Question:
I was discharged with an OTH due to drug use. Down through the years I have filed for different benefits starting with unemployment compensation the month after I got out. With the exception of a VA home loan guarantee, I have been denied each time. There have been Character of Discharge (COD) reviews that say that my service was not honorable for VA purposes. In 2013 and 2014, I filed after getting a diagnosis for PTSD and was denied again. I appealed to the BVA. There was no action taken on the claims since I first had to have veteran status.
When I filed my Notice of Disagreement (NOD), I mentioned that I was in disagreement with the COD ruling since I had the diagnosis that shows my in-service stressor and other evidence. There was no decision or Statement of the Case (SOC) referencing the claims, just the discharge. I had a hearing with Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) and my case was remanded for further development and records while we awaited the decision from BCNR.
My discharge was eventually upgraded to general under honorable conditions by the BCNR. The BCNR notified the VA and they granted my appeal and closed it out. I have not heard from the BVA that they closed it. Before they closed it, I wanted to know if they would give instructions to review for any unadjudicated claims (which is what these are)? According to this piece in the Federal Registry, it sounds like that is part of their final instructions to the VA. This would give me an earlier effective date than if I were to file a new claim (which is what I was instructed to do by the VA).
Jim's Reply:
"I wanted to know if they would give instructions to review for any unadjudicated claims (which is what these are)?"
Yes, that should be the way this is managed. "Should be" leaves a lot of room for VA to not do it the way it should be done though.
The biggest problem I see is that your claim and appeal has traveled all over the map. Back and forth from VBA to BVA and with input from BCNR, your folder is scattered in bits and pieces of electronic records and unscanned paper records. Reconciling all that in front of a rater with instructions to review inferred unadjudicated claims is a tall order. The juncture where you find yourself today is why the appeals phrase, "the hamster wheel" came into being. Once remands start from once place or another, it can take a long while to catch up. You feel like you're in a cage and the hamster wheel is the only thing moving...and going nowhere.
Your best bet is to be meticulous in your keeping of your records so that when time comes, you'll have all the t's crossed and i's dotted. If I were you I'd go ahead and formally file the claim(s) that I believed were legit and would cause that earlier effective date and then...wait patiently. Good luck.