Published June 17, 2026. The benefits-news items below were current as of that date. This is an archived issue of our weekly email — subscribe here to get new issues first.
The four "combat-related" categories
CRSC law recognizes four ways a condition can qualify. Direct combat is only one of them:
- Armed conflict — injuries from actual combat. A Purple Heart helps prove it, but is not required — for this category or any other.
- Hazardous service — airborne operations, demolition duty, flight duty, diving, and the like. A parachute landing fall at Fort Bragg on a Tuesday can qualify. No combat zone required — no deployment required.
- Conditions simulating war — realistic training: live-fire exercises, combatives, field problems, ruck movements under combat load in training scenarios.
- Instrumentality of war — injury caused by a military vehicle, weapon system, or equipment designed for combat use. A HMMWV rollover stateside can qualify.
Notice that three of the four don't require a deployment. What they all require is proof. The board doesn't take your word for it — the connection has to be documented: orders, jump logs, hazardous-duty pay records, line-of-duty determinations, treatment records that name the event. That's the difference between a claim and a packet. In our experience, weak documentation of a legitimate combat-related condition is one of the most common reasons strong cases go nowhere. (Deep dive: where most packets die.)
What moved this week
The PACT Act presumptive list keeps growing.
VA has continued adding presumptive conditions for toxic-exposure veterans — recent additions include hypertension and several blood and genitourinary cancers — and the law requires VA to review the science and consider new conditions on a recurring basis. If you were ever denied on an exposure-related condition, re-checking the current presumptive list is worth your time. (Source: VA.gov — PACT Act presumptive conditions.)
Decisions are fast now — and more accurate.
VA says it processed 2 million disability claims in FY2026 by June 1, faster than ever, with 12-month accuracy around 94% and average completion near 81 days. Faster cuts both ways: a thin claim gets a quick "no" just as fast. Be ready before you file. (Source: VA / The American Legion, June 2026.)
2027 COLA watch — too early to chase headlines.
Projections for the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment are running roughly 2.8%–3.6%, but the real number isn't set until SSA announces in October, using July–September inflation data. Ignore the clickbait until then. (Source: MOAA COLA Watch.)
Texas's Hazlewood Act
Qualifying Texas veterans get up to 150 credit hours of tuition (and most fees) waived at Texas public colleges and universities — and the hours don't expire. Better still: unused hours can transfer to one dependent child age 25 or under through the Legacy program. It doesn't cover books, housing, or out-of-state schools, and it isn't automatic — you apply through the school's veterans office. Small money next to CRSC, but it's your money, and a kid's tuition is not small. Out-of-state readers: most states have some version — search "[your state] veteran tuition benefit." (Source: Texas Veterans Commission — Hazlewood Act.)
Make a one-page list of every injury or condition you carry a VA rating for. Next to each, write where it happened: deployment, jump, range, training event, military vehicle. That single page is the skeleton of a CRSC eligibility picture — and it's exactly what we walk through on a review call.
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