OK. You’ve made a start and put in your application, right? If not, read my first blog post and get up to speed with the rest of the troops!

You’ll get a letter back from the VA in about one to two months acknowledging receipt of the application. That’s IF the VA has a good address on you. And don’t say, “I told my girlfriend to call and give them my new address.” That sucks. If you want it done right, what do you do? Duh!

If you’ve been out (or off active duty) less than a year, normally the VA will get your records. (That’s your record book or 201 file.) This will include your medical AND treatment records.

When the VA can see from your current records that the injury, accident, or illness occurred in service, and the degree of severity (how bad you were hurt, dummy), it’s usually enough for the VA to make a rating decision.

Now listen up and don’t come back to me saying I didn’t mention this part:

If you are filing for compensation (that’s what it’s called) after more than a year from the date of separation, you need to send CURRENT medical records of the injury with the application. It’s OK if the MR’s (that’s medical records) come from a private doctor or even the Mexican prison doctor who treated you when you were locked up in San Luis, Mexico.

Got it? OK. We still got Act III to go. Watch for the next installment coming soon to a blog here at the NVF website.

Dave Culmer, Semper Fi