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Two questions. Then it’s your homepage.

Nobody arrives at a website “on Step 7.” You arrive as somebody, looking for something. Say who this is for, check the lines you need, and this site rebuilds itself around your answers — your checked lines become your homepage here, on this device, changeable anytime.

1 Who is this for?

Still inStill serving.The record is still being written. Write it honestly, starting now.Sort my page →VeteranI served.My claim, my rating, my road.Sort my page →FamilyMy family.My spouse or parent served — and this is about my benefits, and his.Sort my page →Not sureI don’t know.Skip the sort. Walk the whole road, every step in order, at your own pace.See the whole road →

The whole road, if you want it unsorted

  1. Step -1 Still serving? Go to sick call. Get it on the record now.
  2. Step 0 Check your rating.
  3. Step 1 Run the VA Math calculator.
  4. Step 2 Submit an Intent to File — hold your place in line for a year while you gather evidence.
  5. Step 3 Pull your medical and service records.
  6. Step 4 Fix your DD214
  7. Step 5 Check presumptive conditions — PACT Act, burn pits, Agent Orange, Gulf War.
  8. Step 6 Find a free accredited VSO. Never pay a claim shark.
  9. Step 7 Take the condition interview. Your worst real day, in your own words.
  10. Step 8 Read the exam-day guide. Two pages. Honest reporting only.
  11. Step 9 After your exam.
  12. Step 10 Sort your health care.
  13. Step 11 Protect Your Family — DIC, the 10-Year Rule & Service-Connected Heart/Lungs
  14. Step 12 Use your education benefits.
  15. Step 13 Your home — VA loan or adapted-housing grant.
  16. Step 14 Your state adds more.