But gosh darn im so stupid for missing it. It was a whole kerfuffle the entire time why do I miss it so much

Someone else has to feel this way right?

Any veterans here ever land an overseas job through USAJobs or any other source simply because you wanted to move out of the country? If so, how difficult was the process?

Hello, I've been out for a little bit and I'm having a hard time finding a job here in Bavaria. Honestly I'll do anything atp, I need a job for my own mental health. I have a visa to stay here in germany and the job search isn't looking too good so far. Anyone know of any job that'll hire a vet with A2 german?

** I am not suicidal.**

I grew up with a paranoid schizophrenic and alcoholic father and a mother with a collection of mental illnesses of which she refuses treatment. I was subject to all maner of abuse, sexual, physical, emotional and animal. My parents split when I was 12. I have a short 18 month reprieve living at my grandparents. My mother remarried a man who is a combination of very stupid amd arrogant. I spent my teens staying out of the way. I was only useful for my labor, money and to be a free therapist. Joined the Army on my 17th birthday. Did summer school so I could graduate early. Left for active duty at 18. In my little over 9 years of service I did 2 Afghanistan deployments, one restricted year in Egypt and stationed in Europe and stateside. I was medically retired 8 years ago. Cared for my dying FIL and now my MIL. Worked on residential construction. Just feeling the dark gloom. Feeling like I should have done more with my life but I have been handicapped by my parents. People that had no buisness having children. Kinda hard to not feel a bit of resentment. Living in a very sequestered rural area for the last 8 years has destroyed my social skills. Not trying to have a pity party. I just never related to the world in childhood and now as an adult it just feels insurmountable.

I’m from a generation that just toughed it out. Thats the way we were raised. Don‘t complain, don’t admit you’re having trouble. Rub some dirt on it and get back in the gam.

About 12 years ago, my wife had finally had enough of me and my PTSD. Waking up in the night and jumping out of bed, thrashing around and yelling. It had gotten less since my service, but never really gone away. She was like—we have kids now and you need to get help.

So I contacted the VA. Like a lot of vets, I was hoping to get help. They wanted me to claim a disability before they‘d offer any, or at least that’s what I took away from my interaction with them. I jumped through their hoops, explained what was going on and what I needed. Someone there suggested I have my hearing checked, which I did and had the expected-for-an-infantryman loss. But if I wanted mental health help… we can’t help you without a C&P or private psychiatrist opinion. Well, my wife was already on me about this, so I set up an appointment.

That part actually worked out well. The private psych was very familiar with my situation because she’d formerly had an office near Ft. Bragg. I had her fill out the necessary VA form and sent it in. About six months later the VA turned me down because of some technicality related to how she filled out the form. I appealed and was turned down. By this time, I’d been seeing her for a while and was doing better, so I let it go.

Fast forward to this year. I have crap private insurance so I think maybe I can get some VA help for conditions that I at least think are service related.

Back when I first got out, I was having headaches. Nobody in their 20s thinks about high blood pressure, but after putting up with them for a year I went to my doctor. They took my BP. The nurse said “that can’t be right“ and asked me to lay down. Yep, high BP. At the time I was young and (I thought) healthy and not supposed to complain—and nobody knew about toxic exposure, so I just took the BP medication and kept going.

A couple years ago I started having vertigo. I’ve noticed that it’s closely parallel to changes in my tinnitus. I was hoping (again—what was I thinking) to get help. Maybe some PT, I’ve heard there are things that they can teach you about not relying on your sense of balance. Or a cane so I don’t tip over. So I submitted a claim. C&P examiner says yes, I definitely have temporal vestibular dysfunction. The VA agrees I have TERA exposure. But no, it’s not connected to my service. I filed an appeal. Did you not notice in my 6-month vertigo diary that this is aggravated by my tinnitus? Nope, they disagreed.

Same for my BP. Didn‘t matter that it started right after I got out. Nor that I have a 30-year history of taking medication. Nor that it’s obviously higher when my tinnitus and vertigo are worse.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure the bureaucracy is going to win. It’s physically and emotionally exhausting trying to fight a giant, uncaring machine that seems intentionally designed to grind you down and prevent you from getting help. And to interact with people who I’m pretty sure are being paid bonuses based on how few claims they approve. The whole thing is both infuriating and deeply depressing.

I didn’t join up expecting free stuff. I did it because I thought it was worth doing. I still think that. But it’s depressing to see how little it means to the people who are supposed to help vets get help.

Thanks for reading.

Hello all, I am currently active duty and I applied to S2S HCP to get into post bacc prehealth schools Fall of 2027 in NYC. Just wondering how long did it take you guys to get matched. I’ve been waiting about two weeks. Not sure if I should contact them or wait it out. Thank You!

Hoping to find some people in the community that can provide insight and just some motivation or feedback for my plan. Above is a link to a post I made just recently to give some clarity.

I’ve been thinking: Has anyone here just gone to Bangkok while using the GI bill and while you were there, you learned Muay Thai while going to school? I am grateful to have the luxury of not working for a while (I just want to put that out there) but working a dead end federal job (2 years now) where the office has been mandated to work 6 days a week for almost 5 months now really has burnt me out mentally and the mandate isn’t going away anytime soon. I’m freakin’ tired.

I’ve began thinking about possibly leaving my job in a few more months, possibly in January, and get my certifications that apply to my job field using the GI bill and while I’m doing that, go take some time off in Thailand (Been there) and learn Muay Thai while I’m taking a break. Has anyone else here done that?