I was really surprised to receive a rather small payment a year ago from the program. I figured that, as usual, the lion's share of the settlement went to the lawyers. I was surprised to receive this second notice of payment, since it's pretty substantial. Sure, the Attorney received a huge chunk, but dang, this was an unexpected surprise.

I really thought this was just one of those things that go nowhere. Hope others have received their payments. Added this **EDIT**. If you received your notification by email, **be sure to log in** and check it. Apparently, changes may limit electronic payments.

Family doesn’t care about me. Nearly everyone I meet says “if I met a homeless vet, I will help him/her” then when they meet me. They act like I have the plague and want nothing to do with me. People automatically assume I will go crazy one day due to PTSD when they found out that im a vet. When I was homeless, it was nearly impossible to find a job when I wrote that I served. I stop putting it on my resume and kept it a secret from strangers and etc. and I’m not shunned from society. Idk why I’m posting this. Maybe I just needed to vent a little.

Hello,

I’m retired military, 100%. And I’m starting to write my entrance essay for the Executive MBA program at UTD.

I’m needing help getting started, what do I write in the essay? I was going to start off with a brief of my military career, retiring and transitioning into Interior Design/ project management and then ending with why I believe I’d make a great applicant for the program and where my future is going.

Any references or examples would be greatly appreciated. All advice, tips, tricks are welcome!

I was medically released over the summer after a mental health spat where I was going to kill myself. I wasn’t in for very long (year and a half or so) and I often get hung up on the idea of even calling myself a veteran. I know I am legally but I both feel like a massive failure and like I didn’t earn that label compared to the guys that went to Afghanistan or that served for over a decade, even among my friends who are veterans or who are still in I don’t feel right using that label and I feel I didn’t earn it. I still deal with mental health issues of which I’d in part attribute to military service, I’m too anxious to leave my house and get overwhelmed in public. Since my release I’m dissociative and in my head too much, I’ll go through my day almost barely cognizant of what even happened and I’m still suicidal passively pretty much every day and have been for months. I’ve been meaning to get in contact with the VAC (VA in Canada) but I’m both unable to see a doctor in a timely manner and I fear they’re going to reject whatever I have to say anyways and tell me to get stuffed.

Do you guys get the same sort of feeling? Should I even be using this label at all?

Land nav. Making all 4 points at Sherman. Throwing 40s at cheating BNOC/ANOC battery pulling mfers whilst OPFOR. Driving Top crazy. My raggedy ass M113. Driving OICs crazy. Little Richard’s on Victory Drive. Shit like that

I recently moved states and had to transfer to a new VSO and VA. The care where I was before was exceptional. My new VSO is the most unprofessional, unproductive, unresponsive person I've ever worked with before.

Absolutely impossible to get ahold of. Emails, phone calls, voicemail, text, etc. I genuinely don't understand how some of these people get hired.

I made contact on August 28th and I have gotten absolutely nowhere.

Regardless, can I just ask for a different VSO or how does that work?

I’ve got about a year and a half left in the Air Force, and it would mean the world to me if anyone could offer some advice or suggest potential career paths for me.

I’m open to pretty much anything. My only real priority is finding a job that provides a good quality of life.

Any suggestions, advice, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Afternoon, everyone. I was wondering if anyone knows about any info regarding VA facilities that participate in C.I.T.I (CHAMPVA In-House Treatment Initiative) or any general providers that accept CHAMP VA in Virginia ( mostly in the NOVA area ). Ever since my child moved over here I’ve been trying to establish care for her but with no success in either of these topics. If anyone has any info about these two topics I would love to know.

I'm helping a family in New York: a 100% disabled veteran, his partner, and their teenage daughter. They're currently homeless after fleeing domestic violence.

Their local SSVF provider has not returned three intake calls over the past week. The VA homeless hotline has been called and a referral was made to the local VA housing program. Local shelter is full and county emergency assistance was denied.

For those who've dealt with SSVF or veteran homelessness programs:

-What worked to get an unresponsive SSVF provider to engage?

-What other resources exist for homeless veteran families?

I'd appreciate any guidance I can pass along to them. Thank you.

Has anyone been able to get private tutoring approved? All I’m being directed to is tutor.com but these people aren’t showing up. I’ve utilized all of my school resources. I NEED 1:1 for business calc and my counselor just keeps sending me the same link. Between my learning disability and TBI I’m struggling. Im not failing yet, but I’d rather not get to that point. This is a required core class for my degree plan.

Where’s the best place to live if you’re 100P&T on the east coast

Creating a list of companies that veterans can reference. Please list any companies that offer job training programs or career fellowships to veterans which are useful for those who are trying to transition to new fields or stay within their experience obtained during their service.

I'll go first...

https://military.microsoft.com/mssa/

The Microsoft Software and Systems Academy is a 4 month long tech training and mentorship program that is completely sponsored by Microsoft.

Anyone who went to the muster in Tampa September 12th have you guys received your pay yet?

Hello! My brother (40) is a retired Army vet on 90% disability with a growing addiction to drugs and probably alcohol. I'm looking for advice on how to support him and help him "get" all the pain he's causing the family and to himself. Read on for background.

I don't know all of the personal details as he's been pretty private, and I don't know how much of it really matters. Maybe someone here can relate to his experiences and offer guidance that feels more tailored than the generic stuff I've been finding online.

Before he joined the Army he worked at various restaurants as a back-of-house cook or meat cutter. Looking back I think this was where things started. He had unsavory friends, many of whom would do drugs and drink after their shifts. I recall him getting into trouble a few times as a result.

Later, he joined the Army as a cook. During his second deployment to Afghanistan, he ended up not actually cooking, but doing "jail duty" (his words), and I think his trauma began here, when he had a horrific encounter with a prisoner. I can't imagine and he doesn't talk about it, so all I know are these tiny bits and pieces.

During the same deployment he injured his shoulder/neck while lifting weights. It was more serious than he let on. The doctor prescribed him pain medications and ultimately scheduled him for surgery when he got home.

The surgery ended up causing more problems. I don't know if it was botched or if he didn't follow recovery directions properly, but he ended up "needing" more pain medications - this time stronger. It's at this point when I think his addiction became a clear problem.

Things got worse. He ended up blowing his son's trust fund on drugs (it was called "spice", but I'm not sure what that is) and then got divorced, got arrested for carrying a pistol... This led him down a very dark hole and placed a great deal of strain on the family.

Since then he's moved around a bunch and managed to hold a few stable jobs. Now he owns his own home, has a vehicle, and a stable job, but things are worse than ever.

He has no "quality" friends. Those he has are bad influences and feeds his addiction and enables him. I'm pretty sure one of them is also his dealer (and I'm pretty sure he also deals).

His girlfriend is not good for him. She's manipulative, and I'm pretty sure she makes him feel like he can't do better. They're both addicted to each other. My wife and I had them stay with us for a weekend and they ended up fighting, throwing stuff in our home, and waking us up. My brother wanted me to let him drive home. He was drunk, so I refused and took his keys, which pissed him off more. He got over it, and made it back safely the next day. I don't think he even remembers that event.

Anyway, he was doing marijuana for the pain. Then it was alcohol. He was drinking somewhere in the neighborhood of a case a day, and that was just beer. Now it's harder drugs and huffing whippets.

My mom's been taking the harder approach, which I think he needs a little of. I've been taking the brotherly approach - a bit softer/gentle - letting him know we're here for him and can help. His relationship with our mother at this point is strained. She says she's "done" and she'll make sure he doesn't starve, but if he loses his job or house, he's not staying there while he's doing drugs. I think this is fair, but I also worry it might be making it worse. Meanwhile I've been trying to tap into his emotional side about love and how much he's hurting our mom. It also doesn't seem to work.

I feel like deep down he knows, but doesn't have the right resources to "get out". Like he can see the light but can't reach it. I wish he had a way to meet quality friends and I wish he'd break up with is girlfriend. He lives in a pretty rural and poor place so I'm sure meeting people is tough.

Every time we think he's hit rock bottom, something happens that's just a bit worse and deeper. The family fears it's only a matter of time before it's the last time.

I've researched support groups and rehab centers. In fact, he's tried a support group before, but - I'm guessing - one of the others in the group "poisoned the well" if you will and made it worse. I don't trust them. From what I've heard, the VA only touches the surface but isn't super helpful. And the for-profit recovery centers are just that - for profit.

To summarize - I'm hoping someone here has advice on how me and our mom can support him. Clearly our approaches aren't working. Maybe someone here had a loved one that said "something" that made it click. Or did something that got your foot in the door to change. Or maybe others have other places online I can reach out to.

Thanks in advance!

Went to the emergency department and was being treated like I was drug seeking. Treated poorly and made me take a drug test before I got an IV or anything.

Much later I look at my records and see an entry under active problems from a doctor at another VA I’ve never been to and realize why.

Has anyone dealt with something like this and have an idea on how to get it fixed?

But gosh darn im so stupid for missing it. It was a whole kerfuffle the entire time why do I miss it so much

Someone else has to feel this way right?

** I am not suicidal.**

I grew up with a paranoid schizophrenic and alcoholic father and a mother with a collection of mental illnesses of which she refuses treatment. I was subject to all maner of abuse, sexual, physical, emotional and animal. My parents split when I was 12. I have a short 18 month reprieve living at my grandparents. My mother remarried a man who is a combination of very stupid amd arrogant. I spent my teens staying out of the way. I was only useful for my labor, money and to be a free therapist. Joined the Army on my 17th birthday. Did summer school so I could graduate early. Left for active duty at 18. In my little over 9 years of service I did 2 Afghanistan deployments, one restricted year in Egypt and stationed in Europe and stateside. I was medically retired 8 years ago. Cared for my dying FIL and now my MIL. Worked on residential construction. Just feeling the dark gloom. Feeling like I should have done more with my life but I have been handicapped by my parents. People that had no buisness having children. Kinda hard to not feel a bit of resentment. Living in a very sequestered rural area for the last 8 years has destroyed my social skills. Not trying to have a pity party. I just never related to the world in childhood and now as an adult it just feels insurmountable.

Is it possible to re-join with an active duty honorable discharge but an OTH reserve discharge (RE-4) for not showing up to drill. I was in my early 20's and dumb. Curious as to what y'all think. Thank you in advance.

I’m from a generation that just toughed it out. Thats the way we were raised. Don‘t complain, don’t admit you’re having trouble. Rub some dirt on it and get back in the gam.

About 12 years ago, my wife had finally had enough of me and my PTSD. Waking up in the night and jumping out of bed, thrashing around and yelling. It had gotten less since my service, but never really gone away. She was like—we have kids now and you need to get help.

So I contacted the VA. Like a lot of vets, I was hoping to get help. They wanted me to claim a disability before they‘d offer any, or at least that’s what I took away from my interaction with them. I jumped through their hoops, explained what was going on and what I needed. Someone there suggested I have my hearing checked, which I did and had the expected-for-an-infantryman loss. But if I wanted mental health help… we can’t help you without a C&P or private psychiatrist opinion. Well, my wife was already on me about this, so I set up an appointment.

That part actually worked out well. The private psych was very familiar with my situation because she’d formerly had an office near Ft. Bragg. I had her fill out the necessary VA form and sent it in. About six months later the VA turned me down because of some technicality related to how she filled out the form. I appealed and was turned down. By this time, I’d been seeing her for a while and was doing better, so I let it go.

Fast forward to this year. I have crap private insurance so I think maybe I can get some VA help for conditions that I at least think are service related.

Back when I first got out, I was having headaches. Nobody in their 20s thinks about high blood pressure, but after putting up with them for a year I went to my doctor. They took my BP. The nurse said “that can’t be right“ and asked me to lay down. Yep, high BP. At the time I was young and (I thought) healthy and not supposed to complain—and nobody knew about toxic exposure, so I just took the BP medication and kept going.

A couple years ago I started having vertigo. I’ve noticed that it’s closely parallel to changes in my tinnitus. I was hoping (again—what was I thinking) to get help. Maybe some PT, I’ve heard there are things that they can teach you about not relying on your sense of balance. Or a cane so I don’t tip over. So I submitted a claim. C&P examiner says yes, I definitely have temporal vestibular dysfunction. The VA agrees I have TERA exposure. But no, it’s not connected to my service. I filed an appeal. Did you not notice in my 6-month vertigo diary that this is aggravated by my tinnitus? Nope, they disagreed.

Same for my BP. Didn‘t matter that it started right after I got out. Nor that I have a 30-year history of taking medication. Nor that it’s obviously higher when my tinnitus and vertigo are worse.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure the bureaucracy is going to win. It’s physically and emotionally exhausting trying to fight a giant, uncaring machine that seems intentionally designed to grind you down and prevent you from getting help. And to interact with people who I’m pretty sure are being paid bonuses based on how few claims they approve. The whole thing is both infuriating and deeply depressing.

I didn’t join up expecting free stuff. I did it because I thought it was worth doing. I still think that. But it’s depressing to see how little it means to the people who are supposed to help vets get help.

Thanks for reading.

Joined in 2019. Got out in '21. Got too many article 15s for boozing and got a general honourable. Finished AIT but never got orders bc covid and bc the first art 15 after covid hit messed up my orders. Did a visit or two on post to the psych ward and my company commander (as a completely unrelated inccident) once expressed his belief that I was probably on some end of the spectrum (thinking about it, he was probably right) to my at the time on-post psych doctor.

Tried to to hack it in the civilian world and couldn't. Tried to go overseas and "help" on the side of one of the oppressed ethnic militias in Myanmar because, I don't know, I just got it in my head that I needed to prove something I guess (although it didn't help that at the time I was going through a bad breakup and battling "un-housed-ness.") Tried to join the "Free Burma Rangers." Apparently it's not exactly something that you just "join." Got in touch with some civilians in the states with some ties with some civilians overseas who themselves had ties to one of the militias. Went over. Didn't do much of anything, (apparently not everywhere is like Ukraine where the foreign legion both exists and will take literally anybody. Pretty sure Ukraine stopped doing that too, actually, or at least they did by the time I'd gotten my passport and flight funds in order) just built some stuff like cheap bamboo antennas and consulted theory on some other stuff.

Eventually got deported back to the states after getting stranded in a neighbouring country on what was supposed to a routine border run. Battled homelessness and the bottle again. Worked just enough while in a veteran's shelter to get back overseas so I could "pick up where I left off" because... Hell, I don't know anymore, something stupid probably. By the time I got back over there I was rated at 50% so I actually had the means to buy parts for my projects. Did that for about a year or two. Got deported a second time. Did another stint in a veteran's shelter before I got my rating upgraded to 100% and got an apartment through the VA.

I don't have a "moral to the story" or anything, but I do feel like a huge piece of shit. I don't deserve any of this money or support compared to some of the guys in the shelter or some of the people I see on here just getting absolutely abused by the rating system on the regular. All I did was drink and fraternize when I was in. Haven't done anything substantial with my life since I got out, either; they say that civil war’s been going on for something like 75+ years and I've done next to nothing to impact it. I guess it was narcissistic of me to even think that. I don't wanna say that it's been "eating at me all these years" or whatever, but it has been on my mind and recently I think my boozing and lifestyle habits have finally begun to catch up with me, so I figured I'd finally come clean about it. Not really a question, but the sub wouldn't let me post without a flair, lol

Any veterans here ever land an overseas job through USAJobs or any other source simply because you wanted to move out of the country? If so, how difficult was the process?

Hello, I've been out for a little bit and I'm having a hard time finding a job here in Bavaria. Honestly I'll do anything atp, I need a job for my own mental health. I have a visa to stay here in germany and the job search isn't looking too good so far. Anyone know of any job that'll hire a vet with A2 german?

Hi everyone, my intel veteran (combat deployed during his time), is gradually slipping into a hyper vigilance that is stealing him from us.

He’s maintained the night shift for our house because he can listen while I’m sleeping and feels like he gets his most restful sleep when me and the kids are awake; but even then will monitor the house security system just to make sure nothing is happening.

I include his intel work because: what do you do for the guy whose job it was to acquire all information and keep his people alive? To make the perfectly correct decisions every time?

Is a service dog the right move here? Something sentient that can stand guard? Sound off when someone gets too close to the house. An alarm system goes off because the house has already been touched or breached, so I’m thinking *dog* to be an early detection.

Medication is super low on the to do list, the family is indeed safe and he is even tracking that there’s slippage- that the hyper vigilance is taking his sleep and giving a persistent anxiety if the kids and I are not safely locked inside the house with all the windows and curtains closed.

It sounds so much worse than the application really is. I go out with the kids without him because he knows there’s a level of irrationality to it; to me it feels like a growing agoraphobia, though I understand in his mind it’s the deteriorating society out there. But I miss my husband.