Glossary of Terms for Veterans

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Active Duty
Full-time service in the armed forces (other than active duty for training), full-time duty (other than for training purposes) as a commissioned officer of the regular or reserve corps of the Public Health Service, full-time duty as a commissioned officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and service at any time as a cadet at the United States Military, Air Force, or Coast Guard academies or as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy.

Administrative Appeal
An appeal taken by an official of the VA, authorized to resolve conflict of opinion or questions pertaining to a claim involving benefits under laws administered by the VA.

Advance on the Docket
A change in the order in which an appeal is reviewed and decided from the date when it would normally occur to an earlier date.

Affidavit
A written statement that is sworn before a notary public. When the claimant, family, or friends provide such testimony, the VA must accept the statement as evidence and give it proper weight.p>

Aid and Attendance
A cash payment, over and above other compensation or pension payments that may be due, paid to claimants who are in a state of helplessness or are so nearly helpless as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person. For compensation purposes, a claimant determined to be in need of aid and attendance because of his or her service-connected conditions is entitled to Special Monthly Compensation over and above the 100 percent compensation rate. For Improved Pension purposes, a claimant determined to be in need of regular aid and attendance is paid an increased amount over and above the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR). To determine whether the pension claimant is need of aid and attendance, all of the claimants conditions, service-connected and non-service-connected, are considered.

Annualization
Twelve-month projection of income (countable income plus pension benefits) from the date of entitlement to pension, or from the effective date of change in income.

Appeal
A request for a review of an Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) determination on a claim.

Appellant
An individual who has appealed an AOJ claim determination.

Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ)
The office where a claim originates.

Armed Forces
U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

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VA Disability Benefits

Board
The Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA)
The part of VA that reviews va disability benefits and claims appeals in order to issue decisions on those appeals.

Board Member A law judge appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and approved by the president, who decides veterans’ benefits appeals.

Burial Allowance
A lump sum benefit paid to the party or parties who assume responsibility for the burial expense of the veteran.

BVA Hearing
A personal hearing, held at the BVA office in Washington, D.C., or at a regional office, that is conducted by a member of the travel Board. A BVA hearing can also be held by videoconference from regional offices.

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VA Disability Claims

Central Office
The Director of the Compensation and Pension Service, VA Central Office, shall approve all VA regional office determinations establishing or denying POW status with the exception of those service departments findings establishing detention or internment was by an enemy government or its agents.

Claim
A request for veterans' benefits.

Claimant
Same as an appellant.

Claim Number
A number assigned by VA that identifies a person who has filed a claim; often  called a "C-number."

Claims File/Folder
The file containing all documents concerning a veteran's claim or appeal.

Committee for Research of Unit Records
Administered by the Army, Department of Defense repository of Vietnam military unit records originally compiled to document exposure of U.S. military units to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The function of the office has evolved to conduct research of military records to verify stressor events on behalf of veterans who file claims for service connection of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Compensation
Monthly payments made by the VA to a veteran because of a service-connected disability.

Co pay Exempt
Nonservice-connected and noncompensable 0% service-connected veterans  subject to a financial assessment who are found to be below the established threshold do not  have to pay a portion of the actual cost of their health care.

Co-payment Required
Nonservice-connected and noncompensable 0% service-connected  veterans whose financial assessment finds them above the established threshold are  responsible to pay a portion of the actual cost of their health care.

Counsel
Counsel and Associate Counsel are attorneys skilled in veterans' law who assist.

Countable Income
Almost any kind of payment from any source received during the twelve-month annualization period, with some exceptions.

Court Appeals for Veterans Claims
An independent United States Administrative Court that reviews appeals of BVA decisions. It is very rare for the Court to grant service-connection/benefits – in most cases a successful decision is a Remand.

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Date of Receipt
The date on which a claim, information, or evidence was received in the Department of Veterans Affairs, except as to specific provisions for claims or evidence received in the State Department or in the Social Security Administration of Department of Defense as to initial claims filed at or prior to separation.

Death Compensation
Benefits paid to the spouse or dependent children of a deceased veteran based on a period of wartime service by the veteran. Income limitations and net worth are factors in this benefit.

Decision
The final product of the BVA's review of the appeal. Possible decisions are to grant or deny the benefit sought or to remand the case back to the AOJ for additional action.

De Novo Review
A decision makers reviewing of a claim for the first time or without giving any deference to a previous decision makers determination of the same claim.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
Benefits paid to a spouse, dependent children, or dependent parents of a veteran who dies of a service-connected disability or who is rated totally disabled because of service-connected condition for a period of ten years or more.

Determination
A decision on a claim made at the AOJ. (Local Regional Office).

Discharge
Separation including retirement from the active military, naval, or air service.

Docket
A listing of appeals that have been filed with the BVA. Appeals are listed in numerical order, called docket number order, based on when a VA Form 9 is received by VA.

Docket Number
The number assigned to an appeal when a VA Form 9 is received by VA. By law, cases are reviewed by the Board in docket number order.

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Effective Date
The date as of which the VA calculates its decision to grant, increase, reduce, suspend, or terminate benefits. The general rule for establishing the effective date for any award is either (A) the date the VA received the claim, or (B) the date that entitlement to the benefit arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400 (2001).

Evidence
Records, documents, exhibit, or any probative material introduced to support your claim.

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Fair Preponderance
Evidence that must be sufficient to prove that the evidence against the veteran’s claim outweighs that evidence offered in support of the claim.

File
To submit in writing.

Former Prisoner of War
A person who, while serving in the active military, naval, or air service, was forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by an enemy or foreign government, the agents of either, or a hostile force.

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Hearing
A meeting, similar to an interview, between an appellant and an official from VA who will decide an appellant's case, during which testimony and other evidence supporting the case is presented. There are two types of personal hearings: Regional office hearings (also called local office hearings) and BVA hearings.

Hostile Force
Any entity other than an enemy or foreign government or the agents of either whose actions are taken to further or enhance anti-American military, political, or economic objectives or views or to attempt to embarrass the United States.

Housebound
Cash payment paid over and above any other compensation or pension payment that may be due, for claimants who are substantially confined to their home or immediate premises (if institutionalized, then ward or clinical area) because of a disability or disabilities. For compensation purposes, a claimant determined to be housebound because of his or her service-connected conditions is entitled to Special Monthly Compensation over and above the 100 percent compensation rate. For pension purposes, an amount over and above the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR) is paid to a claimant determined to be housebound. In making the determination for pension purposes, all conditions, whether service-connected or not, are considered.

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Individual Unemployability
Total disability evaluation assigned to an individual because of any service-connected impairment (or combination of impairments) of mind or body that fails to meet the criteria for a total disability rating under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities but that nonetheless renders it impossible for that person to follow substantial gainful employment (38 C.F.R. 4.16 (2004)).

Insurance
Life insurance benefits paid to the beneficiary designated on the policies at the time of a veterans death under various government programs providing insurance to active-duty service personnel and veterans.

In the Line of Duty
For an injury or disease to be considered to have been incurred or aggravated during a period of active military, naval, or air service, it must have occurred in the line of duty. If such injury or disease was the result of willful misconduct on the part of the veteran it will not be considered to have occurred in the line of duty. A service departments finding that injury, disease, or death occurred in the line of duty will be binding on the VA unless it is patently inconsistent with the requirements of laws administered by the VA. Requirements for a line of duty determination are not met if at the time the injury was suffered or disease contracted the veteran avoided duty by desertion or absence without official leave, was confined by court-martial involving an unremitted dishonorable discharge, or was confined under sentence of a civil court for a felony as determined under the laws of jurisdiction where the person was convicted by such court.

Issue
A benefit sought on a claim or an appeal. For example, if an appeal seeks a decision on three different matters, the appeal is said to contain three issues.

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Marriage
A marriage valid under the law of the place where the parties resided at the time of marriage, or the law of the place where the parties resided when the right to benefits accrued.

Maximum Annual Pension Rate
Maximum amount of pension payable to a veteran, reduced by the amount of the veterans annual income and, in some instances, the annual income of other family members.

Member of the Board
An attorney, appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and  approved by the President, who decides veterans' benefit appeals.

Motion
A legal term used to describe a written request that some specific action be taken.

Motion to Advance on the Docket
A request that BVA review and decide an appeal sooner than when it normally would, based on the appeal's docket number order.

Motion to Reconsider
A request for BVA to review its decision on an appeal.

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New and Material Evidence
Evidence not previously submitted to agency decision makers, which requires the VA to reopen a claim that has been finally denied in the past and decide it anew based on both the old and the new evidence. To be new and material, the evidence must, among other things, bear directly and substantially upon the specific matter under consideration, and be neither cumulative nor redundant.

Non-service-connected
With respect to disability or death, a disability that was not incurred or aggravated, or a death that did not result from a disability incurred or aggravated, in the line of duty while the veteran was in the active military, naval, or air service.

Notice
A written notice sent to a claimant or payee at his or her latest address of records.

Notice of Disagreement (NOD)
A written statement expressing dissatisfaction or  disagreement with a local VA office's determination on a benefit claim that must be filed within  one year of the date of the regional office's decision.

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Pension
Monthly payments to a veteran who meets certain minimum wartime service requirements, who became permanently and totally disabled from disability or disabilities not related to military service, and who meets certain income and net worth limits.

Permanent and Total Disability
For pension purposes, all veterans who are basically unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of disabilities which are likely to be permanent shall be rated as permanently and totally disabled (38 C.F.R. 4.17 (2004); see also 38 C.F.R. 3.340, 3.342 (2004)).

Political Subdivision
includes the jurisdiction defined as a state and the countries, cities, or municipalities of each.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Acquired mental condition manifested after the occurrence of an extreme traumatic event where the persons response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Manifestations of the disorder include persistent reexperiencing of the traumatic event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma or numbing of general responsiveness, and systems of increased arousal.

Preponderance of Evidence
Demonstration that the VA’s evidence is superior to that which was introduced by the veteran before a claim may be denied.

Presumptive Service Connection
The presumption that chronic, tropical, or prisoner-of-war related diseases, and diseases related to exposure to Agent Orange or ionizing radiation, have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service.

Probative Evidence
Evidence that has a tendency to prove or actually prove an alleged entitlement.

Proximate Cause
An event that caused an injury or disease and without such injury or exposure the disability would not have occurred.

Pyramiding
Evaluation under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities of the same manifestation of a disability under various diagnoses (see 38 C.F.R. 4.14 (2004) (prohibition against pyramiding).

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Reasonable Doubt
In a VA claim action, the term implies certainty that must be applied before benefits can be denied. If the amount of evidence for an against the claim is equal or nearly equal, the decision must be in favor of the claimant.

Regional Office (RO)
A local VA office; there are 58 VA regional offices throughout the U.S. and its territories.

Regional Office Hearing
A personal hearing conducted by an RO officer. A regional office hearing may be conducted in addition to a BVA hearing.

Remand
An appeal returned to the regional office or office of jurisdiction, by the BVA, for further development.

Representative
Someone familiar with the benefit claim process that assists claimants in the preparation and presentation of an appeal. Most representatives are Veterans' Service Organization employees who specialize in veterans' benefit claims. Most states, commonwealths, and territories also have experienced representatives to assist veterans. Other individuals, such as lawyers, may also serve as appeal representatives.

Rules of Practice
Federal regulations, in 38 CFR, Part 20 sets out procedures for appeals to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The 38 CFR Part 20 sections cited in this pamphlet are "Rules  of Practice."

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Schedule for Rating Disabilities
Title 38, part 4, of the Code of Federal Regulations, which provides a list of criteria for evaluation of all types of diseases and injuries encountered as a result of or incident to military service. The various percentage degrees of disability assigned to each disease or injury represent as far as can be practically determined the average impairment in earning capacity resulting from such diseases and injuries and their residual conditions in civil occupations.

Secondary Service Connection
Disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury such that it is considered part of the original condition and thus also warrants service connection.

Service-connected
With respect to a disability or death, a disability that was incurred or aggravated, or a death that resulted from a disability incurred or aggravated, in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service.

Simultaneously Contested Claim
A simultaneously contested claim is a claim where more than one person is trying to get a VA benefit or status that only one of them can have. Examples might be two people each claiming they are entitled to all of the proceeds of the  same life insurance policy, or two people each asking to be  recognized as a particular veteran's lawful surviving spouse.

Statement of the Case
An explanation from the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) in response to a claimants Notice of Disagreement that explains how the AOJ made its decision in a particular case. The SOC sets forth the facts and applicable laws and regulations upon which the agencys decision was based. An appellant has 60 days from the date of the SOC to file Substantive Appeal, transmitting the appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals. If a Substantive Appeal is not received timely, the claim will be closed.

Substantive Appeal
After receiving a Statement of the Case, the appellant must file a Substantive Appeal to continue the appellate process. In the Substantive Appeal, the appellant has the opportunity to present specific arguments relating to errors of fact or law in the decision of the regional office. The Substantive Appeal may consist of an adequately executed VA Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans Appeals, or correspondence containing the necessary information. This is the final action the appellant must take to perfect the appeal.

Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC)
A summary, similar to an SOC, that VA prepares if a VA Form 9 contains a new issue or presents new evidence and the benefit is still denied. A Supplemental Statement of the Case will also be provided after an appeal is returned (remanded) to the RO by the Board for new or additional action.

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Temporary Disability Retirement List
Status of military personnel that are determined to suffer from a physical or psychological disability, not yet determined to be permanent in nature, but that nonetheless disqualifies them from active military duty. Periodic medical reviews of persons in this status are conducted to determine whether their conditions have improved such that they are fit to return to active military service, or whether they should be permanently retired for disability.

Travel Board Hearing
A personal hearing conducted at a VA regional office by a member of the Board.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
A condition caused by a head injury that results in lasting damage to the brain. The symptoms of a TBI range in severity and may include headaches, confusion, dizziness, mood changes, irritability, memory and concentration problems, seizures, and sleep disturbances. Traumatic brain injuries may occur both when the skull fractures and the brain is directly penetrated and also when the skull remains intact but the brain still sustains damage.

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United States Court of Veterans Appeals
An independent court that reviews appeals of BVA decisions.

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VA Form 9
This form, which accompanies the SOC, formally initiates the appeal process.

Veteran
A person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released there from under conditions other than dishonorable.

Veteran of Any War
Any person who served in the active military, naval, or air service during a period of war.

Veteran Service Organization (VSO)
An organization that represents the interests of veterans. Most veterans’ service organizations have specific membership criteria, although membership is not usually required to obtain assistance with benefit claims or appeals.

Vocational Rehabilitation
Services and assistance provided to eligible veterans with compensable service-connected disabilities to enable them to achieve maximum independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, to become employable and to obtain and maintain suitable employment.

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Waiver of Overpayment
Determination by a regional office Committee on Waivers and Compromises not to collect an overpayment, or any interest thereon, because to do so would be against equity and good conscience.

War Time Service
The following dates are formal periods of war. If a veteran served during one or more of these periods, he or she will have been considered as serving during a wartime period: WWI, April 6, 1917-November 11, 1918 (Veterans who served in Russia between April 6, 1917-July 7, 1921 are also considered wartime veterans); WWII, September 16, 1940-December 31, 1946; Korean Conflict, June 27, 1950-January 31, 1955; Vietnam War, August 5, 1964-May 7, 1975 (If you served as an advisor in Vietnam, any time between February 28, 1961 and August 4, 1964); Persian Gulf War, August 2, 1990 to a date yet to be determined.

Wartime service also means any time which combat service was performed during between January 1, 1947 and a date yet to be determined, Several exampled would be the Berlin Air Lift, Lebanon Crisis, Grenada, Iranian Crisis, and Bosnia.

Waters Adjacent To
With regard to service during the Mexican boarder period, the waters (including the islands) that are within 750 nautical miles (863 statute miles of the coast of the mainland of Mexico).

Willful Misconduct
An act involving conscious wrongdoing or known prohibited action; willful misconduct involves deliberate or intentional wrongdoing with knowledge of or wanton and reckless disregard of its probable consequences. Benefits are not payable in cases where an injury, disease, or death was the result of willful misconduct.

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