Better to report medical conditions while still in military!

[Buck52]

I just wanted to let active military personal know that its a lot better to have any and all medical conditions reported or Documented while your still in the military.

Do not Put off going to the Docs while your still in the military, a lot of us older Nam Vets  put off going to the dispensary or sick call for aches and pains  for  (proud reasons or that it was just something we chalk up not to seek medical help .

  and THAT is a BIG MISTAKE

...for compensation claims purposes later on down the road after your out  if you had any of your conditions documented while in military no matter what it is..   it makes it a lot easier  for service connection to be established.  if you ever come down with something that you had while in the military or it gets a lot worse

so while your still active in military  if you have any medical condition that you get while serving  go see the Dr's   you maybe glad you did in the future and it sure could help your life for the better.

JMO

My 24 year old grandson gets tired of me preaching this to him .''.as he says ok grandpa I will'', he is a combat medic station in Z Africa under special operations for his deployment to?? he don't know  he sent us a Christmas video and he look so tired out and bored. he said he was in weapons trainning at the moment...and is locked and loaded when the time comes.

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Buck52

[broncovet]

Yes, of course.  Its also much better to apply for benefits within a year of exit from service, as it will be presumed you got the disorder in service if you apply within a year.  

[Victor Ray]

On 1/17/2018 at 6:49 AM, Buck52 said:

I just wanted to let active military personal know that its a lot better to have any and all medical conditions reported or Documented while your still in the military.

Do not Put off going to the Docs while your still in the military, a lot of us older Nam Vets  put off going to the dispensary or sick call for aches and pains  for  (proud reasons or that it was just something we chalk up not to seek medical help .

  and THAT is a BIG MISTAKE

...for compensation claims purposes later on down the road after your out  if you had any of your conditions documented while in military no matter what it is..   it makes it a lot easier  for service connection to be established.  if you ever come down with something that you had while in the military or it gets a lot worse

so while your still active in military  if you have any medical condition that you get while serving  go see the Dr's   you maybe glad you did in the future and it sure could help your life for the better.

JMO

My 24 year old grandson gets tired of me preaching this to him .''.as he says ok grandpa I will'', he is a combat medic station in Z Africa under special operations for his deployment to?? he don't know  he sent us a Christmas video and he look so tired out and bored. he said he was in weapons trainning at the moment...and is locked and loaded when the time comes.

 

Buck.

I just saw this, and agree with you totally. Veterans exiting the Military Service need evidence of any injury, illness, or disease that they were diagnosed or treated for while in the military. Refuse Discharge until you have them, or you will eternally regret it.

I tried to get mine but was told they were lost in transit from Vietnam. Now, the US Army would not lie would it, just like the FBI wouldn’t lie. The FOIAs I submitted either rendered another lie, or a service record, like for military drivers license, or nothing at all, even a response. Now I just get told that they are withholding all of those that fall under the “ Deliberative Process Privilege “, which is every medical record for the immediate six months after my release from the “ infectious disease ward “. I had a number of conditions that are now presumptive, but the records are withheld per FOIA EXEMPTION 5 [ 5 USC § (5)(b) ].    

47 years later and they are still withheld, but I did get enough of them from Vietnam to show hospitalization for a month before being released for a period of “OVER 120 DAYS RECOVERY “, that I never got. The Army sent me 700 miles away, sprung a surprise medical retention board instead of the Disability Evaluation Board, without any notice, without any legal advice, without any of the “ over 120 days recovery time “, without any records, and without any idea what they were doing to my future. 

I tried to get the medical records ( I have the request copy from 1972 ) before discharge, but they said they were lost, and didn’t give me any of them. They will not give me any diagnosis or treatment records still, following my immediate return from RVN. Now, most things are going to the BVA so I will die without resolution because it will be 6, 7, 10 years. I ask to be advanced but didn’t get a response. They may surprise me and do something nice, like a review of everything, but i’m not holding my breath. 

Getting any medical records before discharge can change lives, and if you don’t, you will forever regret it.

victor Ray

 

[vetquest]

VictorRay,

I am sorry to hear about that.  It is a great warning to active duty vets.

vetquest

[Victor Ray]

I hope it is. I still cant get my Service Treatment Records per executive privilege. The VA has misled me my entire Adult life after medical evacuation out of Vietnam. They have lied the last four years and are probably lying today, and the VSOs are ignorant or VA employees, or both.

A WARNING: any surviving spouse must have their own individual autopsy on their passed spouse or you likely will be screwed. Hire a lawyer and have him arrange the autopsy and you communicate with the lawyer.

the VA will have their own done and try to say it is anything but a service connected condition that killed your loved one. I have been lied to for 47 years and can’t get my records. Now, if I do get 100 finally, I will never live the 8 or 10years they require. They did this to screw my wife. I will have to sue to get my medical records and have to sue for a lot of things to have the law squeeze a little honesty out of the VA. Pure corruption in St. Louis. You can’t trust any of them to do right!

[Roadrunner]

I can still hear my D.I.s and NCOIC saying be a man and HACK IT. Also to honor your commitment to the U.S. Armed Services.  Now many years later, it all seems like a bunch of B.S. while I fight to get the benefits I am due and nothing more.

[sagewarrior]

I still have some friends who are active-duty and unfortunately, they're mostly taking advice from other people who are still active-duty and have no experience post-separation. It's like a time when I remember an NCO telling me how horrible the job market was. I asked how he knew, considering he was still in the military and hadn't applied for a job since he went into a recruiter's office. Ha! 

Jokes aside, it'd be great if the AD folks had better guidance during the separation process. I was pretty fortunate to get a good case manager when I was medically separated. He told me to go back in and be evaluated by the VA every two years due to my issues. I bucked that advice, but I left at 40% and and bc I was finally talked into going back into the VA, I'm now 100% P&T. 

Not sure what can be done other than just staying focused on educating our fellow warriors as we can. I've worked with many vets - counseling incarcerated vets, reviewing and editing resumes, advocacy, and so on. Just have to keep at it.