Filed Claim 1 Dec 2020. NPRC says it sent my Records to VA 21 May 21. VA says it is waiting for NPRC to send records.

[bangkokbill]

Hi Board,

US Army vet needs advice on nudging NPRC and VA to acknowledge where my service records are and move my Tinnitus claim forward to a decision.

By way of background info, I filed an online claim with the VA on 1 Dec 2020. I tracked the progress online and noticed it was stuck on evidence gathering for several months. I then requested (online) for the VA to make a decision, since I had no further evidence to submit. I attended a C&P exam on May 21, but my claim remained stuck on "Evidence Gathering."

I reached out to my congressman and both senators; one senator ignored me but the other senator and my congressman promptly replied around 20 Jun 2020 (OK, a staffer  ) The VA says they requested my records around 28 Dec 2020 and 15 Mar 2021- and were still waiting. The National Public Records Center says my records were sent to the VA on 21 May 2021 and are no longer in their custody. 

During July, I have called the VA twice and was told they are still waiting for my records from the NPRC. 

Any advice on how to proceed? I'm stuck in limbo between two government agencies that are not taking responsibility and I have yet to find a decision maker that can move my claim towards a decision.

Thanks in advance!

Bangkokbill

[Berta]

GBA is RIGHT  100 % !!!!!!!!

I will do some more research on your unit- and can post any direct cnact info Ihave if I know the name of the VA Regional Office you deal with.

It will take some time because, with a half hour here the roofer will be making lots of noise hard to think straight----

To bolster GBA's point- many of these raters/adjudicators at the RO, might well be veterans but that does not mean they understand many of the MOS's fr each branch of service ,and what those military duties actually involved.

I noticed in many of the BVA decisions, that the veteran had detailed exactly how they were exposed to acoustical trauma.

Some of them were not even born when the Vietnam War occurred.

 

[bangkokbill]

32 minutes ago, Berta said:

GBA is RIGHT  100 % !!!!!!!!

I will do some more research on your unit- and can post any direct cnact info Ihave if I know the name of the VA Regional Office you deal with.

It will take some time because, with a half hour here the roofer will be making lots of noise hard to think straight----

To bolster GBA's point- many of these raters/adjudicators at the RO, might well be veterans but that does not mean they understand many of the MOS's fr each branch of service ,and what those military duties actually involved.

I noticed in many of the BVA decisions, that the veteran had detailed exactly how they were exposed to acoustical trauma.

Some of them were not even born when the Vietnam War occurred.

 

Yes Berta, I'm beginning to feel like a dinosaur, LOL! The Army still paid us in cash, once a month. I called home on Christmas and had to go to a German Post Office to make the call, fill out a form, then wait for the next telephone booth. 

I like history and think about a Civil War vet that served near the end of the conflict in 1864-65, then 50 years later in 1914-15 there were air planes, machine guns and radio signal communications. I've seen some Youtube clips of the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg in 1913. US Army soldiers were showing veterans how a machine gun operated...

[broncovet]

IM SC for hearing loss, which the VARO denied.  I was awarded at the BVA.  My "MOS" (US Navy does not use that term, but its familiar to many), was not consistent with loud noises.  However, in my appeal, I sent a map (from google) where my barracks was at the end of a runway, where I testified that the jets flew just a few feet from us frequently.  

I further testified that I was exposed to loud machinery that I operated, and gave the names and numbers of the machines, which I had studied in "A" school.  "A" school is the school you take to "strike for a rating".  You complete the school with a passing grade.  Then, you are sent to your duty station, where, if you apply, you can take the test for "rating" ( a promotion..__).  A "rating" in the USN was a part of your rank.  In other words, in the Army you may be a "sargent", but in the Navy you would be a BT1 (Boilerman tender first class).  There was no MOS per se, because your rating included your "specialty" as well as your rank.  

I understood that changed in 2016, where Navy are likewise now given a more generic rank, (i.e. First class Petty officer), instead of a more specific rating which included your rank and specialty, as the Navy did in the past.  

In short, there is no "MOS" for Navy. (At least not when I was in). 

The Navy assigned you duties, however, which may or may not be consistent with your specialty and training, and more on the needs of the Navy.  The Navy used to have a rating called "radioman".  Well that is pretty much obsolete, but the electronics training worked well in similar fields such as an electronic technician, or computer tech.  

Some ratings, such as Boilerman Tender, pretty much were assigned anywhere needed.  However, the Navy knew your GCT-ARI scores so they pretty much kept you in a field consistent with your education and intelligence.  

My GCT-ARI was "top tier", where I qualified for everything, including Astronaut training.  So, when I spoke with the vocation counselor, I told him I wanted to jump out of airplanes.  He replied, "No, your GCT-ARI is too high.  Anyone can jump out of an airplane.  We need you in a high tech field which requires math skills and intelligence."

I said, "Give me that test back and I will mark every other answer with none of the above".  

I found out later, God's hand was in this.  That was the reason I was not sent to Viet Nam, they considered me smart and that I should do things which require intelligence.  

After the Navy, I went to college and fairly easily got my degree.  I thought college was pretty much a repeat of high school, and breezed through it as I had done in high school.  

Its one thing my hearing loss helps with.  A lot.  I have to "intently" focus on the speaker.  Reason:  I will miss (be unable to hear/understand) some letters.  "F" is hard to hear, for example, while the vowels are pretty easy for me to understand.  Thus, to understand, I had to work cross word puzzles to understand what the speaker said.  One hilarious example of this is a female friend told me she had an "email problem".  

Well, I told her I can help.  (I knew about email and computers).  She got mad and hung up on me.  

Later, I figured out she did not have "an email problem", she had a "female problem".  

I didnt get that cross word puzzle right.  When someone speaks, and I miss a letter, I fire in possible consanants which make sense in context.  

My grandson kept talking about "heat" while I was making spagetti.  He said he did not want any heat.  I told him the spagetti isnt good cold.  

I have to apply heat.  He repeated "no heat".  

I knew something was up.  I asked my wife what he said.  She said he said, "no meat", not no heat.  He did not want MEAT in his spagetti, not heat.  I have lots of trouble hearing "F" "th" and "S" 

 

[Berta]

I found a few more BVA decisions that awarded tinnitus-

"The Board finds that service connection for tinnitus is warranted.  The Veteran has reported ongoing, recurrent tinnitus during the appeal period, and that his tinnitus began while he was a radio mechanic and equipment operator in the Army; he worked on and was in great proximity to running generators and was exposed to a great deal of noise.  See May 2014 Form 9. "

https://www.va.gov/vetapp21/files5/21031005.txt
-----------------------------------

The veteran below had multiple grants from the BVA to include tinnitus, 
In part:
"The Veteran seeks to establish service connection for cervical strain, right upper extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, and tinnitus.  Specifically, the Veteran seems to assert that the VA examinations are inadequate; that his tinnitus is due to his MOS as a multichannel radio operator, and due to his service with the air defense artillery unit and loud weapons fire; and states that he developed such disorders during active service.  See Third Party Correspondence, April 7, 2020; see also VA Form 20-0996 Request for Higher-Level Review, September 2, 2019."    

and also was on remand because VA failed to do many things under 38 CFR 4. etc and the wife gave a statement thus, that was given much weight by BVA.

 "In her statement, she stated that the Veteran’s claimed conditions started during his military service and had progressively worsened following service."
This was not only an important statement for the many conditions the BVA granted but also it showed that the conditions, to include tinnitus, started in service and were 'continuous' from service.
https://www.va.gov/vetapp21/files3/a21004927.txt

I am not having luck finding a good place to find a buddy statement.
But I do not use Facebook and there might be some vets there  there who were in your unit.
Did your Unit have a Nickname like the "Screaming Eagles" or "RED HORSE" ? ( my neighbor is 20 yrs Retired -RED HORSE- Rapid Engineer Deployable USAF)-

sometimes a Nickname will produce a web site or forum that could hold reunion rosters etc with contact numbers-for buddy statements.

But I dont think you will have any problems due to your MOS.

My phone just rang , however, it was our radio show producer and it took him many years and some denials ,and  one award for Tinnitus SC "0" rating, )to finally get his tinnitus service connected at 10%.

 

[bangkokbill]

2 hours ago, broncovet said:

IM SC for hearing loss, which the VARO denied.  I was awarded at the BVA.  My "MOS" (US Navy does not use that term, but its familiar to many), was not consistent with loud noises.  However, in my appeal, I sent a map (from google) where my barracks was at the end of a runway, where I testified that the jets flew just a few feet from us frequently.  

I further testified that I was exposed to loud machinery that I operated, and gave the names and numbers of the machines, which I had studied in "A" school.  "A" school is the school you take to "strike for a rating".  You complete the school with a passing grade.  Then, you are sent to your duty station, where, if you apply, you can take the test for "rating" ( a promotion..__).  A "rating" in the USN was a part of your rank.  In other words, in the Army you may be a "sargent", but in the Navy you would be a BT1 (Boilerman tender first class).  There was no MOS per se, because your rating included your "specialty" as well as your rank.  

I understood that changed in 2016, where Navy are likewise now given a more generic rank, (i.e. First class Petty officer), instead of a more specific rating which included your rank and specialty, as the Navy did in the past.  

In short, there is no "MOS" for Navy. (At least not when I was in). 

The Navy assigned you duties, however, which may or may not be consistent with your specialty and training, and more on the needs of the Navy.  The Navy used to have a rating called "radioman".  Well that is pretty much obsolete, but the electronics training worked well in similar fields such as an electronic technician, or computer tech.  

Some ratings, such as Boilerman Tender, pretty much were assigned anywhere needed.  However, the Navy knew your GCT-ARI scores so they pretty much kept you in a field consistent with your education and intelligence.  

My GCT-ARI was "top tier", where I qualified for everything, including Astronaut training.  So, when I spoke with the vocation counselor, I told him I wanted to jump out of airplanes.  He replied, "No, your GCT-ARI is too high.  Anyone can jump out of an airplane.  We need you in a high tech field which requires math skills and intelligence."

I said, "Give me that test back and I will mark every other answer with none of the above".  

I found out later, God's hand was in this.  That was the reason I was not sent to Viet Nam, they considered me smart and that I should do things which require intelligence.  

After the Navy, I went to college and fairly easily got my degree.  I thought college was pretty much a repeat of high school, and breezed through it as I had done in high school.  

Its one thing my hearing loss helps with.  A lot.  I have to "intently" focus on the speaker.  Reason:  I will miss (be unable to hear/understand) some letters.  "F" is hard to hear, for example, while the vowels are pretty easy for me to understand.  Thus, to understand, I had to work cross word puzzles to understand what the speaker said.  One hilarious example of this is a female friend told me she had an "email problem".  

Well, I told her I can help.  (I knew about email and computers).  She got mad and hung up on me.  

Later, I figured out she did not have "an email problem", she had a "female problem".  

I didnt get that cross word puzzle right.  When someone speaks, and I miss a letter, I fire in possible consanants which make sense in context.  

My grandson kept talking about "heat" while I was making spagetti.  He said he did not want any heat.  I told him the spagetti isnt good cold.  

I have to apply heat.  He repeated "no heat".  

I knew something was up.  I asked my wife what he said.  She said he said, "no meat", not no heat.  He did not want MEAT in his spagetti, not heat.  I have lots of trouble hearing "F" "th" and "S" 

 

Thanks so much broncovet, some very good info!

[bangkokbill]

Approved Sep 1!!!!!

Tinnitus- Service connected, 10%

Hearing loss- Service connected, 0%

A big thank you to all the folks that offered advice and support!

Yesterday I checked my status, saw my claim was closed and I will be getting retroactive compensation. I'm pretty happy right now.

Again thanks!