Three things the VA has to see before it pays.

The VA defines a service-connected disability as an illness or injury that was caused by, or got worse because of, your active military service. The rating and the monthly payment only come after that connection is established. Most denials come from one of the three pieces below being missing, not from the condition being unreal.

The three pieces

1. A current condition. A diagnosis, in a medical record, of something that affects your body or mind today. Symptoms alone are usually not enough; the VA wants a named condition.
2. Something that happened in service. An injury, an illness, an exposure, or an event, shown in your service records, your service treatment records, or credible statements from you and people who were there.
3. A link between the two. Medical evidence or a medical opinion that says the current condition is at least as likely as not related to what happened in service. This is the piece veterans most often leave out, and the one the VA most often denies on.

Five ways to connect a condition to service

• Direct. It started in service, or is clearly traced to an event in service. The most common path.
• Presumptive. For certain conditions and certain service (Agent Orange, burn pits, Gulf War illness, some conditions within a year of discharge), the VA presumes the connection. You show the service and the diagnosis, not the link. See the PACT Act.
• Secondary. A condition caused or made worse by a condition that is already service connected. Sleep apnea from PTSD medication, a bad knee from favoring a bad ankle. See secondary conditions.
• Aggravation. Something you had before service that service made permanently worse.
• Caused by VA care. An injury or worsening caused by VA medical treatment or a VA program (the law calls these 1151 claims).

Two things that surprise people

• There is no time limit to file a first claim. A condition from 1985 can be connected in 2026 if the three pieces are there. The evidence is harder to find, not impossible.
• The standard is "at least as likely as not." You do not have to prove service caused the condition beyond doubt. If the evidence is evenly balanced, the law says the tie goes to the veteran.

How we help

We read your service records and medical records side by side and map each condition to the three pieces: what shows the diagnosis, what shows the event, and what shows the link. Where a piece is missing, we tell you what would fill it and help you get it before the claim goes in.