A little about Brian
I was born and raised in a small town in Central Illinois. I've been married to my wife Michelle for more than twenty years. We have a son, a daughter, two dogs, and three cats. I've been a business owner for the past five years. I enjoy being outdoors or in my shop working with metal when I have spare time.
I was a squad leader in the United States Marine Corps for four years. After discharge, I worked as a Union Boilermaker, building and maintaining power plants. I then transitioned into a business owner and have been running all aspects of it for the past five years. After crossing paths with VACI, I'm very excited to transition away from my business and into helping veterans.
After going through much of the VA claims process on my own, I realized how stressful and difficult it is. There's nothing more I'd rather do than to help fellow veterans through that process and help them achieve the rating they've earned and deserve.
My dad is a Vietnam veteran, and I knew I wanted to serve at a young age. I joined the United States Marine Corps right out of high school and served four years with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. I was a LAV Crewman and Tow Gunner. I finished my career as a coach teaching rifle marksmanship skills to Marines.
The Marine Corps instilled a never quit attitude and a drive to always achieve the end goal regardless of the work it takes to get there. It's never about the individual but rather the team and getting to that finish line together. That sense of drive and comradery is still near and dear to me all these years later.
I went fifteen years after discharge before filing for any additional VA claims because I didn't realize I could even file for additional conditions. After researching, I found VA Claims Insider, joined the Mastery Program, and spent the next eleven months soaking up all of the great information before filing my fully developed claim. I went from my original 10% rating to 90% within eight months. My final claim landed me at 100% P&T. The process VACI uses is unique and gives veterans the highest possible chance of filing successful claims.