What do you think of people claiming disability for PTSD without ever deploying?

PO1 Howard Barnes - I do not know if anyone else responded to you on this but, yes, that sounds like PTSD to me, get in to the DAV to set up a claim (they will help you with getting paperwork in order and get your appointments set up) it will be up to a VA shrink to actually determine, but get the appt set up with the backing of the DAV (or any of the service orgs VFW, PAV, Legion, Etc) they will make it much smoother and help with a paper trail. Good luck and God Bless

Every case is different. I never question a veteran because I don't know the circumstance.

Your hypothetical scenario is more on target than you know. It's extremely hard for anyone, male or female, to report MST. If the aggressor is senior and in your chain of command, you have to take the emotion out of it and report "just the facts". Depending on the era, reporting is tricky. In the 70's, it wasn't taken seriously. So put you head down, do your job, and move on. Thankfully, today's military has improved in taking these allegations seriously and investigating. Having been a part of the Command Triad for many years, I support the latest move to take investigations OUTSIDE the immediate chain. My hope is that a look from above will be more objective and that any accountability will be dealt with swiftly.

I'm a vet who never deployed. I was, however, raped by a fellow soldier and have been diagnosed with PTSD (as well as have it in my VA paperwork). Is it battle-connected? No. Is it service-connected? Yes.

It's call gaming the system. Hell everyone could qualify if they tried hard enough. The Military needs to toughen up and stop whining so much. I could claim it for not having enough enemy to kill. Get some!

Great statement and words of encouragement LT Jessica Kellogg

[~If I had not witnessed it myself I would have discounted this guy as a total fraud. In the mid 80s I was working on a drilling rig in California. The driller had the 1000 meter stair, wore a frayed 8 point marine fatigue cover al the time, never said much and barked instructions with a DI's attitude. This guy frequently locked down the brake, jumped to the ground and started something like a flashback. Low crawling, taking cover, calling for the RTO, just wracked with fear..... a real show.
Everybody assumed he suffered from shell shock from Nam. He never said anything jsut seemed to recover and get back on the break. He disappeared.
After about a year we finally got his story. Long story short and nothing really verified except his age. He was around 15 when Nam ended. He had been turned down for enlistment. Last I heard he was in a mental institution.
This guy's problem was real so maybe he was not a fraud.
Some people are just crazy.
Others just cannot take it.
A buck sergeant on my LRRP team, a FNG had been on about 4 missions with us. We were on a mission, look, listen and give hourly SitReps. During the night so dark you could not see yur hand. We heard some chatter. Sometimes in the jungle it was hard to determine how close and where a sound is coming from. At sunrise this buck sergeant was frozen with fear, sweating, whimpering, teeth rattling. We called for a "Kick in the Teeth" to fake extraction and got him out of there. Point is everybody has a different breaking point. We had all gone through the same night and other missions with this FNG Ranger. I kinda agree with SSG Delanda Hunt. Plus the military needs to stop being so sensitive in training and train for war.763004: SSG Delanda Hunt] -

Well said LT.

Well said Sir.

I for one found out I was Bipolar, if forced past my mad spot I would blank out kick your ashes and not remember it. Almost went to jail for murder because of that.