Above, under the Battle for Saigon medal, is a new category. For those of you who had or are currently having a claim done by the VA, you can peruse the VARO’s employee lists for the specific VARO and find out a lot about the person/persons doing your claim. This is more than idle conjecture. It allows you to see the person’s bona fides, his qualifications, duration of employment and GS rating. Obviously, someone employed there 20 years with a GS rating of 9 is a complete dolt and shouldn’t be allowed to scrub the toilets unsupervised. VA has always been intrusive into our medical history and employment. They have, on occasion, even resorted to the use of the CBI (criminal background investigation) to ascertain any staycations at Institutions for Remedial Moral Reeducation (prisons).
It only seems like turnabout fair play for us to employ some of the same techniques in pursuit of finding out “who’s on first”. A warm thank you to GS for sending this little morsel in.
Above is the world’s largest tie-dyed T shirt. The guy who ordered it never came back to pick it up, so they donated it to some guys in Pomona. They turned it into this, like, totally awesome skateboard park, dude. Sorry. I’m just kidding. It’s called a Danxia Landform and there are several examples of it in China. This one is in Zhangye Province in Gansu- home of the world famous Gansu carving knives…from the Spiegal Catalogue– Chicago 60609.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
Mine is a GS-07 but the DRO he works for is well a GS-14 with constant PMS for denial….with a DRO like that how could a vet ever win? 🙂
That’s OK as I’m sure my VARO isn’t the first nor will it be the last, to toss common sense or common law out the window!
The more VA legal horror stories I read here, and in the actual denial of claims, the more I think that vets need experienced private lawyers to help them draft a realistic claim.
For example, after scanning lots of denied HCV claims I really wonder why anyone who has used illegal IV drugs–and it’s even in their VA health records– would even try to claim service-connection for it. It’s not going to happen and they’re clogging the claim system. They’re wasting time and hurting other vets. They should be treated for HCV of course. SS Administration might be the place to go for them.
And then there’s the stigma of HCV for vets who, through no fault of their own, were infected, but are looked upon as probable liars. Guilt by association–but with the only association being military service? My DH (USMC) never even saw anyone shoot up in-country. He was too busy trying to do his job and stay alive. He did smoke some cannabis for insomnia while in the jungle–one of its medical properties/indications is as a sleep aid–but cannabis reefers are not associated with HCV.
Another comment on stigmatizing statements regarding risky behaviors in claims. Cigarette smoking.. Yet free cartons of cigarettes were given to Vietnam Marines in his unit.
In fairness, shouldn’t all stigmatizing language regarding or linking tobacco risk factors and HCV be stricken from these records given that tobacco addiction probably began while servicing the country? Result: millions with lung cancer, millions with COPD, and the emotional and financial burden on families and society.
Frivolous filings are part and part and parcel of the VA. There will always be one in a crowd who decides to ride in on the coattails of others. Apathy and ennui are endemic in all walks of life. Look no further than the Welfare office. HCV has long been equated with HIV and thus a disease of moral reprobates. The prevalence in the military disputes this as you point out. I spent two years all over SEA and never saw a syringe outside a hospital-morphine styrettes on dustoffs excluded. Some may say my view of VA is extreme in their factfinding. I call them as I see them from the perspective of 22 years. There is no such thing as fair and balanced in this process. As in military justice, you are guilty until exonerated.
How could a veteran use the VARO information to help their case? Could actual biases be uncovered sufficient to ask for someone else?
You really can’t use it per se, but it’s endless entertainment. Often we get calls from the raters when they are doing the claim. Once you know their name you can find out their pay grade and figure out if you have a Cherry doing your claim. I looked up the DRO gal in the Seattle office and my rater today. Their paycheck is far less than I would have imagined.