This book was written by a VA Accredited Attorney to help US Veterans cut through the fog of their VA Sleep Apnea Claims. This book will take you step-by-step through the VA Sleep Apnea claim and help you discover: * Why it is important to get your VA sleep apnea service-connected now. * How to build the four pillars of a VA sleep apnea claim. * What evidence you need to prove and win a VA sleep apnea claim. * The four most common VA sleep apnea claim scenarios and step-by-step guides to proving them. * Specific steps to take to avoid common mistakes Veterans make in sleep apnea claims. * Much more.

Although the rules governing VA disability benefits and the VA disability ratings process often seem unfairly stacked against you, the purpose of this book is to educate you on what is needed and how to properly prepare the NEXUS letter of your Veterans benefits claim so you can level the playing field and WIN YOUR VA DISABILITY BENEFITS CLAIM! As you know, in order to be successful with your VA disability benefits claim, you must meet three specific criteria:* You must have a current, chronic disability; AND* the disability must have been caused by, the result of, or aggravated by your military service or a secondary condition that was caused by an existing service connected disability; AND* there must be a NEXUS or link between the first two criteria. This book explains the goals and anatomy of a NEXUS letter, addresses potential concerns that doctors might have in writing the NEXUS letter and demonstrates how to craft a compelling NEXUS letter that the VA can't deny. As an added bonus, this book will also show you how to locate missing records and utilized creative ways to find information in support of an incomplete claim. My name is Rick Blair and I served nearly 27 years in the U.S. Air Force and then another 10 years in my "second career" as a Veterans Service Officer (VSO.) Now for my third and hopefully final "career," I plan on taking it easy and writing books to continue my advocacy for Veterans, because the knowledge I gained during those 10 years as a VSO, I believe, is far too important NOT to continuing sharing with other disabled Veterans.As a VSO, I spent four years advocating for Veterans benefits at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office, another four and a half years working with patients at the James H. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, and then the last year and a half providing community-based advocacy for our Veterans in and around Sumter County Florida. As a result of this experience, I not only became familiar with VA law and the VA disability claims and appeals processes, I learned the procedural matrixes the decision makers (Raters, Decision Review Officers, and Judges) utilize to adjudicated disability claims. As a result of that experience, I discovered that by approaching the Veterans benefits process from the perspective of what could be granted, instead of focusing on what would be denied, I could help Veterans become VICTORS instead of victims. As I assessed the numerous self-help books out there related to VA disability claims and appeals, I found several that do a pretty good job addressing the claims and appeals process and how to submit a claim, but I could not find very much specific information on how to address and develop the NEXUS or link necessary for a VA disability claim. This will be the first book of what I am calling "The Veterans Benefits Series." Subsequent books in this series will address such topics as how to submit a fully developed claim, how to prepare for your Compensation and Pension Examination, additional benefits you didn't know you were entitled to, VA benefits for surviving spouses and children, and more. So whether you are seeking a reconsideration of a recent disability claim or your disability claim is currently in the appeals process, this information is vital to ensuring you have the knowledge necessary to win the veterans benefits you deserve!

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides disability compensation to veterans with a service-connected injury, and to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a veteran must submit a claim or have a claim submitted on his or her behalf. Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans reviews the process by which the VA assesses impairments resulting from traumatic brain injury for purposes of awarding disability compensation. This report also provides recommendations for legislative or administrative action for improving the adjudication of veterans' claims seeking entitlement to compensation for all impairments arising from a traumatic brain injury.

Sleep problems can have long-term consequences for servicemembers' health and for force readiness and resiliency. This first-ever comprehensive review of sleep-related policies and programs led to recommendations for improving sleep across the force.

Many veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have health problems they believe are related to their exposure to the smoke from the burning of waste in open-air "burn pits" on military bases. Particular controversy surrounds the burn pit used to dispose of solid waste at Joint Base Balad in Iraq, which burned up to 200 tons of waste per day in 2007. The Department of Veterans Affairs asked the IOM to form a committee to determine the long-term health effects from exposure to these burn pits. Insufficient evidence prevented the IOM committee from developing firm conclusions. This report, therefore, recommends that, along with more efficient data-gathering methods, a study be conducted that would evaluate the health status of service members from their time of deployment over many years to determine their incidence of chronic diseases.

More than 3.7 million U.S. service members have participated in operations taking place in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations since 1990. These operations include the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, a post-war stabilization period spanning 1992 through September 2001, and the campaigns undertaken in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Deployment to Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan exposed service members to a number of airborne hazards, including oil-well fire smoke, emissions from open burn pits, dust and sand suspended in the air, and exhaust from diesel vehicles. The effects of these were compounded by stressors like excessive heat and noise that are inevitable attributes of service in a combat environment. Respiratory Health Effects of Airborne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations reviews the scientific evidence regarding respiratory health outcomes in veterans of the Southwest Asia conflicts and identifies research that could feasibly be conducted to address outstanding questions and generate answers, newly emerging technologies that could aid in these efforts, and organizations that the Veterans Administration might partner with to accomplish this work.