Veteranslimboland - Day 351 by Ron Capps | July 07, 2011 | + Tweet looks like I'm below average. Last week, I wrote here that I submitted my claim for VA benefits ten months ago. That's not entirely correct. Mea culpa. To set the record straight, I filed my claim more than eleven months ago, on July 21, 2010. My claim has been pending? In the VA Baltimore office for 351 days. I promised to keep readers updated on the progress of my efforts to secure these benefits. Since nothing new has happened in the past week, I will explain where I stand on this point. In July of 2010, the VA changed its standard for validating PTSD claims in an attempt to shorten arbitration. This does not mean that every soldier returning from Iraq or Afghanistan automatically qualifies for VA benefits for PTSD. It only opens the door a bit wider for veterans to get a hearing - well, a Compensation and Pension (C & P) examination - to show that he or she has PTSD and that it is service-connected. When the revised application procedure came out, I decided to file. It took me about a week to put together the application and required documents. Someone who is better at keeping records and such could probably do it in half a day. Instead of trusting email, I used the VA electronic filing system, VONAPP, so my request would go directly into the system. Later that week, I went to the Washington VA Medical Center for a meeting with a representative from a veteran’s service organization to discuss my application and get advice on following up. (Various VSOS have representatives in the hospital, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans.) The representative who helped me had never seen a VONAPP application before but agreed to help follow my claim through the system. My application included verification that I had served in Afghanistan and other combat zones. I provided the names of doctors who had treated me and forms authorizing the VA to obtain privileged information about these treatments. I also submitted an extensive, written explanation of what I had experienced during the war and afterward. Since the idea of compensation is to make the veteran whole for things not available or lost as a result of a disability, I explained how I lost my security clearance due to PTSD and how that affected my career. Then I waited. Since then, I've received a few letters saying, more or less: "We're working on it." A few months ago, my doctors' requests for information were received, and at least two of them have complied. I haven't received anything new from the VA in quite some time. I've applied for several jobs this year. If I had received my evaluation, I might have been able to claim a ten-point veteran's preference. But without the VA evaluation, I can't. So, like over 750,000 other veterans waiting for a C & P exam, I am still waiting here in Limboland. Related articles: [links provided]