The Board has determined that the Veteran's pension benefits should be terminated due to his failure to meet the minimum active duty requirement, as he served less than six months and did not qualify for exceptions.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's discharge was due to failing to pass Army Physical Fitness Tests (APFTs) during entry-level status, which is a probationary period of service. The right foot injury did not justify the discharge for disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right foot fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2024
- Citation
- 24003190
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,592 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 24003190.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection and initial rating, dismissing both issues.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD and depressive disorder, assigned a 70 percent rating for an acquired psychiatric disorder, and denied increased ratings for left and right varicocele. The remaining claims were remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's request for Higher-Level Review was denied because it was not received within one year of the AOJ decisions, and thus is untimely.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development to determine if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation prior to July 3, 2014. The case will then be referred to the VA's Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration.
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