Sources

This page lists the official pages the Veteran Benefits GPS™ tool links to. In it, "I" and "me" mean Veteran Benefits GPS LLC, "VA" means the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and "VSO" means Veterans Service Organization.

1. What this page is

Veteran Benefits GPS™ is a free navigation guide for Veterans and their families on the website at vbgps.org, operated by Veteran Benefits GPS LLC, an Illinois limited liability company. It does not act for you. It points.

Veteran Benefits GPS is not the VA and is not affiliated with any government agency. It points you to official sources and to free help from an accredited VSO representative; it does not give advice and does not decide anything. Verify every step at the official page it links to.

Rules, forms, deadlines, and dollar amounts change. Every route in the tool ends at an official page, and that page is the authority, not this tool. If the tool and the official page ever disagree, the official page is right, and I would like to hear about it at casey@vbgps.org so I can fix the tool.

2. How the links are checked

Each Route Pass you make shows the day its oldest link was checked. It says: "Every link on this pass was checked against its official page on or after" that date. Scan the code to open this territory on any phone.

Almost every link in the tool's guidance opens a VA.gov page, and the rest open another federal agency's page (the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Office of Personnel Management, or the Small Business Administration), the page of the VA's Office of Inspector General, or the Veterans Crisis Line. I have no agreement with any of these agencies or organizations about these links, and none of them pays me for them.

3. Sources by territory

The map has ten territories. Each list below is the official pages that territory links to in its main pages, forms, steps and overlays. Pages that appear across the tool are in section 4. The state cards carry their own links.

Where a form applies, the list gives the VA Form number and its VA.gov page.

Words on this page

These are the abbreviations in the link names below, spelled out the way the tool spells them.

• C&P: Compensation and Pension. A C&P exam is the claim exam the VA may ask for after a disability claim is filed.
• CHAMPVA: Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA is a program in which the VA shares the cost of certain health care for eligible family members.
• Chapter 36: Personalized Career Planning and Guidance. Chapter 36 is free education and career counseling for Veterans and eligible dependents, and the VA also calls it Personalized Career Planning and Guidance (PCPG).
• CLEAR: The name of a sign-in account provider. CLEAR is a non-government account provider that contracts with government and non-government organizations.
• COE: Certificate of Eligibility. A COE is the document that shows a lender a Veteran can use the VA home loan benefit.
• CRDP: Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay. CRDP is a military retirement pay rule run by DFAS, not by the VA.
• CRSC: Combat-Related Special Compensation. CRSC is a military pay rule for combat-related disabilities, handled through the branch of service.
• D.I.C.: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. D.I.C. is short for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.
• DFAS: Defense Finance and Accounting Service. DFAS is the agency that pays military retirees and service members.
• DIC: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. DIC is a monthly benefit for eligible survivors of service members and Veterans.
• GI Bill: The common name for the VA's education benefits. The name GI Bill comes from the law known as the G.I. Bill.
• ID.me: ID.me is the name of a sign-in account provider.
• Login.gov: Login.gov is the name of a sign-in account provider.
• MST: Military sexual trauma. MST is short for military sexual trauma.
• OPM: Office of Personnel Management. OPM is the federal agency that runs federal hiring, retirement, and benefits programs.
• PACT Act: The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. The PACT Act is a federal law about toxic exposure during military service.
• SAH: Specially Adapted Housing. SAH is short for Specially Adapted Housing, a VA housing grant.
• SBA: Small Business Administration. The SBA is the federal agency for small businesses, which runs the Veterans Business Outreach Centers.
• SGLI: Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance. SGLI is low-cost life insurance for eligible service members.
• SHA: Special Housing Adaptation. SHA is short for Special Housing Adaptation, a VA housing grant.
• VA: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA is short for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• VALife: Veterans Affairs Life Insurance. VALife is short for Veterans Affairs Life Insurance, a VA life insurance program.
• VGLI: Veterans' Group Life Insurance. VGLI is life insurance a separated or retired member can keep by paying premiums.
• VR&E: Veteran Readiness and Employment. VR&E is the VA's program, also called Chapter 31, that helps Veterans with service-connected disabilities explore work options and training.
• VSO: Veterans Service Organization. A VSO is an organization the VA has recognized, where Veterans and their dependents can get free help from an accredited VSO representative.

4. Pages that appear across the tool

These links sit in the support drawer and on result cards, on any territory. The two accredited representative links are the same on every territory, so the lists above leave them out.

• Veterans Crisis Line (opens in a new tab): Confidential support for Veterans in crisis, and for those who support them.
• Find your nearest accredited VSO (opens in a new tab)
• Get direct help from an accredited VSO representative (opens in a new tab)
• National Guard & Reserve benefits (VA.gov) (opens in a new tab)
• VA women's health services (VA.gov) (opens in a new tab)
• MST support (VA.gov) (opens in a new tab)
• Start at VA.gov (opens in a new tab): Official U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

5. State and local benefits

On the State and Local Benefits territory, once you choose your state, the territory links to that state's own official pages, such as its Veterans agency, its Veteran property tax exemption page, or its Veteran education benefit page, and, for a local program, to the official page of the local public body that runs it. Where the tool has not confirmed that state's own page for a step, it links instead to the VA's directory of state Veterans agencies, the Disabled American Veterans' office finder, and the House and Senate pages for finding your members of Congress.

The state you choose is never stored and never sent to me or to anyone.

I opened and read each page below before I linked it.

• Find your state Veterans agency (DiscoverVA) (opens in a new tab)
• Find a DAV office near you (Disabled American Veterans) (opens in a new tab)
• Find your member of Congress (U.S. House of Representatives) (opens in a new tab)
• Contact your U.S. Senators (U.S. Senate) (opens in a new tab)

For nearly every one of these places, the tool also shows what the place itself publishes about its benefits. Each of those cards shows the figure in the law's own unit, the law it comes from, the day I read it, and a link to the official page. The links are on the cards.

Below, each place lists its pages in this order. Property tax comes first, then Veterans agency, then education. Where I have not confirmed a place's own page for a step, this list reads "No page confirmed". The tool says "I have not confirmed [place]'s own page for this yet." and shows the fallback links above.

6. A link that does not work

If a link does not open, or opens the wrong page, write to me at casey@vbgps.org. Tell me the page you were on and which link it was.

Veteran Benefits GPS LLC · casey@vbgps.org · PO Box 2, Herod, IL 62947