No Good Records and Applying for Disability?

This item can be crucial for someone applying for a service connected disability for the first time. Frankly, a lot of service records are spartan, lost in the system or lost during moves by the veteran. Buddies disappear and what do you do? And be your injury PTSD, TBI, Burn Pit Lung, Mefloquine toxicity, Psychiatric Disorder or a bad back, the VA insists on having documentation of what occurred and how it affects your life. Fortunately sworn testimonials by friends, family members, family doctors, employers and the like can fill the bill. And, if filling out the paperwork for disability is too complex, get someone to help you. It can be a long process, but once you start, even if you do not get the disability award off the bat, it is still like money in the bank. Why, because the first reimbursement is calculated from when you first started the paperwork.

This excellent article shows how to go about getting that crucial documentation for your disability application.

PTSD Statements from Friends and Family Members

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides the most objective, comprehensive, and non-partisan data available on Post-9/11 operations, making their legislative documents the definitive standard for assessing the scope, financials, and personnel impacts of the Global War on Terror. [1]

These reports break down the "big picture" data into specific, trackable components:

Operations & Timelines: Detailed chronologies of major campaigns like Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), including exact dates, troop level fluctuations, and transitions in mission objectives.

Budgetary & Financial Costs: CRS estimates the direct appropriations for war and diplomatic operations—including funding for the DOD, State Department, and VA medical care—as published in their War Costs and Casualties Report. For a wider economic accounting that includes future veterans care and interest on debt, review the comprehensive Brown University Costs of War Findings.

Force Structure: Concrete data on casualties, contractor data provided to the DOD, and shifts in operational strategy.

Legislative Reorganization: Analysis of overarching defense policy shifts, including the creation of the 9/11 Commission and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. [8, 9]

For granular, operation-by-operation data tables and total costs, the detailed CRS Cost of Operations Report is an indispensable resource. [6]

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://fas.org/publication/war-costs-crs/

[2] https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF11182/IF11182.1.pdf

[3] https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/RL/PDF/RL32758/RL32758.5.pdf

[4] https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/html/tr/ADA615325/index.html

[5] https://www.facebook.com/theeducatedmonkey/posts/war-cost-rankings-depend-heavily-on-what-you-choose-to-count-not-just-the-headli/1274150228186061/

[6] https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-09-01/costsofwar

[7] https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/pdeployc.htm

[8] https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32501.html

[9] https://www.dhs.gov/implementing-911-commission-recommendations