talking about the “untouchable”

Humble…citygator lol. It just doesn’t add up.
Your dad sounds like an amazing dude…what happened to you?
Had to bust your chops a bit, since you decided to briefly block me…

 

Make sure that is properly diagnosed on retirement.

I wore double on the flight line/when flying (when possible) and double when I was in the engineering spaces (but not in maneuvering/reactor control).
I also never shoot without great hearing protection.

I've been fortunate.

 

No choice. Still have an annual flight physical. The hearing booth remains my least favorite part.

 

I had a friend who lost a leg stateside in a jeep accident in the 70s. After he got out he got a job with the VA working with disabled vets. He used to tell friends who served that he could get them disability if they had as much as a couple of stitches while in the service. Don't know if he really could but he sure made the claim.

 

Proof to the world that a brick can fly with enough thrust behind it.

edit: Oops. See that Navy beat me to this punch.

 

Police and military have lots of veterans. I don't question veterans earning a disability but I do have to wonder how someone with disability for back problems can start a 25 year career as a firefighter. Also, If someone has debilitating PTSD how does it make sense to join the police force or a fire department?

Untouchable? I mean I get why. I'm not going to question someone's service even if there is certainly a percentage of fraudsters out there and the collateral damage potential to legitimate claimants makes it a sticky subject to address.

At the local level, disability abuse is a major problem, so much so that instead of addressing the individual cases of fraud, the disability benefits were simply just reduced which now hurts those who are legitimately disabled.

 

Again, it is a very Byzantine system that if you do not understand how it works, the deck is stacked against you. You need to understand the language the VA speaks and the processes that they runs on. This is why the American Legion, the VFW, and other VSO offer services to help vets with their VA claims for free. So when you say "coached," what I hear is explaining to vets what the process is and how they need to speak to the VA in the language the VA uses.

Just as an example, you can go to a private civilian doctor to evaluate your medical claim and they can do the VA paperwork and then you can submit your claim. If you do go that route, the VA has hired a company that will call you and tell you that you have to go see another VA doctor, which you do not have to do. This company will continue to call you even after you have told them you do not need to see a VA doctor and asked to be put on their do not call list. Now if a vet was not told he/she did not need to see a VA doctor, they would think that it is a requirement, when it actually is not.

 

This is not about the ability to be able to work a normal 40 hour week, it is about the loss of quality of life. That is what the VA is paying for, not someone's ability to work.

So I have a friend that flew Cobras for 10+ years. That platform is well known for causing issues with the pilots back. About once or twice ever six months, his back goes out and he can barely walk for a day or so and it typically takes about three or four days before he is able to return to normal, ie play with his kids, run, play golf, go into work, etc. It does not prevent him from doing office work but it does cause a significant decrease in the quality of life. That is a significant delta in his quality of life if he had not flown Cobras. That DoD and VA have to pay for that delta because the DoD caused it.