure you have a "Fully Developed Claim" and have it filed by a certified service officer. A secondary benefit of having a fully developed claim is that if accepted, the benefits are retroactive to a further extent than other claims.

what is a fully developed claim

A fully developed claim is one that contains all the available supporting documentation that describes your conditions that you believe are covered by your time in the service along with the service related documentation that you were where you said you were. An accredited service officer with any of the veteran's organizations, American Legion, VFW, DAV, Marine Corps League can help you (you do not have to be a member of the organization for this) assemble the documentation and file the claim.