You Took Separation Pay Years Ago. Now the VA Wants It Back From Your Disability Check. [View all]

This Sucks!!

https://www.military.com/money/personal-finance/you-took-separation-pay-years-ago-now-va-wants-it-back-your-disability-check.html?ESRC=mr_260330.nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mr&utm_campaign=20260330


Military.com | By Brandon Wile
Published March 27, 2026 at 1:40pm ET
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A Military.com reader recently wrote in describing a situation that thousands of veterans share: He left the Marine Corps in 2009 under high year tenure, received about $44,000 in separation pay before taxes, went through a full week of transition assistance classes, filed his Department of Veterans Affairs claims, and moved on with his life.

Seventeen years later, the VA began withholding his entire monthly disability compensation to recoup that separation pay. At 60% disabled with a back condition that prevents him from working a normal job, he lost his primary source of income. He estimates it will take nearly three years to pay it back.

He is not alone, and the problem is not new. It is one of the most persistent and least understood financial traps in the military-to-veteran pipeline.

Much more at the Link.