Two years ago, in response to claims that the military was downplaying injuries to cut costs, Congress ordered a review of disputed disability claims. Since then, according to an Associated Press article featured on msnbc.msn.com, only a small percentage of eligible veterans have applied for benefits. Here is an excerpt from the article:

As of mid-March, only 921 vets have applied out of the 77,000 the Pentagon estimates are eligible, according to numbers provided to The Associated Press by the Physical Disability Board of Review…

Veterans’ advocates say more outreach is needed….

“Less than 1,000 have applied, to me they really need to do a better effort to get the word out,” said Mike Hayden, deputy director of government relations for the Military Officers’ Association of America. “The success rate tells me there was a definite problem and the Physical Disability Board of Review is out there to correct it.”

The article does a great job of shedding light on the military population’s general lack of awareness when it comes to benefits. But it fails to mention one important point. Aside from added income and health care for families, there are hiring benefits associated with a service-connected disability of 30% or more. The federal government extends special hiring privileges to disabled veterans. For more information on this topic, please read my previous post on veteran’s preference.

So be proactive in applying for benefits to boost not only your financial bottom-line, but your federal military resume and job search as well.

For professional military resume and federal resume writing services, as well as military-to-federal career search advice, please consult the professional military resume writing team at Military Resumes.

Filed under: Federal Job (Steps to get a), Federal Resumes, In the News, Military Career Transition, Military Job Seeker Advice