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For more than 30 years, Army Veteran Jose Gonzalez struggled to increase his VA disability rating.
He spent 17 years at 10%, sought help from multiple Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and eventually reached 40%. But despite years of effort, he continued to struggle with the VA claims process.
In 2024, Jose joined the VA Claims Insider Elite Program. His combined rating increased from 40% to 60%, then 90%.
But when Jose was eager to take the next step toward 100%, his Veteran Coach told him something he didn’t want to hear:
“You are not prepared.”
Jose was frustrated. He wanted to move forward with his claim, but his Veteran Coach believed he needed stronger evidence and better preparation before filing.
It wasn’t the advice Jose wanted, but it would become one of the most important lessons of his entire VA disability journey.
In October 2026, Jose finally reached a 100% combined VA rating.
And the outcome came sooner than either of them expected.
Table of Contents
From South Texas to the US Army
Jose grew up in the Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of Texas.
Military service was part of his family’s history. His father served during the Korean War, as did one of his uncles.
“They just kind of instilled patriotism in us,” Jose recalls.
When his local university opened an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, Jose decided to pursue a military career. He was commissioned into the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps in 1983.
His early assignments took him far from South Texas, first to mainland Japan near Tokyo and then to South Korea, where he enjoyed military life enough to arrange a transfer.
He later attended bomb disposal school, served at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and was stationed in Germany during the period surrounding Operation Desert Storm.
Jose enjoyed the opportunities military service gave him to travel and experience different parts of the world.
But his time in the Army also took a physical toll.
Injuries, Heavy Munitions, and the Culture of Avoiding Sick Call
During his military career, Jose worked in explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), handling and disposing of potentially dangerous munitions.
“People don’t realize that they’re bullets that are three feet tall, four feet tall,” Jose explains. “They weigh a couple hundred pounds, and you try to muscle one of those things around and you’re going to lose.”
Jose knows firsthand. He suffered a serious lower-back injury while handling heavy munitions, with pain so severe that he was sent to Vanderbilt for an MRI because Fort Campbell didn’t have the necessary equipment at the time.
He also recalls an assignment involving hazardous munitions at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where his team encountered material he identified as VX.
Despite the physical demands and risks of his work, Jose says military culture discouraged service members from seeking medical attention.
“We weren’t really encouraged to go to sick call. As a commissioned officer, even less.”
Jose’s back injury was documented, but he didn’t realize how important those medical records would become after leaving the Army.
When he separated from active duty in 1992, he had no established VA rating and little understanding of how to pursue one.
17 Years at 10%
After leaving the Army in 1992, Jose returned to South Texas and began navigating the VA disability claims process.
He received a 10% rating for tinnitus, but despite years of trying, he couldn’t get that rating increased.
Jose sought help from several sources, including the Texas Veterans Commission, county Veterans Service Officers, and other Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs).
“I tried many of these individuals,” he recalls, “and for some reason just was not successful.”
Between 2009 and 2014, Jose’s combined VA disability rating eventually increased to 40%, where he remained for years.
Looking back, Jose realized that one of his biggest challenges wasn’t a lack of effort. It was not fully understanding how the VA evaluated his claims or how to prepare for his Compensation and Pension (C&P) exams.
That began to change after he discovered VA Claims Insider.
“Don’t Be the Hero”
One of the first lessons that stood out to Jose came from VA Claims Insider’s educational materials and coaching.
For someone who had spent years in the military pushing through discomfort, those words challenged the way Jose had approached previous C&P exams.
He remembers undergoing evaluations for his lower-back condition. When an examiner asked him to bend forward, Jose would comply. If asked to go a little farther, he’d keep pushing, even when it hurt.
“I would try to go more and more,” he recalls, “not knowing that I was actually being my worst advocate for my case.”
Through the Elite program, Jose began learning how to describe his symptoms and limitations more accurately, including what he experienced during flare-ups or particularly difficult days.
But the training also emphasized something equally important: never exaggerate or invent symptoms.
“I always appreciated that the training material started with never lie, never make up or exaggerate what isn’t true.”
For Jose, the lesson was that being honest about his limitations didn’t mean he had to minimize them. Instead of trying to demonstrate how much discomfort he could tolerate, he learned to communicate what he actually experienced.
And that wasn’t the only thing he’d been missing.
Finally Understanding What the VA Looks For
Another turning point came when Jose learned about Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs), standardized forms used to collect medical information for VA disability claims.
Before joining Elite, Jose hadn’t understood how these forms could help him prepare for C&P exams or better understand how the VA evaluated his conditions.
He began reviewing DBQs for conditions he was pursuing, including sinusitis, rhinitis, and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ).
For example, Jose learned that nasal obstruction was an important factor in evaluating rhinitis. That prompted him to ask more specific questions during an appointment with his ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist.
He also became more attentive to his medical records, medications, and the documentation supporting his claims.
Understanding the DBQs helped Jose know what to expect during his exams and how to better communicate his symptoms and limitations.
But even with that new knowledge, his final push toward 100% wouldn’t be straightforward.
“You Are Not Prepared”
By the time Jose reached a combined 90% VA disability rating, he was eager to keep moving forward.
He had an Intent to File approaching the end of its one-year window and wanted to preserve the possibility of an earlier effective date.
But his Veteran Coach was concerned that Jose didn’t have the evidence and preparation needed to give his next claim a strong chance of success.
Jose admits the feedback was difficult to accept.
“It kind of hurt,” he says.
Still, his coach remained patient and supportive, encouraging Jose to focus on strengthening his claim rather than rushing ahead.
He also made it clear that Jose had an important responsibility in the process.
“He wasn’t babying me,” Jose explains. “You got to do the work, too.”
That meant studying educational materials, reviewing DBQs, organizing his medical records, and asking questions whenever something was unclear.
His coach also helped Jose prepare for situations where his symptoms might not be obvious during a C&P exam.
For example, Jose worried about attending a sinusitis exam on a day when his medication was working well.
His coach encouraged him to explain his medication history and describe how his condition affected him during flare-ups, while being honest about how he felt that day.
Jose learned that he could acknowledge having a good day without minimizing the symptoms he experienced at other times.
The goal was to give the examiner a complete and accurate picture of his condition.
And when Jose attended his next C&P exam, he put that preparation into practice.
Walking Into His C&P Exam Prepared
Jose arrived at his C&P exam with something he hadn’t always brought to previous examinations: organized copies of his supporting medical evidence.
He had printed medical records, notes from his doctors, surgery documentation, and the relevant DBQ. Although he’d already uploaded these documents electronically, he wanted to have copies available if the examiner needed them.
That preparation proved useful.
When the nurse practitioner had difficulty locating information on her computer, Jose offered his printed records. She accepted them and began using the documents during the examination.
For Jose, it was a clear example of how differently he was now approaching the claims process.
“Under previous VSOs, they would not have advised me to go as prepared as I did.”
Instead of walking into the exam uncertain about what to expect, Jose had a better understanding of the questions, his medical documentation, and how to accurately communicate his symptoms and limitations.
From 90% to 100%
Jose and his Veteran Coach had developed a strategy that could involve multiple claims over time.
The initial plan was to establish service connection for sinusitis and rhinitis, then potentially pursue additional respiratory conditions.
Jose didn’t expect those first decisions to be enough to reach 100%.
But when the VA issued its decision, he received a 50% rating for sinusitis, along with favorable decisions involving rhinitis and TMJ.
The 50% sinusitis rating alone was enough to bring Jose’s combined VA disability rating to 100%, sooner than he had anticipated.
“I did not expect to be at 100% at this point, but the preparation was so good, the paperwork was so solid, I got it now.”
Looking back, Jose appreciated that his coach had pushed him to take the time to prepare instead of rushing forward.
“He was right and I’m glad he stuck to his guns.”
More Than a 100% VA Rating
When Jose received his 100% VA rating decision, his family immediately began exploring what it could mean beyond his monthly disability compensation.
His daughter encouraged him to look into potential property tax benefits available to qualifying disabled Veterans in Texas.
His youngest son, who was pursuing graduate education, began researching whether he might qualify for Chapter 35 Dependents’ Educational Assistance benefits.
Jose and his wife also started exploring additional health care benefits and other programs that might be available to their family.
While these benefits have their own eligibility requirements, Jose was beginning to discover possibilities he hadn’t fully considered before.
“The monetary compensation is only one of the benefits.”
After more than 30 years navigating the VA disability claims process, Jose had finally reached 100%. And the potential impact extended beyond him to the family that had supported him along the way.
Looking back on his Elite experience, Jose is especially grateful for the guidance, honest feedback, and encouragement that helped him get there.
“I would not be here if it was not for you all.”
YOU SERVED. YOU DESERVE.
Do you have the VA rating you were given…or the VA rating you actually deserve?
Because getting a decision from the VA does not always mean you got the right decision from the VA.
If you are rated anywhere from 0% to 90% and feel stuck, frustrated, underrated, denied, or overlooked, I am speaking directly to you.
And if you have never filed because you thought other veterans deserved it more, because you got denied before, or because you assumed it was too late, do not let those myths make your decision for you.
At VA Claims Insider, we help underrated disabled veterans create real life change by getting the VA rating and compensation they deserve!
Here’s a sliver of what you get when you join us:
- A Veteran Coach by your side, so you never have to fight the VA alone.
- A smarter, personalized strategy for your claim.
- Better VA disability education, so you know what to do next.
- Stronger private medical evidence (DBQs, Nexus Letters, Mental Health Evaluations, and more) at members-only rates to support the rating you deserve.
- And a proven battle plan toward VA claim victory.
But maybe you’re wondering: Will this actually work for me?
That is a fair question.
- At VA Claims Insider, we have helped 50,000+ veterans fight for the VA disability benefits they earned.
- Our internal data shows an average *33% VA rating increase for veterans who complete our Elite program.
- Our internal data also shows veterans in our programs get their claims approved *25% faster on average than the VA’s published average claim-processing timelines.
- Veterans in our community have left 7,000+ total reviews, with a 4.6 out of 5 average rating.
- More than 5,500 reviews are 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, and 92% of all veteran customer reviews are either 4 or 5 stars.
*Based on VA Claims Insider internal data for veterans who completed the Elite program. Average results shown; individual results vary. No guaranteed outcome or faster claim processing.
If you are ready for a better battle plan, a smarter strategy, and the right path to the VA rating and compensation you deserve, we’ve got your six.
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About the Author
Eric Webb
Eric has written and worked in the field of Veterans Disability since 2020 and enjoys writing educational content for the veteran population. His prior work has been published in the Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He holds a Degree in Health and Exercise Science.
