New Claim

[Yharris]

Good day all! I have been following this forum for a while since I filed my initial claims and am very impressed with how questions are answered.  So here I go....I filed my intent back in July, 2019. I met with a VA service representative who told me what I needed to get in order to submit my claim.  It took several months to get all DBQ's filled out by my primary care provider and my counselor.  I submitted all paperwork including buddy statements for an assault that occurred while serving overseas in 1995. My question is this...I uploaded everything through ebenefits,  fully developed and was scheduled two C&P exams  with LHI in November.  I'm not sure how the exams went,  but I was experiencing flare ups with kidney stones,  back pain and my blood pressure was 159/120 at the time.  I have like 8 claims that I never knew I could claim until just recently.  I was honorably discharged in 1998. I had a back injury in 1995 which is documented in my service medical records.  I was a Master at Arms while serving and since I've been out of service could not resume the profession but am gainfully employed.  An exit letter in my service  records states that I should only work a desk job.  Will this be service connected? Also my projected decision date is June,  2020. Is this standard from what you all have heard of in filing a fully developed claim? Sorry for the long posting.  Take care 

[Yharris]

Hello,  how's everyone? I have been checking on my claim quite a bit lately.  I had to call the 1800 number because I noticed the format had changed.  I'm curious about a few things that I wasn't really given answers to.  So, one of my claims was for MST.  It stated MST  restricted report no longer needed.  To be honest,  I  know that my assault was reported and there was a trial.  I tried getting the court records but was told they didn't keep records that long since it was 1995/96. Any thoughts on this? The staff told me they were only waiting on this then my claim would be processed.  Been in gathering evidence since November,  2019.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Yharris said:

Hello,  how's everyone? I have been checking on my claim quite a bit lately.  I had to call the 1800 number because I noticed the format had changed.  I'm curious about a few things that I wasn't really given answers to.  So, one of my claims was for MST.  It stated MST  restricted report no longer needed.  To be honest,  I  know that my assault was reported and there was a trial.  I tried getting the court records but was told they didn't keep records that long since it was 1995/96. Any thoughts on this? The staff told me they were only waiting on this then my claim would be processed.  Been in gathering evidence since November,  2019.

Hey, I am a little off here but I hate dealing with people.  Sorry for what you went through and what you are going through but if there was a trial there has to be a police report and or a court report somewhere. I don't like dealing with people because people are lazy and inept and will say or do anything to get you off the phone or out of their office.  Have you tried writing a letter to your county court office or police station? You can also try your state representative office also.

[Yharris]

I was overseas when it happened.  I contacted the command over there via certified mail and they responded saying those records are only kept for two years.  What I'm curious about is how did they come back with it being restricted if there is no record and I did Google restricted vs unrestricted which there is a big difference in how such cases are handled. 

[Guest]

Not sure where you were or rather this was military or civilian trial but your State Representative or maybe the embassy where you were.

[Yharris]

I was stationed in Spain.  I was hoping the VA could obtain a copy since I was unsuccessful.  I however do still have contact with a few people I was stationed with that have written letters on my behalf which I have submitted.  Hopefully that is enough. 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Yharris

[Yharris]

Good evening all, I have yet another question concerning some of the language I have seen on my claim status. Although it has been a long time, I do still remember most of an incident that happened while in service relating to the sexual assault I was a victim of. I reported the incident, there was a trial but I do not recall what happened after that. Now that I look at my claim status, it is saying that their request for MST Restricted report was closed. Also, there was another request that says closed which stated MST DoD Letter (I have no idea what this means either). I looked up the difference between a restricted report and unrestricted report and there is a big difference. What bothers me is that I have no one to call to ask about how they came up with this status. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have been unsuccessful in getting any information pertaining to this incident. I am just curious because if there is no record, how are they able to just determine it was restricted reporting? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Take care.