Start with service history
Write a plain timeline of units, duty locations, deployments, incidents, duties, awards, and dates. The goal is to make the service story reviewable before you request records or draft statements.
Combat denial prep
Combat veteran claim denied with no medical records? Organize the evidence trail.
If VA denied a claim because the medical record is thin, start by organizing the facts you can verify: where you served, what happened, who observed it, how symptoms continued, and which records you have requested.
Service history map
Lay evidence planning
Records request checklist
Existing ValorAI tools
Turn a thin record into organized questions.
Use these tools to summarize the decision, map service records, prepare witness prompts, and decide when accredited help should review the next step. ValorAI keeps this as educational preparation; official filing and representation stay with you, VA.gov, or accredited help.
Authoritative sources
Verify the rules and records path at the source.
- VA evidence needed for disability claims
Review official VA evidence categories, including medical evidence and lay evidence.
- VA decision review options
Compare Supplemental Claims, Higher-Level Reviews, and Board Appeals before choosing a response lane.
- National Archives military service records
Request DD214, personnel, and other service records through the official National Archives process.
- National Archives medical and health records
Check where older service health records may be held and how to request available records.
- VA claim, decision review, or appeal status
Use the official VA tool to check status details and some evidence or decision-letter documents.
- VA accredited representative search
Verify a VSO, attorney, or claims agent through VA before relying on formal representation or filing help.
Use lay evidence carefully
Buddy statements, personal statements, spouse notes, supervisor observations, and post-service witness accounts can describe what people personally saw. Keep each statement factual, dated when possible, and in the witness voice.
Track continuity and record requests
Build a symptom and treatment timeline from service to now, then log where you requested records, when you requested them, and what came back. Missing records are easier to discuss when the request trail is clear.
What to do next
Build your next step.
Use this page to leave with a concrete next step, then continue in chat, documents, forms, official VA channels, or accredited help when you need representation.
You should leave with a clearer next action and the questions to verify before you file or share records.
- 1Read the decision letter and copy the exact evidence gap VA identified.
- 2Build a service-history and continuity timeline from records, memory, and witness notes.
- 3Request official service, personnel, and health records, then prepare questions for VA.gov or accredited help.
Prep support only
ValorAI helps you organize information, prepare drafts, and review next steps. We are not a VA-accredited representative, VSO, attorney, or claims agent; we do not file claims, provide legal advice, guarantee outcomes, or represent you before VA. For formal representation or filing help, use VA.gov or a VA-accredited representative.