Army Reserve parachute injuries – VA only considered active-duty records, no LOD. Looking for advice
I’m looking for some advice from anyone who has successfully service connected conditions stemming from Army Reserve service, particularly airborne operations, without an LOD. For reference I’m currently at 80% with other claims.
I served in the Army Reserve from 2007–2013 as a parachute rigger and was on jump status for most of that time. I completed Airborne School and had roughly 40–50 jumps during my Reserve years, in addition to jumps during my initial active-duty training. A lot of those jumps occurred during drill/IDT or annual training. We jumped with equipment, and some landings were on, asphalt/tarmac.
I currently have issues involving my right hip, right shoulder, and cervical spine/neck that I believe are related to the cumulative impact of those jumps and specific hard landings. I recently filed/supplemented claims for these conditions.
The problem is that the VA appears to have considered only my active-duty records from around 2007–2008. My Reserve drill, annual training, ACDUTRA/INACDUTRA periods, and the jumps that occurred during those periods don’t appear to have been verified or considered. I was in the Reserve until 2013. They do have a copy of my jump log.
I don’t have LODs for the injuries. At the time, like a lot of people, I didn’t go to sick call every time I got hurt. I continued jumping and doing my job. I do have my airborne qualification/service history, and I have a buddy statement from someone I served with describing our jumps, hard landings, equipment, and conditions.
The VA recently denied the hip, shoulder, and neck claims, and from reading the decision it seems like a major issue is the lack of documentation tying the conditions to a qualifying period of service. I’m now working on obtaining my complete Reserve personnel records, drill/retirement-point records, annual training orders, pay records, jump records, and anything else that can establish exactly when I was serving and jumping.
I’m also considering having a civilian orthopedic/medical provider review my records and write a nexus opinion explaining whether repeated military parachute jumps and hard landings are at least as likely as not responsible for or contributed to my current neck, right shoulder, and right hip conditions.
For anyone who has dealt with something similar: How did you prove an injury/event occurred during drill or annual training when there was no LOD? Were orders, LES/pay records, retirement points, jump logs, buddy statements, or unit records enough to establish the qualifying service? Did a private nexus opinion make a difference? And if the VA made its decision without obtaining or considering your Reserve service records, how did you address that on appeal?
I’m not expecting the lack of an LOD to make this easy. I’m mainly trying to figure out the strongest way to document my Reserve service and airborne activity and give the VA the evidence they need to properly consider the claims.