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  1. Today
  2. I forgot: PACT ACT is huge. Because of the PACT ACT a lot of conditions/disability claims are presumptive, basically meaning the VA assumes you already have this due to service. Basically if you flew anywhere or were stationed other than CONUS (more specifically OIF/OEF/Syria related) over the past 25 years, you are eligible. Doesn't matter if you landed in country, even flying over those countries (I'm looking at you BUFF guys flying out of DG) you are eligible. So do you research PACT ACT stuff, related conditions, etc. Tying disabilities/conditions your claiming to the PACT ACT is gonna be a huge win for a lot of folks. ALSO: You have one year after separation to make claims and get them service connected w/little to no trouble. By that I mean after you're out and you get diagnosed w/something the VA considers that "in service" making it much easier to get a claim done. After that one year, it is much harder to get service connection for conditions that are diagnosed post service.
  3. Totally agree. Yet there are still plenty of T-38 IPs that tell their students to fly with their feet flat on the floor... e.g. don't touch the rudder pedals.
  4. The VA...the benefits side anyway...wants you to go away/not put up a fight. So they either: don't allow for service connection or they underrate your service connected disability. They are counting on you not putting up a fight. I've been out for 16 years now and I'm still claiming things/battling the VA. If you get denied, appeal. Get more evidence, submit applicable research studies and VA case law, get doctor(s) to submit medical opinion letters. If your appeal gets denied, submit for a higher level review. Again, the VA wants you to go away and is expecting you're not gonna put up a fight. Here is what has helped me: -Document everything while you're in. You don't necessarily need to go to the flight doc, but it does help to get documented and makes it easier. When writing a personal statement for each claim, you absolutely should write a personal statement. Because I never went to the flight doc for fear of DNIF, I wrote in each personal statement something to the effect of "because I didn't want to risk a career in flying, I did not go to the flight doc for this condition" in a couple I even wrote, "flight doc advised me not to discuss these symptoms because it would mean removal of flight status". When writing your personal statement, I'm not saying to lie but embellishment can help. Also, research the rating schedule for the condition you're claiming. Bumps from 10% rating to a 30% or 50% rating can be huge. Make sure the verbiage in your letter and your symptoms match up with the different ratings. If you're close to a higher rating, that's where the embellishment might come in. Again, not saying to lie or commit fraud, but you have to fight for yourself and describe your symptoms when they have been at their absolute worse. -VA docs will diagnose you with whatever you might have going on, but they will not write an "in my opinion" (IMO) or nexus (memo connecting your condition to the service) letter. Go to a private doc for that or there are services you can pay to have that done. -Speaking of letters...get friends, co-workers, fellow flyers, family, to write "buddy statements" for you. There is even an offical VA form for this. Have them state that they witnessed you have symptoms related to the condition you're claiming. -Secondary conditions are where you can really do well. For example everyone should claim and get service connected tinnitus. Let's say you get migraine headaches, but didn't necessarily get migraines while you were in. You can claim migraines secondary to service connected tinnitus. There are many many examples of secondary conditions connected to service connected disabilities. -r/veteransbenefits on Reddit is an excellent source of info. I've used it primarily for my research and help filing my own claims. Have never used a VSO or paid service. There are also a lot of good YT channels. DO NOT pay for a service like VA Claims Insider. I'm not a smart guy by any means and I was able to do all of my claims myself through dedicated research. -You have to look at researching and building good claims as a second job, it can be a lot of work, but the benefits are worth it. You have to know your condition and related symptoms inside/out, you have to know the VA rating schedule for that condition, you have to know how to write a personal statement, you have to know how to prep for your C&P exam, ultimately you have to be your own advocate.
  5. 100% right. Instructors who enable students to experience every edge of the flight envelope make them ready & confident when the unexpected happens in an adverse environment.
  6. Thanks Yep, makes total sense now. Flaps up right after rotation seems like a great idea in a low energy state close to the ground. AIBs are usually are less about teaching and more about blame. Maybe the safety report dug more into it.
  7. Miranda is my kind of trashy Might find the maid in the trailer park too
  8. No separate switch for the flaps, similar to the viper were the fight control computer positions the flaps with the gear down
  9. Dibs on the chick in the helmet with the huge knockers
  10. Yesterday
  11. Tip I got from my chiropractor (Former SEAL): Document things that happen to you any time the military made you be there, that time you rolled down a hill at unit mandatory fun, that time you tweaked your groin jumping down off an aircraft… just everything that could have contributed to the condition you find yourself in as you are older. In that documentation name possible witnesses, dates and times, and then digitally sign the document. Stow it away in your personal email. If you find yourself in a fight with the VA to review your final total these documents effectively serve as evidence to force them to reevaluate your number, and you can hand them one at a time and force multiple reinvestigations of your condition. This is what he had to do because all of his injuries are heavily redacted from his time as a SEAL, only his career ender made it into the normal medical records. All those times he rolled an ankle in a place he couldn’t go to sick call or “fell” off a roof/truck/etc… that stuff was never covered. He just successfully got his rating up to 100% so no more property tax in the state. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  12. The process of making TOLD planning data (or any scheduled performance data) is an exercise in approximating and building safety margins. You gather field performance data, curve-fit it, model it, then compute scheduled performance for the -1-1. Trying to dial in to 1 knot is "polishing a turd" as they say. What matters is standardization - everyone should get the same output with the same inputs.
  13. I lucked out without really knowing it. Over the course of my career I went to the doc many times complaining of macular/skeletal issues but never did anything to really fix it after talking with flight doc. All that documentation really helped versus not having anything on record and trying to claim legitimate issues. You can go to the flight doc and state xyz is hurting but getting MRI/X-rays and what not can be avoided. In my experience.
  14. While that’s good advice (also not a bad idea to always keep your medical situation to yourself others than who need to know/those you can trust)…just because someone “looks fine” doesn’t mean they are, and the records and exams will speak for themselves. But yes, if mean people are wanting to try and screw you, then it’s best to keep the information closer to yourself.
  15. It becomes your problem when they maliciously file fraud complaints against you to the VA IG and they start investigating you. It’s more common than you think.
  16. Argies getting second hand vipers https://www.twz.com/air/f-16-looks-like-the-endgame-to-argentinas-epic-fighter-saga Kinda surprised they didn’t go for a cheaper not subject to US sanctions (parts/support) option if they wanted to have another try for the Falklands https://breakingdefense.com/2023/09/in-argentinas-fighter-competition-washington-and-beijing-fight-for-regional-influence/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  17. I can't disagree with keeping it to yourself unless specifically discussing it within trusted agents. However, it's not our problem that their assumptions are wrong. It's not about what someone thinks is fair, it's what the law/gov says is fair.
  18. Here’s some good advice, keep your rating to yourself. There some veterans, usually former grunts from the Army and Marines, who assume one has to be a quadriplegic to have a high VA rating. This really goes for 100 P&T.
  19. Could have been him mins Captain. A buddy had to be rerouted out of a leg yesterday because he's a brand new Captain in his plane and the wx was below his mins as a newb on the fleet.
  20. This plate is funny. The Gettysburg Address is there in the notes but the whole "Autopilot couple approach NA" is buried. The other thing that sounded interesting to me was Brickyard saying they couldn't operate below 4000 RVR (minima on the plate) but they say if you have a HUD or Flight Director you can get down to 2400. I find it hard to believe there isn't a FD on any airliner operating domestically now. Bad thought? For the actual video, I'm pretty sure the pilots had zero SA on where they actually were on that 2nd approach. Tower saved the day, big time. That's another interesting conundrum on a second approach after going missed on the first one. Nothing new had to be set up and just tried the same again. I'd be very interested to get a read out on this one (which I won't, but it'll be interesting).
  21. It kind of baffles me when I read on FB how many guys claim PTSD or something mental health related for VA claims and then all of a sudden are concerned about how it will affect their FAA medical. I know plenty of guys who are 100% and have their class 1, they just just have a ton of little things to claim, the vast majority of which are muscular skeleton issues, but nothing mental health/sleep (other than maybe sleep apnea) related. I do hear of some guys who have PTSD and have a special issuance (ie FAA waiver), but they can definitely be tricky/time consuming to get and depends on severity, symptoms, etc. My overall advice: Like others have said, start 2-3 years before separating/retiring in getting all your aches and pains well documented, and hopefully some care if it can help. If you have something mental health related in your records that you think shouldn’t be there/has improved, etc then spend time getting the appts and documentation done while you’re still AD and my guess is it will be a lot less cumbersome getting it approved with the FAA if you want to continue to fly. But in the end, if you truly need help with mental health concerns (and you probably know if you do), then please get your help—you deserve it. Your life and well being, and that of your family, is much more important and valuable than being in pain/completely miserable while flying post military.
  22. For me they deferred a few MH things which were the DNIFing ones. No idea why as they've been documented for years. They also deferred dry eye syndrome thought.. wtf? They still gave me a rating with those being deferred... I assume because I already met the 100%. But how does insomnia just completely drop off the claim?
  23. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2024/03/27/the-3rd-group-roots-of-this-unofficial-nazi-inspired-green-beret-logo/
  24. I had a bunch of deferrements. No follow on appts, they just forwarded my records to the proper specialist needed and they gave rating after that review. It was a few months after my initial rating. For flyers its def a catch 22, needs to be documented to show a history of it but if you do, you probably aren't flying anymore depending on the issue.
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