For clarity, it's understandable how someone could load up their VA rating on the way out, that's what we're all told to do by the experts who advise us on our transition to the civilian world (which many of us have no prior experience in).

Also understandable that some folks (maybe most folks) could have minor discrepancies from forgotten minor ailments or injuries in the past.

But claiming an OBVIOUS grounding condition with the VA and then NOT checking the box with the FAA is pretty darn blatant. Hard to come up with any mitigating scenario, unless he hypothetically got "competent" advice from a lawyer or AME to do that for whatever reason, in which case he probably has grounds for a big lawsuit.

The fed's enforcement of the felony aspect has been pretty consistent: You have to either go on record contradicting yourself with disability benefits for a grounding condition, or become incapacitated in flight with a grounding condition which you were aware of and didn't report. Those are both egregious and pretty easy to prove.

I don't *think* they're going to start scouring records in search of forgotten hangnails.