How is everyone making their chicken breasts on the grill? I use a propane grill. Looking for the juiciest, moistest, yummiest recipes for thin sliced grilled chicken breast!
I recently became 100 PT. I am posting my story as a way to support the community, I hope this provides you support and guidance. I did not use a VSO or anyone else to guide me. I used myself, Reddit, and chatgpt to understand the process.
Prior to Fall/Winter 2025 I had always wanted to apply for VA compensation, but didn’t think it was possible because I never went to sick call in the Army and it was too far out now. I was NG, deployed 2012. That is where my title 10 AD time comes into play for VA purposes, and so do my injuries. Short story, I asked chatgpt if it was too late and it replied no. It explained why my injuries were very much clearly from my service and how to convey that in a claim. I also had imaging from the VA to support my claim so this isn’t a from thin air claim, just a time gap.
For details on my MSK slog (had to go to supplementals to win my case) I have attached this link to a previous post
https://www.reddit.com/r/VAClaims/s/Yc9ADLNzyt
My original claims were all related to MSK and tinnitus, I was denied initially for everything except tinnitus. This bothered me greatly, because for me, the ratings are much less about the money, and much more about being seen by the government, to feel that my pain is being recognized. I have a career in STEM that pays much more than VA compensation, so while the money definitely helps, the recognition of my pain helps much more (psychologically and spiritually).
Winning on my supplementals was great.
Without chatgpt I never would have even understood how to respond to the VA denials. I used chatgpt to explain why I was denied, and it guided me on how to respond. My response led to a 90% rating. Again, for details, see my msk post.
I then filed a secondary for OSA with cpap, which I was granted on initial as well as MH which I was granted on initial. Which is why I am now 100 PT.
Now for the lessons.
If you legitimately have injury/disability/health issue as a result of your service, you should pursue it regardless of what documents exist. The system is setup to support the veteran, so long as there is SOME kind of evidence to reasonably support your claim. Remember, the threshold is AS LIKELY AS NOT OR GREATER (meaning 50-50 chance military caused it). If you are injured, and you feel like it has been too long, it hasn’t, if you can produce evidence you have a shot. My case was I had imaging from 2020 showing how messed up I was, but I had a gap from 2013-2020, so I had to create a medically reasonable argument (and get a nexus) to support my claim. You can succeed in having your pain recognized if you understand what is needed, and your claim has reasonable support.
Understand the rating system and how to convey your issues. If you ask chatgpt for how to get a rating, you will get a generic answer. The key is not to be a generic phony, but to explain in real terms how YOU are FUNCTIONALLY impacted by your injury. How does this impact you! Give examples, details, be honest. If you aren’t honest, you will get caught up in your lies not matching up. Be yourself, tell them how you are doing. Tell them how things are on the bad days. It makes a difference.
It’s 2026. AI is here whether you like it or not. Use it to help you. Save money on the lawyer until you really need it. AI can review medical files, notes, emails, explain systems, review your VA decisions, etc. It can help you write a personal statement (see #2 about honesty and detail). It can find the holes in your argument. You aren’t writing your claim with ink and quill, get with the times. (You can redact your PHI and identification before uploading AI)
Lay statements make a difference. I had family and friends write about the impacts of my disabilities. How I had changed, how my personality changed, how my day to day had changed. Don’t underestimate.
Moral of the story. 1) If there’s a 50-50 chance it’s service connected, it’s enough. 2) Be honest, be thorough, give detail about functional impairment. 3) Use the tools available to you, including AI
4) Have others write statements to give a third party perspective on what is happening with you.
I’m grateful that the VA recognized everything that I had going on as service connected. I still have bad headaches, but I’m going to let sleeping dogs lie. I’m 286% disabled, I feel seen and heard for now.
I want to share my story with all of you because many of you have been so generous as to share your trials and successes with all of us here. I hope my story can give both hope and help to your well deserved claims.
but first, let me just say how grateful I am to be an American, to G-d, to the VA, and to all of you.
Some basic info about me. Served Army NG in early 2010s as 11B (that’s infantry for the non army folks). Was activated for OEF, was sent to middle eastern country designated as a combat zone (DOD designated)(not Afghanistan) to do security ops for port facilities. Was on title 10 orders for a year. Was ~20 yo during that deployment. Did a lot of heavy lifting as part of routine daily work (moving gear, gun, etc) and aside from the pre-deployment training which also was somewhat physical, wore 40+ pounds every day on patrol. For those of you who wore an IOTV with all the attachments, you know what it feels like to your back when your truck hits a pothole or speed bump or something, not pleasant.
At the time, I believed I had the invincibility of youth and could do anything, with an ego to match. We remember those days of 6 pack abs and a bench press that my current body weight is competing with.
When we got back from deployment I was already experiencing all kinds of aches and pains that I had never experienced. I wanted to go home, to see my family, and plus I told myself I was fine, I’m a grunt, everyone has aches, complaining could mess up a future career as a gun slinger for the government for me, etc so on those surveys and exams they do for NG guys when they come back to demobilize, I said I was totally fine. This would come to bite me in the butt later on.
Years went by, and little by little things got worse. I was still very active, but a few years later I would have more pain, more limitations. I was also dealing with some MH issues that made it hard for me to accept that I was struggling. While in school on the GI Bill I found out I have access to the VA as I was on OEF orders, so I went in to establish care. Again, didn’t complain about anything, just wanted to have some form of healthcare as a safety net. I continue about my life, going to school, playing video games, dating, etc. Nothing intense because I’m achy.
Couple more years go by, ~7 years since my deployment, and I finally come clean to my VA PCP about all the pain I’ve been dealing with. She orders a battery of tests and imaging. Neurologist gets involved and I get an MRI. Mind you, I’m still in my 20s. I get a phone call from him, “your spine is the worst spine I’ve seen in someone even 10 years older than you. I’ve never seen a 20 something guy with a back like yours in my 30 years of practice”.
The result
5 bulging discs, arthritis, spondylolisthesis (not sure if spelled right, means one vertebrae is slid out a little over another), arthritis in my neck and shoulder too. 🫨
This was 2019-2020.
Well, thats a shame, but at least I know now why I’ve been hurting. I wanted to file a claim for a while at that point, but didn’t think I could because I never had any treatment or evidence in the army, and thought it was too far away from my active time to file a claim, so I just sat festering, frustrated, and tried to continue my life.
Got a job, got married, went to grad school, symptoms are continuing to slowly progress.
During grad school ChatGPT came out. I used it extensively in grad school to help me understand the mechanisms of the systems I was studying (STEM field).
When I was nearing completion of then degree, I curiously decided to ask ChatGPT if I had any shot at a disability rating. I told it briefly my story, uploaded some notes. What it said shocked me: I had a strong case. I probed it deeper, but it was consistent. So in January 2026, I submitted a claim for disability for my symptoms.
Went to the dbq exam, told my story, HA! SC DENIED (but you are definitely disabled). across the board denial (except for the ringing in my ears, they gave me 10%, guess saying I spent most of my time with a 240 helped). The reasoning: if it was bad you would have come sooner, and you never said anything while in service (remember how I said earlier this would bite me in the butt later?)
Now, in my head, I think their reasoning while rationale, is also wrong, because what 20 something has a back this effed up while not engaging in any other activity that could cause this. This is something seen maybe in heavy construction labor, mma fighters, power lifters or something, not someone whose activities are almost all involving a desk.
I decide I’m gonna fight this. I’ve come this far. I get a private medical nexus (someone I know through my community, sorry can’t share her with you all). I collect lay statements from people who saw me before and after my deployment. The medical practitioner writes an extraordinary letter (it was 7 pages). It was pretty detailed, including the VAs own imaging reports and own opinions from specialists that flatly state this was from my service.
I go to another dbq. Tell them the same thing I’ve said for the past 5+ years since telling the VA about the problems I’d been having.
Couple weeks go by, at this point I’ve accepted that I’m never going to get rated for my pain and injuries. It was difficult to accept mentally. Then a few days ago, I see I got a decision letter. Okay, let’s see the denial
90% rating!
Originally found 80% after first dbq, but since not SC, couldn’t see that. After getting SC, I see the fist rater put me at 80%, but the 2nd dbq, I told the rater about things in my fingers and toes (nerve stuff) that I never filed for, and she included that in her reports which the VA decided to rate.
I’m so unbelievably grateful. It’s not just the money and the better health coverage, it’s that also that the government is acknowledging my pain from my service. It took a weight off my soul. I’m currently in the process of filing 2 other claims (actually have better documentation, but I didn’t want to file too much at once, the msk claim itself was a huge hassle).
I’m glad I didnt give up after the first denial. I’m glad I finally feel seen by the government after all I’ve dealt with. If I could tell a younger version of myself anything “leave your ego at the door and at least mention what’s going on”.
Thank you for reading this. I hope at least it was entertaining.