VA Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) 

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The VA BDD office is located on the LRMC grounds in Building 3700, Room 214.  We are a BDD Intake Site responsible for offering initial claims processing services according to policies agreed on by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.  Our responsibilities include taking claims, requesting examinations and initiating other development as appropriate.

Our walk-in office hours are weekdays, M-F 1000 to 1500 (except Federal Holidays). An appointment is not necessary. 

1.  Who can file a BDD claim?

If you are a service member who has between 60 - 180 days until discharge or retirement you may participate in the BDD program if you can attend all examinations required to evaluate your claim before you leave Europe.  Examinations for the BDD program are conducted at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

MEB/PEB Cases:  Please contact the BDD Office for assistance before filing.

Important note:  Claims involving seriously disabled or terminally ill service members; extremely complex claims; certain special issues such as radiation exposure, "undiagnosed Gulf War Illness,” asbestos exposure, or chemical exposure, may not be processed as BDD claims.  Claims from pregnant service members cannot be processed as BDD claims.  Claims for PTSD may be processed as BDD claims if PTSD was diagnosed during active duty. 

2.  What must you do to get your claim started?

You must complete a VA Form 21-526 [September 2009 edition], Veteran's Application for Compensation and/or Pension, Fly-In Request Form and provide us with a copy of your Service Treatment Records.  The copy will NOT be returned to you. Our office cannot make a copy for you.

VA Form 21-526 is also available online at www.va.gov.  Click on VA Forms at the bottom of the home page. Type 21-526 in the entry field provided and VA Form 21-526 will appear as the first selection.  DO NOT “submit” the form on-line thru VONAPP. Print the form and fill it out by hand or typed.  VA Form 21-526 is also available at Transition / ACAP sites, SFAC sites and at the BDD Office.

3.  What does VA BDD do?

The BDD Office will ask the VA Examination Clinic at LRMC to provide you with a VA physical examination after you file your claim.  After we make the examination request we will give you instructions for contacting the Clinic. It is your responsibility to call the VA Examination Clinic at LRMC to schedule your examination. If you fail to complete your examination, VA will not process your claim as a BDD claim. The BDD Office will send your claim to the VA Regional Office of Jurisdiction in your home state.  If you remain in Europe, VA Regional Office, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is your Office of Jurisdiction.

When your examination results are returned to the VA BDD Office, we will forward your claim to the BDD Rating Activity Site [RAS] at VA Regional Office, Winston-Salem, NC.  The RAS is responsible for rating, award and notification for BDD claims.  A disability rating decision will be mailed to you after you are officially discharged from military service.

4.  What if you have questions?

Send us a message at GermanyBDD.VBAPIT@va.gov.  A member of the BDD Team will respond within 5 business days.

Or 

Call us between 0800 and 1600, Monday through Friday [except Federal Holidays]:

DSN: 486-8028 CIV: 06371-86-8028

Outside Germany: 49-6371-86-8028

 

COMPLETING PART B, SECTION 1 OF VAF 21-526

Generally speaking, VA compensates veterans for “chronic” conditions which result from disease or injury. The term “chronic” means that the condition is persistent or likely to recur.  

The chronic condition must either begin during active service; or, if it pre-exists entry on active service, must be aggravated (permanently worsened) by military service. 

To help VA serve you, please remember the following when you prepare your claim:

There are certain conditions for which VA cannot grant service connection.  These conditions are:

1.     Refractive error of the eye, unless due to disease or injury.

2.     Lab findings, such has high cholesterol, positive PPD testing.  Lab findings may be indicative of chronic disease, but the lab finding itself is not a disability for VA purposes.

3.     Exposure.  Exposure to radiation, asbestos, Agent Orange or other environmental hazards, is not a disability.  VA only compensates for disabilities presumptively or demonstratively due to exposure. [example:  VA will compensate a veteran who is diagnosed with diabetes and who was exposed to Agent Orange during service in Vietnam because our governing regulations presume that herbicide exposure causes diabetes].

4.     Gum disease, missing teeth (unless due to trauma), cavities.

5.     Personality disorder.

VA cannot grant service connection for “acute” conditions [example:  the common cold].

When claiming disease or injury affecting a joint, please specify whether the left or right knee, arm, ankle, shoulder, hip etc. is affected.

“Pain” is not a ratable condition; “pain” is a symptom of disease or injury.  Please describe the disease or injury.  [example:  fracture of the right wrist, not right wrist pain]

Do not claim a condition more than once even though you may have been treated many times for that condition. The Rating Veterans Service Representative who adjudicates your claim is responsible for reviewing all of your service treatment records and will note frequency of treatment before making a decision.

Directions:

We are in building 3700 [Veterans Affairs], second floor, Room 214.[near Gate 4, across from the running track]

Driving directions to Autobahn Exit

• Follow the white “US Medical Center” sign, go right at the end of the off ramp and drive up the hill in the direction of Zweibrücken.
• Follow the sign for “Gate 3”. Soon after you pass the radar site on the left take a slight “left” off the priority road. Drive on to the LRMC entry gate.
• After entering the base, turn right at the “T” intersection.
• Stay to the right and drive uphill passing the AAFES Gas Station-Shoppette on the left. You can see building 3700 straight ahead as you drive by the gas station. Turn left to park in the lot across from the gas station. There is also a small parking lot in front of building 3700 which you can reach by following the road until it turns left, then turning right into the lot just past the Veterans Affairs sign.  This lot has two spaces for handicapped parking.