One thing that separates my blog apart from all of the other VA disability blogs is that I’m a fan of Veterans first, and it’s my job second. It’s no secret that my favorite branch is the Coast Guard, but I think all five branches are pretty cool. I am not pandering when I say I get excited when I get to meet someone who served. Everyone who serves is pretty brave in my mind. However, there are different jobs in the military that are, arguably, more dangerous than others. I met someone who served as an Army Ranger last you and you would have thought I was a teenage girl meeting one of the Backstreet Boys. (I realize that is a dated reference, but I have no idea what young people listen to today.) Every job in the military is important; some are just more difficult than others. No judgment, but a 44C Finance Specialist Accounting Specialist, isn’t going to have the same experience as a 31B, Military Police. Simply stated, a Veteran who was a Military Policeman will likely have a more physical job than an accountant.
Your MOS can actually play a big part in establishing service connection for your claim. We can assume that an MP had to do a lot of physical training, and physical work every day. In the same regard, a Veteran who was a 44C will likely get service connection for something like carpal tunnel easier than a Veteran who didn’t work with as much data entry.
While my title is trying to be cute, and playoff a popular meme, a lot of Veterans have multiple Military Occupations in service. Also, a lot of Veterans have told me that they may have been assigned a specific MOS but did a different job entirely. From what I’ve been told, no one in the military ever really just does their MOS.
You have to work hard no matter what job you do in the military, but what if you were an accountant, and chose to go to Airborne School? Well, that plays a part in your case too. Veterans, who passed Airborne, or really any school or classification in any branch that required you to jump from a plane, are really tough. I know this because I’ve researched cases of Veterans who did jumps in service. They almost always have severe joint and back pain. The reason is that jumping in the military is far different than what a civilian does when the go skydiving. The landings are much tougher, and the frequency to which they jump is much higher than a civilian. So, we look at cases for Veterans who did multiple air jumps in service much differently than Veterans who didn’t have any jumps. This really only pertains to joint issues though.
When discussing Military Occupations one MOS that is often overlooked is mechanics. First of all, I am staggered by how many Veterans are a mechanic in the military. Every branch of service has a lot of equipment, and that equipment has to be worked on. In turn, every branch of the military has a lot of mechanics. Mechanical work is also very physical and this causes a lot of joint pain. If a Veteran approached me with back issues, but didn’t treat for it in service, I’d consider his case if he served as a mechanic.
Finally, a lot of Veterans have Military Occupations dealing with Infantry. Infantrymen, Combat Engineer, and Calvary Scout are just some of the occupations in which a Veteran may have if he or she served in combat. These occupations are more likely to have physical disabilities and mental disabilities.
Keep in mind that this is just an outline of what disabilities a certain occupation may have. Of course, an accountant can have PTSD or a Combat Engineer can have carpel tunnel. Every Veteran has a different experience and every VA Disability claim is different.
If you’d like to discuss your VA disability claim, call me today for a free consultation. Our toll free number is 1-877-526-3457. Or, fill out this form now to schedule your consultation at a later time.
