checking for eligibility today
I was in the navy from 16Dec1980 to 16may1984. Discharged from USS Nimitz CVN-68 with 2yrs15days sea duty, WITHOUT paying me for 42.5 days accrued leave, I still have my discharge Leave and Earnings Statement. Long story about 2 separate but close brain injuries that led to anger control issues that I have had to deal with all my life(not direct service related) but caused problems during my time aboard ship and which led to me requesting 'project upgrade', as it was called at that time, with an other than honorable discharge.
I was an e4 at one time and tested for e5 but didn't make it due to TOS was too short to compete with the others, aced the exam though.Got busted to e3 for falsifying log books in Nuke school,sent to the Nimitz,we did 2 work-up cruises before deploying to the Med in late 82 for the Lebanon-Israeli Crisis 82-83, we dropped bombs on Lebanon, which was an undeclared action at the time(also unjustified), during which I tested for e4 aced it but evals were too low and just missed it.Shortly thereafter, got busted again. Made it to Jan 84 as an e3 and trouble started and was an e1 at discharge. All of these were fighting related except the last one. ANYway, I haven't had anything to do with the government up until today, when I spent about 45 minutes on the phone answering questions to find out if I am eligible for VA care.
At first, he said they didn't show any record of service, I stated my entrance date, both delayed entry and active duty, discharge date and duty station from which I was discharged. Few seconds pause and a confirmation, stated 'ok, looks like you qualify...'. 20 minutes of questions and then he says oh, looks like you were discharged with an other than honorable... Yeah, everybody knows that, lol. Bunch more questions, yada, yada, then "I need a DD214"...which is WHY I called because it takes months to get a copy and mine was taken, amongst other valuables, by my ex when I shooed her away. I had thought that was what he had before him on-screen, guess not. Now back to square one, getting a copy of my DD214 which can take many moons. The whole point of this exercise was to get an eval for chair from a more qualified source. I have medicare-medicaid(another qualifier for non-service connected VA care) to pay for it. Every where I go, you get the same questions, are you a vet? Yes I am. I served aboard ship in an undeclared war/action for over 7 months. Did my time voluntarily, WAS going to serve twenty but aholes in my division crapping on everyone made it unbearable. Stories I won't go into here. Suffice it to say our ship had one of the highest rates of project upgrade OTH discharges at that time. I watched 10 percent of my division go before I REQUESTED it. Anyway, we will see what becomes of it.
And for those who DON'T know, that has been a very popular way of getting rid of vets w/o having to pay benefits/disability for the past 25 years. Don't diagnose their ptsd/related problems and save money. Until they recently passed a law that will give a second chance to most of those.
I say put the chickenhawks and their families in boots and let them serve, better yet, mind our OWN business like the founding fathers of this nation intended, and bring EVERYONE back to these shores and stop CAUSING all the world's problems..... LOOK! There went a unicorn! I stand relieved.
I was an e4 at one time and tested for e5 but didn't make it due to TOS was too short to compete with the others, aced the exam though.Got busted to e3 for falsifying log books in Nuke school,sent to the Nimitz,we did 2 work-up cruises before deploying to the Med in late 82 for the Lebanon-Israeli Crisis 82-83, we dropped bombs on Lebanon, which was an undeclared action at the time(also unjustified), during which I tested for e4 aced it but evals were too low and just missed it.Shortly thereafter, got busted again. Made it to Jan 84 as an e3 and trouble started and was an e1 at discharge. All of these were fighting related except the last one. ANYway, I haven't had anything to do with the government up until today, when I spent about 45 minutes on the phone answering questions to find out if I am eligible for VA care.
At first, he said they didn't show any record of service, I stated my entrance date, both delayed entry and active duty, discharge date and duty station from which I was discharged. Few seconds pause and a confirmation, stated 'ok, looks like you qualify...'. 20 minutes of questions and then he says oh, looks like you were discharged with an other than honorable... Yeah, everybody knows that, lol. Bunch more questions, yada, yada, then "I need a DD214"...which is WHY I called because it takes months to get a copy and mine was taken, amongst other valuables, by my ex when I shooed her away. I had thought that was what he had before him on-screen, guess not. Now back to square one, getting a copy of my DD214 which can take many moons. The whole point of this exercise was to get an eval for chair from a more qualified source. I have medicare-medicaid(another qualifier for non-service connected VA care) to pay for it. Every where I go, you get the same questions, are you a vet? Yes I am. I served aboard ship in an undeclared war/action for over 7 months. Did my time voluntarily, WAS going to serve twenty but aholes in my division crapping on everyone made it unbearable. Stories I won't go into here. Suffice it to say our ship had one of the highest rates of project upgrade OTH discharges at that time. I watched 10 percent of my division go before I REQUESTED it. Anyway, we will see what becomes of it.
And for those who DON'T know, that has been a very popular way of getting rid of vets w/o having to pay benefits/disability for the past 25 years. Don't diagnose their ptsd/related problems and save money. Until they recently passed a law that will give a second chance to most of those.
I say put the chickenhawks and their families in boots and let them serve, better yet, mind our OWN business like the founding fathers of this nation intended, and bring EVERYONE back to these shores and stop CAUSING all the world's problems..... LOOK! There went a unicorn! I stand relieved.
Not really concerned, it has been 32 years since I got out, that was 3-4 lifetimes ago, even the sci seems like 3 lifetimes ago. It won't make a bit of difference in the world, but it has always been at the back of my mind. It's a personal thing. 
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