Service connection

Service connection is the VA's formal term for the determination that a disability was incurred in or aggravated by active military service. It is the element that answers why the VA compensates a particular condition, and it sits alongside a current diagnosis and documented severity as one of the three things a disability claim needs. The basic rule is at 38 CFR 3.303. In plain language this library uses the phrase connection to service for the same idea.

The regulation recognizes more than one route to the same determination. Direct service connection rests on evidence tying the condition to service itself, under 3.303. A condition caused or worsened by an already service-connected condition is covered at 3.310. A preexisting condition worsened by service is covered at 3.306. Where a presumption applies, at 3.307 and 3.309, the regulation supplies the link for veterans who meet the service criteria written into it.

Which route fits a given set of facts is claims work. Preparing and presenting that argument to the VA is reserved to VA-accredited attorneys, claims agents, and VSO representatives, and the VA decides. What the medical record carries is the other half: a current diagnosis stated plainly and severity documented in terms the rating schedule can apply. Representation through a recognized VSO is free.