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JSRRC would confirm if your unit served on the DMZ in Korea during the period recognized by the VA when Agent Orange was used.

You would qualify for additional compensation for your son as long as you know his address and you can provide his birth certificate. Legal custody is not a factor in establishing your natural child as a dependent. Step children are more complicated to establish as dependents. As for your parents, you have to establish they are dependent on you. That would involve filling out another form about their income and expenses.

If you are claiming special monthly compensation based on need for aid and attendance or being housebound, the VA might need to examine the PTSD to see if it is qualifies him for the additional benefit.

This is what the VA's Manual says about civilian mental health records: If a service member obtains treatment “off-base,” at a civilian facility, any medical or mental health records that are created during the course of treatment are not automatically associated with the service member’s STRs. Furthermore, these records are never forwarded for long-term storage to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), as are clinical records pertaining to inpatient treatment at military facilities. Rather, they are destroyed after a period of inactivity (five years for mental health records). Its from M21-1 MR, Part III, subpart iii, Chapter 2 Section A 1

You will not find it online. It's the form Regional Offices send to VA Medical Centers to make a hard copy request for records. It's used to request VA medical records which are on file but not on the computer system. Generally hand written records from before 1990's. It's not a form a veteran would ever use.

Here's something interesting. The American Psychiatric Association has proposed a new edition to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). The VA uses DSM IV (see 38 CFR 4.125a)as the basis for the rating schedule. When DSM V is published it will change the rating schedule and how PTSD is diagnosed. These are merely the proposed changes. Proposed DSM V

Any claim denied by the AMC is still under the jurisdiction of the BVA. Once AMC finishes processing the claim it will be returned to the BVA. The BVA will expedite their consideration.

See 38 CFR 4.16a which says marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran's earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person. The current poverty limit is something over 10,000. So you can earn up to this amount and it is not considered substantially gainful employment. As long as you do not earn over this limit, you can work at a job and get IU at the same time.

Did you get a Combat Action Ribbon? I have heard the crews of the ships in the northern part of the Gulf at the time were all awarded a Combat Action Ribbon based on the mines. If so, you will not have to prove a stressor.

Could be they were referring to 2507 which is the form number for an examination request. It's not used much any more since most examinations are requested by computer but a lot of VA employees still refer to 2507 as shorthand for a VA examination.

You should be receiving L1/2 plus K. The additional 1/2 step based on 50% or more for additional disabilities is only awarded once. If you are getting 30% for an eye, you could get another k award if you had loss of use of the eye. That means you cannot see hand motions at three feet.

Requesting to be present at the de novo review is like asking to be present when the case is actually reviewed by the DRO. The VA will not allow that but you can request a hearing if there is any evidence you want to present to the DRO or you can have an informal conference with the DRO to discuss the case before a decision is made. Very likely the VA has determined your request was for a hearing.

I am not sure what year the 8940 was first published but before it the 527 was used for unemployability claims. It is only used for pension clams now.

Here is a portion of a BVA decision which deals with the question: The veteran argues that an earlier effective date is warranted for his left ear tinnitus because he did not have this condition prior to service and was service-connected for hearing loss of the left ear with the effective date of September 10, 1993. The veteran also contends the notation of unilateral tinnitus of the left ear in the October 1993 VA examination supports his contentions, implying that VA should have interpreted the examination as a claim for service connection. As such, he maintains that the effective date of service connection for the tinnitus should be retroactive to the hearing loss effective date of September 10, 1993. The basic facts are not in dispute. As the RO noted, the veteran's initial formal or informal application for service connection for left ear tinnitus was filed with VA on September 30, 2005, and indeed, the veteran does not contend otherwise. Unless specifically provided otherwise in the statute, the effective date of an award based on an original claim for compensation benefits shall be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. The effective date of an award of disability compensation shall be the day following separation from service or the date entitlement arose if the claim is received within one year of separation, otherwise the date of claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5110(:D; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(B)(2). A specific claim in the form prescribed by the Secretary must be filed in order for benefits to be paid or furnished to any individual under the laws administered by VA. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5101(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.151(a). The term "claim" or "application" means a formal or informal communication in writing requesting a determination of entitlement or evidencing a belief in entitlement to a benefit. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(p). Any communication or action indicating an intent to apply for one or more benefits under the laws administered by VA, from a veteran or his representative, may be considered an informal claim. Such informal claim must identify the benefit sought. Upon receipt of an informal claim, if a formal claim has not been filed, an application form will be forwarded to the claimant for execution. If received within one year from the date it was sent to the veteran, it will be considered filed as of the date of receipt of the informal claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.155. Here, the RO granted service connection for the left ear and assigned a 10 percent evaluation, effective September 30, 2005, the date the veteran's original claim of service connection for tinnitus was filed with VA. An effective date of an award of service connection is not based on the earliest medical evidence showing a causal connection as the veteran contended through his representative, but on the date that the application upon which service connection was eventually awarded was filed with VA. Lalonde v. West, 12 Vet. App. 377, 382 (1999).

As a denial of compensation this would have been correct since you would not receive monetary benefits for a single 0 percent evaluation. Technically the assignment of a 0 percent is a denial of compensation benefits.