Claims Eligibility

You must have an honorable discharge.  You’re not eligible if you have an Other Than Honorable, Bad Conduct, or Dishonorable Discharge. 

See how to get your discharge upgraded.

You must have a current illness or injury (known as a condition) that affects your mind or body, and you served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training. 

Additionally, you must have one of these three conditions:

You got sick or injured while serving in the military—and can link this condition to your illness or injury (called an in-service disability claim), or

You had an illness or injury before you joined the military—and serving made it worse (called a pre-service disability claim), or

You have a disability related to your active-duty service that didn’t appear until after you ended your service (called a post-service disability claim).