What Exactly Do Service Officer Do For Vets?

[63SIERRA]

I am trying to find out what exactly the system is, that the service officers do/ Ok for instance. My claim is at the waco va, on re open.

The service officer is in the same building with the va. Somewhere in the va, lies my claim. I know my service officer has access to my c-file, because he has my power of retardee. So now what. I was told there are 15 service officers in waco for my service org. I would imagine they are assigned cases, based on whatever, such as complicated, or simple based on thier experience.

Im just trying to picture what is actually going on,. Im envisioning a service rep sitting at a desk in his office., And im envisioning the va personell on thier side of the building, , doing whatever it is they do. So what happens, does the Service officer basically wait around until the time comes that my case Is actively being worked by the ro, then get engaged and work with them to try and improve my position, or are they working on my case on thier own and doing research and confering amongst themselves, as to how best move forward.

ANYBODY KNOW?

Some letters I get from the service org say that my claim is with the " appeals team". So that sounds like people who would know what to do at that level.

When asking my service org how things work, they are very limited in what they will say. its very need to know type dialogue. real generic answers.

Im not trying to be critical but I just dont ;like following anyone but Jesus in blind faith., I dont think knowing how the process works is too much to ask.

[63SIERRA]

Navy, its been my experience at the waco ro, (which has been rated in the top 3 worse places to have a claim handled in the country), that they have been VERY incompetent , and doubtful of the claims I submitted, which had great, in service evidence. I was rated at zero percent for a claim back in 95 that should have been rated at 40 percent, and they knew it. I was young and dumb, and let them screw me.

I have since refiled, and they have upped my percentage, but still are hardlining me, of several claims., that anyone with half of a brain could read, and see they are clearly service connected. I waited 18 months on my last claim for kidney cancer. I got tired of waiting and got congressman involved. After congressman wrote them ,they must pull your file, and put it in a special correspondence status. While in that status, they must give the congresspersons liason, monthly updates,. I feel that the congressional intervention assisted them to get off thier arse and decide my claim, but it didnt knock either the stupid, or hoodwink off of them. I was told by the congressmans liason, that my claim was being done by a rater in training.. (just my luck).

There are around 7 VSOs in WACO, with the DAV having around 14 service officers.

Its is my opinion that the people in waco, downplayed my claims, in order to deny them, by substituing words, taking things out of context, fabricating chain of events, , and ignoring evidence that was submitted. They cant seem to differentiate between a left eye and a right eye,they ignore doctor reports and call injuries and ilnessess whatever they can think up that sounds mild or like a congenital defect,

Other than all of that, they are a fine, outstanding, honorable institution.

Edited October 27, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[63SIERRA]

Megp, It s sad that the good have to pay for what the bad do, but as an organization, it is not acceptable for service officers to make mistakes that could cost a veteran, money, health or even thier lives. Alot of what ive experience and heard of others experience is just not acceptable. One must wonder, why is it that service officers sometimes give veterans very wrong information? The best answer I cvan think of is lack of proper training or experience. Ive heard of the intensive training that the service officers recieve, but is it really effective,? is there easily referencable information that service oficers can refer to, to make sure they are giving vets the best possible information, to improve thier position, ?

For instance. The DAV had a mobile van come to a harley davidson dealer in central texas to assist vets. It was 2 days before I was scheduled for kidney surgery.So being I knew there was a chance I wouldnt make it thru the surgery, I went to the trailer, and made a claim for kidney cancer. The DAV service rep gave me the form to write my claim on. After I wrote down kindey cancer, I told him I also wanted to file a claim for sleep apnea, because the Va had recenty diagnosed it. The DAV service rep told me not to write it down, and they would deal with it later. I didnt question him, but later on, thought abt it. To this day, I still cannot figure out, why he told me not to write the sleep apnea claim down. It wasnt like I was filing 47 claims, the only ones I wanted to file was kindey cancer and sleep apnea. and he told me dont worry abt the sleep apnea, we would deal with it later.

Can anyone think of a halfway decent reason why he told me not to file ? I cant,.

[blazer1996]

I think Meg is right...We tend to paint with a pretty wide brush with some of this criticism. Good VSOs should be applauded for their work. Having said that, I'll tell you my story. Filed my original claim for heart disease in 2010 and got 60%. I was happy. Over the past 18 months my condition has worsened considerably, so I decided to file for an increase. I called the local AL office that had processed my original claim and was told that I was lucky to have 60% and that I would be risking a decrease if I filed another claim. I filed anyway. on my own.

So, one evening I'm having a cocktail with some acquaintances when the subject of the VA comes up. One of the ladies at the table said that she was a volunteer VSO for DAV. I'll cut to the chase...She provided me with invaluable advice and an occasional push in the right direction. But, I decided that no one knew more about my claim that I did. My volunteer friend was great, but had absolutely no impact on my claim. She would tell you that herself. The local DAV office was even more negative than the AL knucklehead I talked to in the first place. I visited their office twice and both trips were a waste of gasoline. I got the award that I asked for because I personally hand-carried every piece of evidence that I needed...I made the trips to the doctor offices and to the hospitals to pick up records...I won because I knew more about ischemic cardiomyopothy than either the VA or DAV will ever know. If I had lost there would be no one to blame but me. If your claim is important to you and I'm sure that it is, you have to make it happen. No one else is hurt if you are denied but you and your family. As you can see from all the other posts, finding a good VSO is not easy. Don't use that as an excuse for not doing your own homework.

[infantry10]

In my local State American Legion office (which are the Vsos here) there is only one person working thereat a time and the secretary. In all the years I've been using them, I've only talked to the officer a handful of times. It's always the secretary who calls back. She always says that sge was the one who talked to the RO so I'm not sure what he really does. Throughout the years, there has been 4 different officers working there. Out of 4 I've had 1 good one. He was the last one and I hated to see him retire. He stayed on top of things and knew his job well. So there are some really good Vso's but unfortunately they are out weighed by the bad.

[yelloownumber5]

I'm unsure of what the VSO's do as well, mine did give me the wrong date for an "appeal" it was my first claim and I really did not know much of anything, not that I know much of anything now but that was 9 years ago. He also told me "you will not win your claim", ironically after it came back approved he said "we did a really good job", yeah ok.

About the only thing I would use a VSO now for is the mail your paperwork to the VA for you and everything else you can do on your own.

As for how the VSO's are, well they all can get on here and say they are the best and do this and that, the only believable ones are the interactions that YOU had with them.

@freespirit.......

lol, no people are talking about THEIR experiences, a decent person gives credit where credit is due but as well tells the truth about their negative experience and hopefully it helps others out, there are not names thrown out so there isn't anyone identified.

Cheers

y#5

Edited October 28, 2013 by yelloownumber5

[free_spirit_etc]

Though I am mindful that meg and some other VSOs do a good job for many vets, I understand the frustration of many veterans who have had bad experiences dealing with VSOs. My husband thought he had a good experience with his, but they really didn't do much for him. Sometimes the complaints are allowed to flourish. Other times the person complaining is admonished that there are good VSOs, and that can't all be lumped together, or even that the vets that complain are often the ones that cause the problem.

But as meg pointed out - it is always about the veteran - not the VSO.

So vets should feel okay complaining about the VSOs without having to put disclaimers on their posts - as we all know that they are not talking about EVERY VSO, just the bad ones, the ones who give bad advice, the ones who don't follow through, etc. etc. It is kind of a "given" in here, I think, that everyone knows there are some very good ones. But the really good VSOs are an exception to the rule. Just like when we complain about the raters, the DROs, etc. etc. we know that doesn't mean every single one -- but the general trend.

When we remember to put disclaimers on the posts -- that can be nice. But if we don't put a disclaimer on, I think everyone understands that we are not talking about every single VSO - and that we do appreciate the good ones.