Ricky

cg - let me take a whack at what I think you are asking: Yes CRDP only applies to those veterans who are 20 year retirees and have been determined by VA to be 50 percent or more disabled. And no CRDP will not retropay back to 1997 as it only was not enacted until 2002 and became effective 2003. Therefore, the earliest it would retro to would be 2003. I hope this is what you are asking. Ricky

If your evidence concludes that you can not work due to your disabilities then it appears the VA is doing its job by inferring TDIU in your case. Congrats and good luck with the TDIU.

TS - what you should concentrate on is the date of onset for the disability. If a judge rules that the date of onset for your disability is 1997 and you meet the requirements at that time then you should be ok. Have you discussed this with a lawyer?

I would also add a IN REFERENCE TO YOU LETTER DATED just to keep them straight and not confuse them. Also I would mention that you rating was completed on xxx date and at this time you consider all issues satisfied (if that is what you feel). As I said this will probably un-confuse the yahoos and make them file your claim quickly in the file room for they will jump for joy cause they don't have to do any more work on your claim.

On the hardship just a thought to keep in the back of your mind: If you tell them you have a place to live (with your friend) then you are not homless (from their perpective). If you don't tell them and you claim this then if could be construed as fraud. -With a 600,000 to 800,000 claims backlog and new claims coming in daily from very serious wounded service members plus those coming from old foggies like us the hardship will almost certainly have to be a case of terminal illness -JMHO If you file a CUE claim it will simply be a new claim that has to wait in line at your RO. My projection is that if they take a good look at it (as they should and not just rubber stamp a denial on it) you are looking at 6 mos to 18 months - JMHO I know that my answers are not what you want to hear and they should not be what you are hearing if the blasted VA had its ducks in order which would mean they would have a small to zero backlog, however, in today's times the answers are realistic. Ricky For got to add: Jbasser is correct in his answer as usual. Since you have a NOD pending you could send in a statement to be added to your NOD letting them know that you think they should CUE themselves and the reason why.

Rock - with the VA's Public contact response centers (1-800 and IRIS) talk is cheap - written word may get to ten cents worth of water - check with you SO. The 800 guys are at around 80/20, 80 percent wrong 20 percent right (same for the IRIS response centers now). However, with all that bad mouth stuff said, what you were told sounds logical. By this I mean since you are using a VSO the decision will be written up and sent to him/her for review/input (they don't approve). So checking with them will "more than likely" get you an accurate response. ricky

THIS IS MY FIRST POST: You must first meet the requirements for A and A and I saw no where in your post that you stated you were already approved for A and A. Once that hill has been taken you then must prove that your are so severely disabled that your require a higher level of A and A which is supported with the fact the amount of skilled service you require is substantial. This skilled service can be via licsenced medical professional or a person following a regime developed AND supervised by a licsenced medical professional. Next time please do not be so pushy as it will get you no where my friend. Post your questions and sit back and relax it may take a bit of time for a response but the members of this board will not let you down. This should be evident to you by this response and the many that will follow eventhough you started off with the smartbutt statement "THIS IS MY 2ND POST" Hang in there my friend and you will get all the help you need from Hadit. Good luck with your claim. Ricky

kellan - select the DRO method and ask for a hearing. This will give you another shot at your claim at the RO level. Most have been successful going this route.

Hmmmm.... looks like the BVA portion is on track. It is kind of hard to assist without knowing why you were reduced and the evidence you have supporting your increase. I still not sure about the other "5 appeals". I do know that if they are NODs then you can not send them to the BVA as they do not have the jurisdiction to act on a NOD that has not been decided by the AOJ (VARO).

None of the government insurance, tricare, medicare, champva covers chiropractor services. Along with this it was not until recently that priviate insurance began to provide such coverage and it is a hit and miss as to which ones do. So you are not alone my friend.

Were you release from any of the odd jobs due to your inability to perform your duties due to your disabilities? If not VA may decide you gamed the system (not me just think with my VA hat on). Ricky

If you held the mos at the time, was stationed at the air base on the day of the incident (verified by orders), have the photo showing you at the crash site and the letter stating that you were dispatched then I would prepare a final statement in support of the case in summary form and refocus their efforts. Present it in argument form to the reason for denial you spoke of.

The BVA consist of rating teams also. They are comprised of the hearing officer/rater/judge (depending on what you what to call him or her) and a group of staff attorneys (the young guys). Once the BVA calls for your file the hearing officer reviews the claim at hand and then conducts the hearing. After the hearing the transcript and any new evidence and or arguments are given to one of the staff attorneys who do a complete review of the file sent to them and then compare the file evidence, transcript and new evidencee to the appropriate laws and regulations. They then write a decision which is reviewed by the hearing officer and signed. This process normally takes 6-12 months in most cases. This is not a set in gold reply as each situation is different. As an example they may decide to get an IMO at which point the file is sent to an "expert" in the field of the disability which could keep you waiting for quite some time etc.........

Danang - That would flat line the budget cut and serve no purpose.

Not Berta, however, the answer to your question is yes. The problem with treatises and some RO's/raters is they view them as mere internet print outs. The reason for this is they are based upon general control groups and do not specifically address your condition. However, they are dynamite if you can have your doc mention them in an IMO - ie base his opinion off of.

Rock - if you have just one piece of new evidence and the VA determines that it is material and reopens your claim then they will once again review the file and all evidence associated with your claim.

Yes

Just calm down a bit and wait and see what the VARO says about your claim.

Now you know why your claim is denied - they send out these worthless letters which wastes valuable time. As to your second question it looks like you have been farmed out to the San Diego VARO. I guess Portland is exteremly backed up at this point.

Skunk - VA loans are less credit score driven than conventional ones. What they are looking for are things such as: If you filed bankruptcy it has to have been completed and at least two years old. If you still have bad debts they must be paid prior to closing. Along with this they perfer that you have a clean credit history for at least 12 months with at least one good credit line (example - a credit card regardless what the credit limit is, which has been paid on time for the past twelve months). You still have to qualify for a loan with the lender who is going to finance the home. However, most if not all use the VA guidelines since the VA guarntee equals to a 20 percent down payment.

Thanks Tbird. I tried it with a vet and it works well. Ricky

I take 4000 mg per day. makes me out of body, unsteady, shakes, and sometime just plum stupid (drunk type behavior). Doc says keep on trucking.

My read indicates that he will be SCed for a depression disorder and agree with John that it does not matter if it is PTSD etc...... Yes the questions are to determine previous mental issues, however, the overall diagnosis was depression. More than likely will be a 10 percent rating. The comments Shane made on the other issues are on the mark.

Give it another go around Wings! That is when you get a chance to post it.

I hope them things ain't got them pink fuzzy inserts!!!