Look, I know every veterans group in the country advises you to get every dime you possibly can from the VA at separation/retirement, but people need to realize that if you are a pilot you are playing “I’m gonna bet my future career against a possible VA disability payment. First of all, the first 20% disability is not a huge amount:
And if you are a retiree, rather than just separating, it’s often offset dollar for dollar by deduction from your retirement pay. You substitute non-taxable income for taxable interest, which I grant is nice, but it doesn’t save you all that much. Sometimes the juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze.
If your combined disability rating is 40% or lower and you do not have a combat-related disability, then your military retirement pay will be offset, or deducted, by the amount of VA service-connected disability compensation you receive.
And when you start tossing around diagnoses like OSA, Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, etc., you rather dramatically increase the risk of a prolonged go-around with the FAA at OKC. That can not only lead to a prolonged period of non-flying after retirement or separation, but a lifetime of special testing for a special issuance.
Choose wisely.
https://youtu.be/qIitjokEJwg