Who writes this, and what it is
Who's behind FindADBQ
FindADBQ is written by Michael J. Korman — "Navy Mike" — a retired U.S. Navy Seabee Master Chief Petty Officer with roughly twenty-five years of service, including a tour in Iraq in 2005–2006.
Before becoming a VA-accredited claims agent, he spent time inside the system that decides these claims, as a GS-11 Rating Veterans Service Representative — the role that actually applies the rating schedule to the evidence in a file. Much of what's on this site comes from having seen, from the inside, which claims were decided on a complete record and which ones weren't.
He is a lifetime member of the American Legion, VFW, and DAV, a past Commander of American Legion Post 791 in Northbrook, Illinois, and an Elizabeth Dole Foundation Military Caregiver Fellow. FindADBQ is a project of No Veteran Alone.
VA accreditation number: 57668. Accreditation status for any representative can be confirmed through VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation search.
What this site is
FindADBQ explains one narrow, decisive thing: what a Disability Benefits Questionnaire measures, and why an incomplete one quietly costs veterans rating percentage points they were entitled to. The DBQ drives the outcome of a musculoskeletal claim more than any other single document, and almost nothing written for veterans explains it in plain language.
Everything here is free, and there is nothing to sign up for.
What this site is not
Reading this site does not make anyone your representative. VA representation is established only when you sign an appointment form — VA Form 21-22 for an organization, or VA Form 21-22a for an individual — naming a specific accredited representative who has agreed to take your case, and VA accepts it. Nothing on this website, including its tools, does that on your behalf or on anyone else's.
This site is educational. It is not legal or medical advice, it does not submit or track claims, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Accreditation is a status VA grants to individuals; it is not a VA endorsement of this website or its contents.
If you want help with a claim, you have good free options: an accredited Veterans Service Organization representative costs nothing at any stage, and accredited attorneys and claims agents cannot charge you for work on an initial claim. The claim application guide covers how that works.
How the content is checked
Every form number, deadline, mailing address, rating threshold, and case citation on this site is verified against primary sources — VA.gov, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the Code of Federal Regulations — before it's published, and each page carries the date of its last review. Where a figure comes from a secondary source that hasn't yet been confirmed against the regulation itself, that page says so.
VA processes change. Sign-in credentials get retired, forms get revised, addresses move. If you find something on this site that's out of date or wrong, that's worth knowing about — corrections are welcome.