I flied the claim, appealed the decision, gathered the medical reports to support my claim. DAV was my VSO from a previous appeal and I never changed it. I know they're overworked and for that reason I tried to do the leg work myself. But I'm wondering if because I didn't go to my VSO office to file or appeal the claim did I make the process longer. But after I received the letter from DAV congratulating me on my claim when it had been denied made me think that no one had really looked at it and this was just a auto reply letter that was just signed by my VSO. I knew it couldn't be from the previous claim because it was completed 7or 8 years prior to me starting my ongoing claim.