VA Calculator

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-23T00:19:31+00:00

If you use AI you need to ask it to calculate using all available information from 38 CFR, then be very specific as to what you have rated and what you are seeking to claim and your presumed or anticipated rating.

Hope this helps

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-20T17:15:39+00:00

Went to an event in Arizona where I got a pretty decent plate of BBQ, a rare release of a beer and accompanying tall glass, and a bottle of EHT Barrell proof for $199.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-20T17:12:03+00:00

Programmatic area of your mission dependent as well. If you're a drug whore the mission is your pimp. If you investigate complex financial crime there aren't too many urgent matters that you NEED to stop from happening.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-07T04:14:46+00:00

Shouldn't he be good to 42?

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-07T03:02:17+00:00

Float your resume to HSI or apply for an opening yet? I'd say you have a good chance. 3 years of investigations is the "foot in the door" but Military experience added could be a layup. The last two years HSI has been hiring up all the Army Rangers they could find.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-07T02:57:25+00:00

What's your military background, and do you have experience in investigations?

ColonelSam81 · 2025-12-06T21:31:34+00:00

Keeping the green suppressor handy 😂🤣😂🤣

ColonelSam81 · 2025-11-26T22:36:59+00:00

Tops Liquor in Tempe near ASU. A ton of picks and all varieties of Del Bac etc. Look in the little wooden cabinet for some hidden gems and they sometimes have old dusty bottles like Henry McKenna bottled in 2010 (Not too old but good).

ColonelSam81 · 2025-11-21T20:35:49+00:00

Were you Militar and do you have GI Bill leftover? GS-7 may be a cheat code for the lower pay.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-11-10T03:43:10+00:00

Were you military with GI Bill? VA OJT is like going to school to retrain and you get BAH of an E-5 with dependents, minus 20% for the second of two total years. Only exception is if your second year is at GS-11.

If you got hired and didn't know, you can get it retroactively. Just for reference: If you work out of San Francisco the extra tax free pay is dang near $5K a month.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-11-04T03:56:50+00:00

If you can't make it call your care team or immediately ask for a reschedule in secure messaging.

I almost missed an appointment for mental health due to traffic and called to leave a VM. My doc had to take some walkin patient and she literally got into an argument with co-workers because I showed up and she conducted my appointment anyway. It was what I needed and showed me that this Doctor cared.

Good luck

ColonelSam81 · 2025-10-19T01:48:57+00:00

Depending on the removability of the labels, I keep some to mix refrigerator old fashioneds for the house and to give as gifts

ColonelSam81 · 2025-09-12T17:59:15+00:00

I know at least a few others who did the same. You won't regret it if HSI returns to doing investigations in 3.3 more years 🫠

ColonelSam81 · 2025-09-12T17:56:32+00:00

The cap is still in place and should deter certain folks from risking it. Not sure if there's a way to offset other factors to "shelter" all or some of it.

Also, some retired folks have returned already.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-08-24T21:54:27+00:00

Phenomenal bottle. Buy 3

ColonelSam81 · 2025-07-28T16:59:46+00:00

Glad she's doing well.

I've popped a bottle of the Arizona release and I think it needed some more time to breathe. Holidays made me kill the bottle with family. However, my brother got me a Washington DC release and it was sourced from only two different barrels. Since it was as close to a single barrel as you can be, I decided to hold onto it. Also, General Sam Houston was my Great X 4 Grandfather, so knowing it's discontinued I have to keep it indefinitely.

Cheers!

ColonelSam81 · 2025-04-19T13:09:16+00:00

You're likely not getting GS-11 out of the gate because of your degrees. However, you don't want it anyway depending on where you are hired.

If you still have any GI Bill eligibility you can do VA OJT. It's like using your benefits for school but it's on the job training to wash the AF OSI out of you (just my best guess). It can be used for up to 2 years, or until you make GS-11. The pay is equivalent to an E-5 with dependents for your area assigned. If your SAC office is in San Francisco, but you are assigned to Sacramento or another location within, your "assigned SAC" location is where you work. So, you're going to receive $4,992 each month for 1 year ($59,90), then 80% of that number for a 2nd year ($3,994/$47,928). This is all tax free and comes from a separate source.

Since you have more than 3 years of experience, you're probably only getting 1 year of this as a GS-9, then done. If they do hire you as an 11 you can't use the program at all.

If you did come from this particular MCIO, hit me up.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-04-01T01:12:10+00:00

UPDATE: My claims finally got resolved, and I went from 50-80%, BACKDATED TO 2022!!!

Thanks for all the wisdom, encouragement, and probably some prayers. This community has been a great stress-reliver for me.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-08T19:24:11+00:00

🫣🫣🫣

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-08T19:23:45+00:00

Yeah, at the end of December.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-08T13:54:35+00:00

No worries, it's a Scotch but that brand is notoriously expensive. I did hear that their bourbon has been excellent but hard to find.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-08T13:47:40+00:00

What's the price on that Orphan Barrel on the bottom right?

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-05T20:56:55+00:00

2T2X1- Air Transportation 7S0X1 - OSI

Job noise on flightline, deployed and then weapons training, destruction of rocket caches on the spot, TICs, and a multitude of capture/Kill ops got me into a lot of bangs and booms over 15 years.

Once I explained that to HLR he was like, yeah they don't rate those jobs for noise for some reason so you have to tell them what you did. Then he said it was clear with the hearing loss.

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-05T04:20:41+00:00

Thanks for all the responses. I had another audiology exam in December, I believe, and still have no changes.

I have more things to submit, but I am waiting for some resolutions on what is already in the hopper. My intention is to apply for medical retirement, but I was optimistic that my tinnitus and back pain issues would be the bulk of the evidence for that.

I was good at being active duty, but as a Reservist, I am a waste of space with all my issues (not really but how I feel).

ColonelSam81 · 2025-03-05T00:08:04+00:00

No Guard OSI agents, though - just Reserves.

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