Letters of Investigation for VA benefits
03-18-2024 | 06:19 PM
#81
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 45,114
Likes: 794
From: Engines Turn or People Swim
Your are obviously not familiar with the VA Ratings Document. Ask a military person about it. In short the VA doc will go thru your entire military medical history and pull out things, some very insignificant, they think will attribute to the person getting the highest disability rating possible. Many things are mundane, some are not. And like my brother, he had OSA so had to get an SI for that. He also had 8 other things listed that he recevied no $$$ for but are listed as service connected medical conditions with disablity rating of zero. None are disqualifying or require any other testing outside of a class 1 medical. However, the FAA has those findings and nothing precludes them from having my brother get one of those "investigated" or tested for further means should they so decide.
The VA doc will only go through your record if you let him. You don't have to ever have anything to do with the VA as a service member or vet unless you want to, and make an appointment and go see them.
During a VA review, you sign paperwork to apply for disability. You don't have to sign that, and you can be selective about what you apply for.
People engage with the VA because $. And it's a whole lot less money than a major airline career. Need to be smart about it.
03-19-2024 | 06:35 AM
#82
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
I am familiar.
The VA doc will only go through your record if you let him. You don't have to ever have anything to do with the VA as a service member or vet unless you want to, and make an appointment and go see them.
During a VA review, you sign paperwork to apply for disability. You don't have to sign that, and you can be selective about what you apply for.
People engage with the VA because $. And it's a whole lot less money than a major airline career. Need to be smart about it.
The VA doc will only go through your record if you let him. You don't have to ever have anything to do with the VA as a service member or vet unless you want to, and make an appointment and go see them.
During a VA review, you sign paperwork to apply for disability. You don't have to sign that, and you can be selective about what you apply for.
People engage with the VA because $. And it's a whole lot less money than a major airline career. Need to be smart about it.
I've been very fortunate to have made it through my military service and still be in reasonably good condition though the beating I took has left me with more than a few aches and pains. I've made a few laps around the sun so I'm sure that can have an affect as well LOL. I remember how they used to harp to everyone in uniform on "don't worry about mental health counseling as it won't affect your clearance/career" I told them they need to understand that the FAA isn't bound by any of that and is not nearly as charitable. On a side note another thing that kept people away from the the VA process was being put on med hold after a deployment while you received screening/care for injuries sustained during the deployment. Imagine being stuck in trashy barracks 1000 miles from home for 6 extra months or more while the military tried to get its act together. Pretty big motivator to keep your mouth shut. The average Joe with no aviation ties is looking at a check of the month club so maximizing dollars is the goal and that makes sense for them. Bottom line is life is all about risk/benefit/reward and everyone has to do the math for their situation.
03-19-2024 | 07:27 AM
#83
Disinterested Third Party
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,758
Likes: 74
There seems to be a concern that claiming disability benefits may jeopardize one's FAA medical. This is not true.
If one claims disability benefits, this does not impose any burden on the FAA medical: the FAA does NOT make aeromedical decisions based on disability claims. Failure to report disability claims is a violation, however.
If one has a condition that does not meet FAA medical standards, this imposes a burden on the FAA medical. It doesn't matter if that condition arises from military service, a bad divorce, or the stressful world of Shakespearean sock puppets. If a medical condition exists that requires further scrutiny (special issuance, testing, documentation, etc) for the application for an FAA airman medical certificate, the FAA considers that condition, and the person with that condition, on an individual basis.
The concern seems to be, "can I hide this from the FAA?" If one is concerned that making a military disability claim might interfere with FAA medical certification, one isn't concerned about the military claim, but rather being caught with someone that one has elected not to reveal to the FAA. This is a violation; failure to cite a disability claim is a violation, but so is witholding information for the FAA airman medical application. Furthermore, exercising the privileges of a FAA medical certificate, while not in compliance with the FAA medical standards, is a separate violation every time one exercises those privileges (five legs in one day is five separate violations).
One can grouse all day long about the unfairness of FAA medical standards, but these standards are what they are: well-established aeromedical standards with the authority of a federal administration and an Act of Congress to back them up. In the context of revealed conditions via application for military benefits, the issue isn't unfairness to military veterans, but ultimately an issue of an individual who is either caught, or doesn't want to be caught, with an unairworthy or non-compliant aeromedical condition.
These lines of conversation tend to overlook the underlying, and most important element: if one has a condition that does not meet FAA medical standards, one shouldn't be flying with that condition, and one shouldn't hold a FAA medical until that condition has been addressed satisfactorily. If one has a disqualifying medical or mental condition, one should absolutely NOT be flying until that condition is resolved. One is absolutely NOT legal to fly until that condition is resolved. Whether the condition is resolved by treatment, or by testing and documentation adequate to demonstrate compliance, it must be resolved; one who whines because (s)he is revealed in deception, in an effort to hide a disqualifying condition, has no leg upon which to stand.
If one claims disability benefits, this does not impose any burden on the FAA medical: the FAA does NOT make aeromedical decisions based on disability claims. Failure to report disability claims is a violation, however.
If one has a condition that does not meet FAA medical standards, this imposes a burden on the FAA medical. It doesn't matter if that condition arises from military service, a bad divorce, or the stressful world of Shakespearean sock puppets. If a medical condition exists that requires further scrutiny (special issuance, testing, documentation, etc) for the application for an FAA airman medical certificate, the FAA considers that condition, and the person with that condition, on an individual basis.
The concern seems to be, "can I hide this from the FAA?" If one is concerned that making a military disability claim might interfere with FAA medical certification, one isn't concerned about the military claim, but rather being caught with someone that one has elected not to reveal to the FAA. This is a violation; failure to cite a disability claim is a violation, but so is witholding information for the FAA airman medical application. Furthermore, exercising the privileges of a FAA medical certificate, while not in compliance with the FAA medical standards, is a separate violation every time one exercises those privileges (five legs in one day is five separate violations).
One can grouse all day long about the unfairness of FAA medical standards, but these standards are what they are: well-established aeromedical standards with the authority of a federal administration and an Act of Congress to back them up. In the context of revealed conditions via application for military benefits, the issue isn't unfairness to military veterans, but ultimately an issue of an individual who is either caught, or doesn't want to be caught, with an unairworthy or non-compliant aeromedical condition.
These lines of conversation tend to overlook the underlying, and most important element: if one has a condition that does not meet FAA medical standards, one shouldn't be flying with that condition, and one shouldn't hold a FAA medical until that condition has been addressed satisfactorily. If one has a disqualifying medical or mental condition, one should absolutely NOT be flying until that condition is resolved. One is absolutely NOT legal to fly until that condition is resolved. Whether the condition is resolved by treatment, or by testing and documentation adequate to demonstrate compliance, it must be resolved; one who whines because (s)he is revealed in deception, in an effort to hide a disqualifying condition, has no leg upon which to stand.
03-19-2024 | 09:17 AM
#84
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,496
Likes: 138
Hiding IS stressful. No doubt about it.
O, that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth! / Then with a passion would I shake the world.
Shakespeare remains important because:
O, that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth! / Then with a passion would I shake the world.
Shakespeare remains important because:
- His plays present people and situations that we recognize today.
- His characters have an emotional reality that transcends time.
- His plays depict familiar experiences, ranging from family squabbles to falling in love to war.
- He originated hundreds of words and phrases that English speakers use to this day.
- His works’ symbolism, wordplay, and characters inspire contemporary writers to push their creative boundaries.
03-25-2024 | 05:38 AM
#85
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 20,877
Likes: 193
So based on the article from WAPO...the FAA is conducting writ large secret investigations into pilot who receive VA benefits...*only* pilots who receive VA benefits. Secret investigations conducted by investigators who were previously employed, and presumably have their retirement pensions controlled by, the former agency, department and section they retired from.
What a great investigative strategy...would work well in Moscow or Berlin 1940. Anyone who thinks the med guys at the FAA aren't simply out to get people need to read no further than "secret." That is not the way a democratic government entity should do business outside of a clear criminal nexus. Not listing that you have hemorrhoids or ED on an FAA medical, does not constitute a criminal nexus yet that act could get you caught up in the same net.
Tax $$$ at work people. DoD breaks you, VA buys you, then FAA takes you back for a refund.
What a great investigative strategy...would work well in Moscow or Berlin 1940. Anyone who thinks the med guys at the FAA aren't simply out to get people need to read no further than "secret." That is not the way a democratic government entity should do business outside of a clear criminal nexus. Not listing that you have hemorrhoids or ED on an FAA medical, does not constitute a criminal nexus yet that act could get you caught up in the same net.
Tax $$$ at work people. DoD breaks you, VA buys you, then FAA takes you back for a refund.
03-25-2024 | 05:53 AM
#86
.
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,507
Likes: 676
You were lucky. I have 6 things driving a SI, 2 required SODA. All done and in place long before I separated. FAA knows about things the VA denies are wrong with me.
Still got caught up in the witch hunt. They wanted proof I didnt lose consciousness in a car accident when I was 3. (Superficial head wound. Bad car accident when a drunk driver ran a red light, broadsided my family, dad was active duty so it ended up in my file somehow)
They wanted a sworn statement from my mother and brother that I didn't lose consciousness. In 1981.
I told the FAA to f off (via amas) on that one. Not going to make my elderly mother relive the worst day of her life. My brother, who was 5, still has health isdues stemming from the accident. (Bad head injury. He still is dealing with the after effects at times)
03-25-2024 | 07:36 PM
#87
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,783
Likes: 131
You were lucky. I have 6 things driving a SI, 2 required SODA. All done and in place long before I separated. FAA knows about things the VA denies are wrong with me.
Still got caught up in the witch hunt. They wanted proof I didnt lose consciousness in a car accident when I was 3. (Superficial head wound. Bad car accident when a drunk driver ran a red light, broadsided my family, dad was active duty so it ended up in my file somehow)
They wanted a sworn statement from my mother and brother that I didn't lose consciousness. In 1981.
I told the FAA to f off (via amas) on that one. Not going to make my elderly mother relive the worst day of her life. My brother, who was 5, still has health isdues stemming from the accident. (Bad head injury. He still is dealing with the after effects at times)
Still got caught up in the witch hunt. They wanted proof I didnt lose consciousness in a car accident when I was 3. (Superficial head wound. Bad car accident when a drunk driver ran a red light, broadsided my family, dad was active duty so it ended up in my file somehow)
They wanted a sworn statement from my mother and brother that I didn't lose consciousness. In 1981.
I told the FAA to f off (via amas) on that one. Not going to make my elderly mother relive the worst day of her life. My brother, who was 5, still has health isdues stemming from the accident. (Bad head injury. He still is dealing with the after effects at times)
03-26-2024 | 02:57 AM
#88
.
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,507
Likes: 676
Because I was treated at a military hospital after. And it was later referenced in my NAMI physical when I got a flight school slot 20 years later. (fairly gnarly looking scar on forehead). Which then makes it all go in the stuff the VA has access too, and the VA turns over EVERYTHING they have on you, to the FAA.
03-26-2024 | 09:39 PM
#89
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,783
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Because I was treated at a military hospital after. And it was later referenced in my NAMI physical when I got a flight school slot 20 years later. (fairly gnarly looking scar on forehead). Which then makes it all go in the stuff the VA has access too, and the VA turns over EVERYTHING they have on you, to the FAA.
05-04-2024 | 08:25 AM
#90
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Joined: Sep 2021
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Again, you are wrong .
Your brother holds a special issuance. He is subject to a requirement to provide any and all information requested by the FAA at any time during the valid period of his special issuance. All airman, and all holders of special issuance are subject to this same requirement; the FAA issues the certificate, and the exemptions, and the FAA can take them away, re-examine them, or require more data. That is the FAA's perrogative.
Whether you have been asked for additional information is irrelevant, and poses no burden on the FAA; the FAA can and does ask whom it will, what it will, for its purposes, as the authority who has the responsibility to do so. You don't get to dictate what the FAA asks for. The FAA dictates; you provide. It's that simple.
This is not about military vs. civilian, and your brother does not hold a military special issuance. That's a FAA special issuance. Military, or civilian makes no difference. The FAA has requested documentation, and he will provide it, or may find himself without a special issuance or medical. Again, it's that simple.
Oh, there is, and the FAA does it all the time. You can refuse to provide data to the FAA. The FAA can also refuse to issue a medical certificate. Keep in mind that you do not have a right to a FAA airman medical certificate, nor to a pilot certificate.
You're going to have to explain this "military SI" thing. A "mil person" requires a special issuance, but a civilian doesn't? If a person has a condition which requires a special issuance, it doesn't matter if that person has a military background or not. That person has a legal requirement to declare it, and failure to declare it is a violation which may result in suspension or revocation (administrative action), up to and including criminal charges and fines/imprisonment, depending on the circumstances. There are penalties for failing to disclose, or faiilure to make truthful statements on a legal document (eg, airman medical application).
Your argument seems to be that you can get away with it. You sure that's how you want to roll?
Your argument seems to be that military personnel who seek a military disability rating (somthing military personnel must seek, to obtain benefits) are somehow rooted out by the FAA in a quest to unfairly target disabled military personnel. This is not true, and you do not understand either process.
The FAA did not target military personnel. The VA targed FAA certificate holders, while the VA was looking for disability fraud. The FAA tried to stay out of it, until the VA brought legal action.
The FAA has long required applicants to disclose diability claims. Read your airman medical application form. Item 18.y doesn't cite military disability benefits. The applicant is asked if (s)he has, or has ever had medical disability benefits . You could argue that you could get away with some benefits by hiding them from the FAA, and maybe you could, for a time. The FAA can and does discover such things by other means than self-disclosure. Perhaps you hide it for ten years but it shows up during an application for a special issueance for something entirely unrelated, in insurance paperwork, etc (which may become relevant and discovered); now you have a crime on your hands, instead of something you could have disclosed properly. Hide and violate the regulation at your peril, and kepe chanting to yourself that the FAA won't find out. Good luck.
Most of your comments are flawed in premise, and we could address that, but you're not listening, you're beating a drum for your own benefit, and you are agenda-driven here. Your implicit bias is wrong, but very apparent, and any effort to educate you on this matter is clearly wasted. Your commentary smacks of a fantasy world, and is far removed from reality. I focus on reality. If you make it back this way, stop in and say hi...but don't bring your assumptions and agenda with you. We won't be having that conversation again.
Your brother holds a special issuance. He is subject to a requirement to provide any and all information requested by the FAA at any time during the valid period of his special issuance. All airman, and all holders of special issuance are subject to this same requirement; the FAA issues the certificate, and the exemptions, and the FAA can take them away, re-examine them, or require more data. That is the FAA's perrogative.
Whether you have been asked for additional information is irrelevant, and poses no burden on the FAA; the FAA can and does ask whom it will, what it will, for its purposes, as the authority who has the responsibility to do so. You don't get to dictate what the FAA asks for. The FAA dictates; you provide. It's that simple.
This is not about military vs. civilian, and your brother does not hold a military special issuance. That's a FAA special issuance. Military, or civilian makes no difference. The FAA has requested documentation, and he will provide it, or may find himself without a special issuance or medical. Again, it's that simple.
Oh, there is, and the FAA does it all the time. You can refuse to provide data to the FAA. The FAA can also refuse to issue a medical certificate. Keep in mind that you do not have a right to a FAA airman medical certificate, nor to a pilot certificate.
You're going to have to explain this "military SI" thing. A "mil person" requires a special issuance, but a civilian doesn't? If a person has a condition which requires a special issuance, it doesn't matter if that person has a military background or not. That person has a legal requirement to declare it, and failure to declare it is a violation which may result in suspension or revocation (administrative action), up to and including criminal charges and fines/imprisonment, depending on the circumstances. There are penalties for failing to disclose, or faiilure to make truthful statements on a legal document (eg, airman medical application).
Your argument seems to be that you can get away with it. You sure that's how you want to roll?
Your argument seems to be that military personnel who seek a military disability rating (somthing military personnel must seek, to obtain benefits) are somehow rooted out by the FAA in a quest to unfairly target disabled military personnel. This is not true, and you do not understand either process.
The FAA did not target military personnel. The VA targed FAA certificate holders, while the VA was looking for disability fraud. The FAA tried to stay out of it, until the VA brought legal action.
The FAA has long required applicants to disclose diability claims. Read your airman medical application form. Item 18.y doesn't cite military disability benefits. The applicant is asked if (s)he has, or has ever had medical disability benefits . You could argue that you could get away with some benefits by hiding them from the FAA, and maybe you could, for a time. The FAA can and does discover such things by other means than self-disclosure. Perhaps you hide it for ten years but it shows up during an application for a special issueance for something entirely unrelated, in insurance paperwork, etc (which may become relevant and discovered); now you have a crime on your hands, instead of something you could have disclosed properly. Hide and violate the regulation at your peril, and kepe chanting to yourself that the FAA won't find out. Good luck.
Most of your comments are flawed in premise, and we could address that, but you're not listening, you're beating a drum for your own benefit, and you are agenda-driven here. Your implicit bias is wrong, but very apparent, and any effort to educate you on this matter is clearly wasted. Your commentary smacks of a fantasy world, and is far removed from reality. I focus on reality. If you make it back this way, stop in and say hi...but don't bring your assumptions and agenda with you. We won't be having that conversation again.
Do you have a source for the legal push from the VA on the FAA? I believe you, I’d just like to see something from a reliable source. Thanks.
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