Pretty high up on your horse today. There's always the 1% who game the system, in any demographic.

You're confusing disability compensation with actual disability, they are NOT the same thing in this context.

VA disability ratings are more commonly for pain, suffering, and inconvenience than day-to-day functional disability. Maybe they called it "disability" to make it politically palatable to fund.

I have a small rating. I was seriously injured in the line of duty once (actual mission training, not playing hoops at lunch), spent six months in a cast, another six with limited daily mobility, another year before I could run, jump and swim (had to work pretty hard for that), ultimately re-qualified at my job. I still do daily stretches and regular strength training to address that injury and drop some coin on motrin and supplements. Doesn't cause me any limitations, as long as I make the effort but I do have to make an effort. Oh and if I do more than a couple pressure cycles in a day, it hurts... injured tissue aggravated by scuba diving back in the day. So I prefer one leg days.

Handicap plates OTH, IMO should be reserved for folks who really can't walk more than 20 feet under their own power.

Oh and contractors get PAID to be contractors. I have mixed feelings about the whole contracting thing (for reasons unrelated to their care and feeding), but high-end operators can make major airline CA pay or more doing that gig. And none of them are clueless 19 year old conscripts either.