Veterans

This is fucked on so many levels. What does a vet's marital status or voting habits have to do with getting healthcare? That's not the deal we signed.

Lmao

Screw the rest of us, I guess?

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/60364223

My local clinic just reduced the hours they're seeing patients from 10 hours a day down to 6. I used to be able to go in the morning before work, but now I'll have to take out sick time.

The knowledge base from VeteransBenefits on that other site is now its own website. I'm not affiliated with it, it just has a ton of useful info.

What does "honor" mean to you?

Didn't he use the GI for community college and then went on to become a medical officer? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Western_Community_College

Edit

Guess which platoon I was in?

So I applied to be put onto the list and have my palmonary appointment this month. What should I be expecting? I thought because I was in a war zone it was presumed but I guess I was wrong.

Just a heads up about a different deadline for PACT Act benefits.

Until 11:59 p.m. local time Sept. 30, 2023, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, never enrolled in VA health care, and left active duty between Sept. 11, 2001 and Oct. 1, 2013 are eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This special enrollment period gives Veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones an opportunity to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.

My rating got bumped up to 70%. So no more property taxes!

I waited nearly 20 years to start this process, and I'm mad at myself for having waited this long. All those times I was dead ass broke, thousands of dollars in credit card debt, stuck in jobs that I couldn't afford to quit because otherwise I'd have to take a worse paying job and wouldn't be able to afford food.

The monthly payments don't make my hands work better, or my knees not hurt, or help my breathe through my nose, or help with my PTSD, but goddammit, I am significantly less stressed about stuff since my first rating earlier this year.

Luckily I'm in a job I love, with fantastic benefits and hours. And I'm married to a wonderful lady who brings home the bacon. I've been out of debt for a while, but I was always stressed about falling back into it.

Not anymore.

Hello fellow veterans! My question concerns the PACT Act, and I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with this?

I served during OIF from '05 - '06. I was exposed to burn pits and regularly burned things in barrels (although it was trash, not human waste or anything), however I've suffered zero long-term effects that I'm aware of, and it's now been 17 years (holy shit, time flies) since then. I'm reading that veterans should apply "just because", but I don't want to be the person that clogs the already overburdened system, and hell, it's been 17 years and nothing has cropped up, so I assume I'm fine.

Should I enroll even though I have no issues? It's unclear to me if they'll even accept a claim if someone has no issues (and why would they accept it, right?). The deadline is August 9th.

...or nieces or nephews, etc. I'm having these questions come up and I'm torn on this. On one hand my experience has been like no other- got a chance to see and do so many things, forged the best friendships, housing/education/medical benefits through the VA afterwards. But those cons - the higher odds for experiencing abuse, witnessing or performing horrifying things, etc...all the stuff that comes with lifelong damage..

What's everyone's take on this? Would you recommend the military for your kids?

I know it's on that other site but until we build our own it's probably the best one around.

This announcement is a companion post to mine on that other site.

If you need to do in-person proofing to get a DS Logon account, DO NOT blindly drive to the nearest VA Regional Office. Neither the VA call center nor the help desk at DMDC will tell you this, but NOT EVERY OFFICE DOES IT.

I just threw away an afternoon I could have worked a security shift only to arrive two hours away and get ramrodded back to the people who told me to drive down there in the first place. This is after the National Archives supposedly sent me my separation documents and ask.va.gov resolved my request without even doing anything.

The vet rep at my congressman's office will be in touch with me on Monday. I need VGLI and my NGB 22, which is only available through...well...nowhere, apparently.

UPDATE: Spoke with my congressman's office. Passing them details tonight. Oh, and I drove another afternoon during the workday down to Fort Wayne IN VAMC only to find that they don't do in-person proofing, either.

UPDATE 2: CONGRIT sent from their office to the DoD.

UPDATE 3: DMDC called me back to recommend I contact my state National Guard records bureau. Since I was last in the Virginia ANG she gave me the following address:

VA ARNG
ATTN: DCSPER, IPERMS RECORDS CUSTODIAN
316 10TH ST
BLACKSTONE VA 23824-3036

UPDATE 4: Congressman's office forwarded my DL and Passport to DMDC. Got proofed and an e-mail to activate my account. Requested records in DPRIS. In 24-48 hours we'll know if this is over.

I believe this should start up on August 1, 2023 but haven't found any good information yet on the VA or other useful sites. I attend brick and mortar, not virtual. Are they going up? Anybody have a good link?