Originally Posted by
paulcg77
Make damn sure you document EVERY injury you've had while still AD so you can file claims for it with the VA for it when you're 65. If you don't document it while on AD, it will be much harder to prove service connection with the VA later on. And until you're 65, be extra careful with what you claim with the VA while flying in the civilian 121 world - they do audit checks and if you are getting VA compensation for it and didn't declare it with the FAA you can get in trouble. A friend of mine had PTSD from some hairy stuff in Afghanistan and was at 50% VA c&p for it, didn't declare it during an FAA flight physical and got in a lot of trouble.
CAREFUL!
The VA disability advocate groups who will help you file a claim will try to ensure you get max credit for any and every possible injury, ailment, and condition... that's *mostly* OK but there a few things which the FAA will go hard-over on... PTSD, TBI, anything substance or mental health other than marriage counseling.
It's going to be pretty hard to get an FAA 1C while getting VA disability pay for stuff like that.
And don't file with the VA and then lie to the FAA... there are ex-mil legacy airline pilots who have been recently sent to prison for doing that. Assume the FAA has visibility on all VA (and potentially mil) medical data. Databases talk to each other in the 21st century.