As has been the case for well over a tenth of a century, I continue to offer advice for free. There is no special $99.95 Bootcamp for Beginners fee or the $199.99 Advanced Infantry Course for SMC where you actually get to break bread with the Exalted One. Pay walls are forbidden here as are advertizements for Viagra™ or Russian wives. My website is free partly because I married a rich girl and in equal part because VA pays me for my disabilities. I love doing VA claims for one reason- revenge. For twenty eight years, VA insisted I never served in Vietnam. How many of you has that happened to?
They called me a liar. But to us, Luang Prabang (L 54) was sort of the furthermost westerly terminus of the DMZ for all intents and purposes. Some Poohbah at the Vientiane Embassy changed my status from Airman First Class in Communications to Employee (French teacher) of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In the military, you go where you’re told to.
Every Vet I get service-connected now is one more twist of the knife in their ribs. Nobody should have to wait that long. Yet here I find myself nine years into a claim/appeal and seven years post mortem of the Vet. What’s insane to me is how the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) -aka the Station of Jurisdiction (SOJ)- can blithely blow it off and blatantly ignore that which the Board asked for in the remand back in 2021. To me, this is one of the greatest flaws in the transition from Legacy to AMA.
Each VA claim or appeal now is a one off “transaction” with a 365 day fuse on it. Think of it as a very slow M 26. Each appeal, once heard, decided and remanded et cetera, is like an Amazon package delivery. If it ain’t what you ordered, it’s off to the local UPS avec your return label to get it fixed. If you don’t bitch for a year, then you have to start over again. If you do bitch, a DRO review usually takes forever. You’re better off going to the BVA to win due to administrative error. But let’s talk about Bob. https://asknod.org/2018/07/05/milestones-9-24-49-7-1-2018/
Bob was an avid hunter and lover of exotic guns like me. He was also a two-tour Vietnam Vet like me and washed off a lot of Agent Orange that was sprayed on him out in the Iron Triangle of I Corps. Unlike me, however, he had a Purple Heart and an ArCom with an OLC, three Bronze Stars and he wasn’t even an 11 Bravo. He was one of those 95 Bravo 40 military policemen in the wrong place at the wrong time. Later, when he got out, they conceded the CIB so he did at least get that- but no Blue Fourragè.
Along about 2016, Bob found me and I took his claim(s). Bob’s heart was going south fast and he needed his wife to be covered for DIC- like RFN. It got worse when he added that the chronic sinusitis from getting hosed out in the field w/AO had turned into cancer in his nose. I reasoned this was part of the respiratory tract. VA insisted it wasn’t on the main chute from the nose to the lungs and denied again and again. While we argued back and forth, Bob augered in. That was July of ’18. I got an IMO from Mednick and took it to the Board in ’19. I needed the win to get the surviving spouse DIC because he’d only been at about 70% for Bent Brain syndrome and tinnitus.
I got the positive BVA decision for cause of death being Agent Orange and accomplished the primary objective of her DIC and accrued claims but VA just had to tweak it to short sheet the SMC entitlement. I’d filed Bob for 100 for IHD because he was blowing a 23% on his Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction (LVEF). He was popping Nitro pills like Tic Tacs for his angina symptoms. A week later when the sinus cancer was diagnosed, I filed for that too.
So VA gets the BVA decision granting service connection for the cancer back in ’21 and gomers it out. The front page of the Rating Decision (RD) announcing the award said:
“Entitlement to aid and attendance of another is established as of 12/17/2017″ which was the date of the 526 request for increase for his Ischemic Heart disease.
Right below it, the rating decision said:
“Entitlement to aid and attendance of another is established as of 12/26/2017.” which was the date of the 526 request for service connection for sinus cancer, brain cancer and liver cancer.
But, in spite of that clear and unmistakable English, on page 7 the RD, the Gomers said
“Entitlement to being bedridden is granted as of 12/17/2017.” followed by…
Entitlement to increase in the SMC from the Statutory rate of SMC L to M under §3.304(f)(4) is granted as of 12/26/2017.
And… Poof! Suddenly, my carefully laid SMC O/R 1 punji pit was gone with the wind. I’d been outwitted by village idiots. A quick survey of the Notes section on the EP in VBMS confirmed the skullduggery. As most know, §3.103(a) says in no uncertain terms that they have to give you everything they legally can short of giving away the farm. Here, the conversation in Notes centered on lowballing a dead man. Alex is an Agent which, IQ-wise, is slightly above a VSO but decidedly way below a Juris Doctorate. He probably won’t even notice we screwed the widow.
Granted, we’re talking about a period of about seven months from filing the claims to Bob’s death but you have to realize SMC is due and owing when the evidence supports the award-not the date of the claim. His heart had been going downhill pell mell for the last six months. The RD jacked him from 30% to 100% but they didn’t consider aid and attendance other than the bedridden determination. That’s how the M 21 works…
So, I strapped on my typewriter guns and proceeded to fight for his wife. If the shoe was on the other foot, I’m sure Bob would have done it for me.
This ended up with the BVA asking for clarification so they could decide if he deserved a SMC rating of R1…
The VA’s response was simple- SMC L for bedridden was confirmed and continued as was the increase bump from L to M. Which meant I had to file yet again to get the BVA to force them to tell us the truth. Four years later, the BVA finally got around to cutting the remand again…
redact 7.2.2024 2nd remand from BVA
And finally, after mulling this one over, the OAR decided to answer six months later (last week). It makes me wonder if they were debating whether to even admit the truth or keep on stonewalling.
So, it’s back to the drawing board again to get it sorted. Bob must be up there in Heaven apoplectic as all Hell by now over this but at least he can see I haven’t given up. The funny thing is I got a notice from BVA this AM early saying the Appeal had been docketed as of this morning but the docket date, which always mirrors the date of the legal brief submittal, is dated the day BEFORE the rating decision-i.e., January 12, 2025.
redact 10182 No. 3 filed 1.24.2025
My patented ‘make them shit or go blind’ technique even provoked a real boner this time. The RD insists he’s at R1 already and that’s confirmed and continued. But the code sheet still says he got Poor Man’s R1- SMC P at M+K. That’s a fer piece from R1 as the crow flies. I will give them this. They finally answered the VLJ and admitted the bedridden rating was strictly for sinus cancer, brain cancer and liver cancer so that should put a fork in this once and for all. But you never know what the VA’s Clown Corps can come up with.
This Notice of Disagreement will be my third attempt to summit R1. My guess is the BVA is getting a bit put out by the Secretary’s laissez faire approach to litigating and answering with bullshit responses. I’ve never had to ride the BVA Hamster wheel three times just to get it sorted. God forbid there’ll be a fourth.
This video is a great one. I wish Bob was still here to watch it.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
I did something close to this. My Daughter referred me to her Aunt-in-law about a VA Claim. He had a sort of Leukemia that the VA didn’t consider a presumptive. I did some research and found out that AO used benzines (fuel) as a carrier. Benzine was (a) the cause of this type of Leukemia. Oil is used as a spreader/sticker to ensure that AO stuck to the foliage. So I got his non-VA oncologist to write an IMO for us. I put the claim together and submitted it.
Six days later he expired and took that final chopper ride outta here. The VA killed his claim and said sorry sucker, he’s gone. More research and next I was screaming at the 800 idiots about denying his widow the right to assume his claim. Regardless, I sent in the demand to assume the claim to the Wisconsin mail hole. It took 2 weeks and they sent the letter to the widow, and 2 days later the decision came down approved. So we filed for DIC and CHAMPVA for the lady. We found out the claim was approved when 6 days backpay came in.All of this happened in around 4 months. I got lucky. We ended up getting the rest of the 4 months back pay around 2 years later. Not enough to buy a sailboat, but it got the widow a Jeep.
The Aunt-in-law’s husband was the “he” involved. When he got to Nam as an E3 he was awarded the job of re-containerizing 55 gallon barrels of AO that had sprung a leak.
I’ve resorted to filing 80-page bar association complaints when the VLJ does something especially unethical. And that’s what the VA specializes in: creating an army of lawyers whose first priority is to them, not the Judicial Conference Canon of Ethics or even the State Bar rules. Look at Kansas – they’re very strict there and some VLJ’s work remotely from it. But the VA only needs them if they have a law license, which they risk everyday to punish the most ill Veterans. But hey, it helps that one lawyer (and his 60-junior lawyer staff) get better metrics. The Board is the problem.
UPDATE: The Virginia Bar complaint about a VLJ was bounced back because they said they don’t get involved with Judges, perhaps they include ALJ/VLJ’s. So, I mailed the complaint to the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, which deals with Judges.
Apparently, each State or most States are like this. So, complaints about VLJ Council or General Attorney go the Bar Associations and about the VLJ, go to Judicial Inquiry and Review Commissions. I’m guessing that complaints about Judges at the CAVC, CAFC and SC also go to the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. SC maybe to the Judicial Conference.
Complaints about VA lawyers who are opposing council (appellee) at the CAVC go to the Bars. But the CAVC Judges “sometimes” keep them in line anyways.
The point being, it’s all the same actions – send in a packet and they’ll tell you they accept it or if not, where to go instead. Repeat until it’s adjudicated.
I owe all this gusto to Alex’s blogging, he’s the People’s SECVA.
Update #2: The Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission bounced the complaint back about a VLJ because they only handle State judges, not Federal ones like Board judges.
So, I filed the complaint for the 3rd time with the Judicial Conference, using their form called, “COMPLAINT OF JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT OR [a Judge’s] DISABILITY,” which prevents the judge from delivering excellent work product.
It’s available on USCourts.gov. or web search that term, “COMPLAINT OF JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT OR DISABILITY.”
Then, for Board judges, it is to be mailed to the Federal Circuit Court where they work, which is:
Clerk of the Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
A claim decision cannot be re-argued, this type of complaint must be about the Judge’s behavior. Read the rules online as they cite examples for a submission.
I presume that this is also the procedure to file a complaint about a CAVC judge and onwards, such as the CAFC & Supreme Court. I intend to do that soon as my CAVC experience of about a dozen appeals was a rough learning experience and some wrong stuff did occur.
In summa, a Judge must have done something really unethical, such as doxxing a Veteran’s person information on their public website or something of that caliber.
Judge’s presumable are expert at doing something called, in a latin law dictionary, Color – deceptive appearance or disguise; designates hiding a set of facts behind a false, but technically proper legal theory.
It will take a claimant to finally get fed up and call it out. I feel it’s a learning experience to present a rules violation of the Judicial Conference and see what they do about it. To read the language they use to dismiss it or open an investigation. Might be worth it after getting hundreds of boilerplate denial letters.
I have noticed that many longtime lawyers who do VA Claims will appeal into every possible corner to experience and see what it’s like to ask for a 3-judge reconsideration, then an en banc decision so they become expert on all that is available.
I feel that Alex has this curious spirit as he has filed many different types of appeals and types of communications with the VA & Courts, asking about the disrespect of Veterans and inquiring why they treat us like 2nd-class citizens.
To me personally, that’s how I view the asknod website: that if a Veteran can surmount the barrier of feeling rage over a denial letter (took me about 15 years), then there’s a whole other world to engage the VA and the Courts, which will help a Veteran to understand how & why they got injured and what’s going to happen to them medically, as this is the 800-pound gorilla in the room – that a Veteran’s own Country could accidentally injure him with chemical poisons and medical malpractice like unsanitized jet guns, which is only something done by a bound-to-go-extinct group of folks.
I also thank John Stacy for his longtime radio show, which Alex kindly participates in. Then Jerrel, Ray and James.
the cobra is a must have for every breakfast! its abysmal the VA behavior towards its hero’s. So pleased you were placed in an advantageous position to help veterans & their families who need you. You have helped so many in the years I have known you… a truly gifted unselfish fellow. Keep up the great work!