“Qualifying for VA disability benefits as a veteran of the National Guard or Reserves isn’t always as straightforward as it is for other veterans. The rules can be more complex, especially when it comes to proving how your condition is connected to service. That confusion can make it hard to know where to start.
“Today, we’re answering some of the most common questions about VA disability benefits for former National Guard and reservists, and what you need to know to get the benefits you’ve earned.
“Hi, my name is Andrew Kuhlenhoelter, and I’m a VA disability attorney at Woods & Woods, a nationwide veterans law firm that has helped thousands of veterans and their families access VA disability benefits.”
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About VA accredited lawyer Andrew Kuhlenhoelter
“I’m also a member of the Army National Guard. I joined right after deciding to go to law school in 2018, because I missed being part of a team and I wanted to challenge myself. The Guard has given me an opportunity for both.
“I wanted a little bit of balance in my life, as far as active versus sedentary. Also, the benefits did play a role in my decision as well, since I’ve had all three of my kids on the TRICARE reserve.
“When I read through files, it’s not just words on a page. I think of guys that I knew or situations that I’ve been in.
“I have some understanding of how important these grants are and some of these injuries and conditions that occurred during service and what that could have been like.
“So, I think having that opportunity to serve veterans was just really important and honestly, something that I really wanted to do.”
What is the difference between the Reserves and the National Guard?
“As you may know, National Guard and reservists serve part time. The line is typically two weeks in the summer and one weekend a month. But as we know, that’s not normally how it turns out, based on the needs of the unit, the training schedule, and things like that.
“The big difference between National Guard and Reserves is that the Reserves primarily perform federal missions, whereas the National Guard have a state obligation as well, where they can be activated for state missions, whether it’s a natural disaster or whatever the needs of the state are.
“A veteran, for purposes of VA disability, is someone who has served on active duty and has a discharge that is other than dishonorable. That includes, under some circumstances, National Guard and Reserve members.
“So, your service can fall into three different primary buckets. The first bucket is if you’re federalized for active-duty overseas missions.
“For example, say you’re deployed for a year in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Africa, wherever it may be. Service connection for this type of duty would be the same as for our active-duty counterparts. You need to show you have a current diagnosis of a disability, an in-service event or injury, and then a nexus between the in-service event and your current disability.
“The next bucket is your active duty for training, which most commonly happens at your initial entry into the military. There can be other times when you go for a military education, but for that type of service, you have to show that your injury or disability was incurred in the line of duty.
“The last one is inactive duty for training. The most common type of inactive-duty training is drill or IDT weekends.
“You can’t get service connection for something that happened outside of drill. You can’t just show up to drill and then complain, ‘Oh, my knee hurts.’ Just because your knee hurts while you’re on an active duty for training doesn’t mean that’s going to be considered ‘in the line of duty.’
“Another example is if you have reflux and you develop that outside of service. Say you show up to the drill weekend and you still have reflux while you’re at drill, and maybe it’s severe enough that you go to the medic and you ask for some antacids. That wouldn’t be considered as in the line of duty because it arose during your civilian time when you weren’t on orders.”
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What is a line of duty determination?
“A line of duty determination, or LOD, is a critical piece of evidence for VA disability claims for National Guard and Reserves service members.
“An LOD is an administrative determination made by the National Guard or Reserve unit after an official investigation to determine if an injury or illness was incurred or aggravated during qualified service in the line of duty.
“In an ideal world, when a Reservist or National Guard service member is injured while on a duty status, they would notify their chain of command and provide appropriate documentation. This, in turn, should trigger the unit to initiate an LOD investigation, which is then promptly and properly completed.
“However, this does not always happen for many reasons. Service members often don’t report injuries or won’t realize the severity of their injuries until they are no longer in a duty status. Sometimes an injury will be reported, but an investigation will not be initiated.”
What to do if you don’t have an LOD determination
“Generally, there will be an LOD report, but that’s not always the case. So, as we know, the STRs (service treatment records) aren’t always going to show what they need to show.
“I think good evidence would be buddy or lay statements that attest to your injury that was incurred in the line of duty.
“So, say if you hurt your back during PT, you could get statements from your buddies who were there, who saw you practicing for the ACFT and you were doing the deadlift and you strained your back, for example. It can be good to have those statements from friends that say, ‘Yeah, I was there on that day, and I saw him try to deadlift this weight, and he came up clutching his back and kind of walked away in pain, and then the rest of the drill weekend he was taking it easy.’
“To learn more about lay statements, click here.”
Can you collect disability benefits while in the Reserves or National Guard?
“One question we get is whether you can collect the disability benefits while serving in the reserves or National Guard.
“There are several ways you could do it, but I would say that the most common is if the person was on active duty before, and then they switch to the Guard or the Reserves, but in that intermediate time, they applied for VA disability and were granted 30% or 40% or whatever it may be, but they were still considered fit for service.
“It’s important to know that if you are serving in the Reserves or the Guard while collecting VA disability benefits, your VA disability payments will be offset by your number of days of service.”
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How Woods & Woods can help
“Whenever you get out of the military, I feel like it can be really daunting and intimidating to get out of one big organization and start a relationship with another big organization – the VA.
“I think that can be nerve-wracking and intimidating for a lot of people, especially when they were injured due to their military service.
“I feel like every vet knows someone who has received a decision or a denial that doesn’t make sense and doesn’t feel right. So, hopefully we can explain some of that and help you understand why your VA claim was denied and how to move forward.
“If you’re wondering if you qualify for a 100% rating or TDIU, contact Woods & Woods for a free consultation.”
Andrew Kuhlenhoelter
Andrew received his law degree from Indiana University in 2021. He is also currently a member of the Indiana Army National Guard. Working as a VA disability lawyer brings these two parts of his life together.
