jrfrog

Hello, all, PLEASE help me stop the disinformation and Urban Myth that has grown up around the release of the "inland waters" ship list. Ships that sailed on inland waters have ALWAYS been eligible for presumption of exposure. They were inside of Vietnam the same as boots on ground was. They are covered by the AO Act of 1991. The VA is bringing this out as a new and gracious allocation for the Blue Water Navy. NOT! Brown water sailors have always been eligible, as have ocean going ships that went up rivers and tributaries deep enough to hold them. This is a move on the part of the VA to make it look like they are handling some of the problems of the Blue Water Navy. NOT. They are desperate to convince Congress that they don't need to codify what is in the proposed legislation H2254 and S1939. They are running scared. And everyone is falling for it, hook, line and sinker. The VA has NOT granted any presumption of exposure to Blue Water ships that were "close to shore" and as of today, they don't intend to.... they are NOT working on any such list. In fact, the VA has proclaimed that Ports and Harbors don't fall into the definition of inland waters (despite what the BVA ruled and what many of the Regional Office are ruling. They are doing that against the directives of VA Hqtrs. and I say GOOD FOR THEM!) The VA is working on adding ships to the list of inland water awards. Blue Water Navy Association has submitted about 45 documented ships that comply with the requirements of being on inland waters, and I'll bet there are 100 more (even same ship, different WESTPAC). But there are 2 or less people working on this inside the VA, so there is no telling when an updated list will be released. If you think your ship should be on that list, submit your claim immediately, providing as much documentation (like statements from Cruise Books) as you possibly can. The VA is not doing anybody any favors. When was the last time that happened?

The last "official" word, directly from Bradley Mayes, is that ports, harbors, bays or other such areas are NOT considered to be IN VIETNAM for purposes of herbicide exposure. That's why the push for the legislation was/is so critical.

I received this from a friend who works claims at a VA office. I don't know if it is exactly the STAR program, but it is very close the way it sounds... and it doesn't seem to be very popular: ********** We have been told that claims (rec'd by our R/O) are not to be rated until EVERYTHING on the claim can be rated AT ONE TIME, as the "clock starts ticking" (on appeals,I presume) when and if the 1st. issue is decided. Our office is receiving BOATLOADS of brokered cases from other R/Os & we ARE allowed to rate & defer other R/Os cases, but we are instructed NOT to rate & defer our own R/O's cases.....(this must have something to do with the way the regional office's stats are presented)??? Each person at the R/O has 5 of their cases randomly taken up by numerous folks who do nothing but look at other people's work. I suggest that we should drop to 2 or 3 cases and have the majority of those folks quit doing surveys of the work of others AND START RATING THEIR OWN CASES. (The WATCHERS ARE WATCHING THE WATCHERS). OMB, as I understand it, laid down these rules, which may be OK for working with budgets, but NOT with putting veteran's lives on hold. If each R/O cut their Q/A staff by 1/2, boatloads of back-logged cases could start being rated. ***********

The best way to approach this is to look up in the C&P Exam Guidelines and the Title 38 CFR to see exactly what they look for with knee injuries. Those links were posted here several times, the last being just about a week ago ... but they can also be found at http://bluewaternavy.org/vsotoolboxlinks2.htm ,,,, and if the description of a higher rating fits what you are experiencing, have an outside MD check it and write you a letter using the VA's own language to describe what those higher percentage symptoms are. Submit this to reopen the claim as "new and material evidence"... this is one step back from the NOD. Save that as your last resort, because if you get into a pissing contest with them you'll need to hunker down for a long wait. Anything you can do to avoid that is in your best interest.