As I’ve relearned from this fight over the living stipend it is so important to research and learn the relevant portion of Title 38. For all veterans Title 38 United States Code should be your bible. It defines everything when it comes to the VA.
There are several ways to access Title 38:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38
http://www.benefits.va.gov/warms/topic-title38.asp
http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title38/38cfr3_main_02.tpl
Any and all of these work. Goggle or any other search engine can be useful too. This will allow you to look for specific items within title 38. All of the websites above have search functions too. I used all of them when doing research about my interactions with the VA.
Most of you probably remember your time in the military and there was always someone, a commander or a barracks lawyer, who knew the regulations and tried to use them to get something. If you had a good commander like I did when I was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO they will use the regulations to help their troops. If you have a and one they will use the regulations to try to hurt their soldiers. Just as it benefited us to know relevant information from regulations while serving, it now behooves us to know and understand the relevant portions that can help us now.
Also remember that there are a lot of good people who work at the VA. They honestly are trying to help veterans. It doesn’t help that there are bad ones who are only there for the pay check and look at veterans as if we should be thanking them for working at the VA. VA has some problems, and they are having a hard time getting rid of the dead weight.
Be your own advocate and if you need help with that let us know and we will help you or find someone who can!
reveilleafterthecall 