Proving service connection for hearing loss

Question:

I was in the US Army in 1967-68. I was out up for a medical discharge for a chronic dislocating shoulder in Ft. Dix in about February 1968. While I waited for paperwork to be completed I was often assigned to work on the rifle ranges qualifying trainees in Basic Training for their markmanship categories. While there we were never provided ear protection and at one point I went totally deaf in one ear and significantly deaf in the other. I was taken off the ranges, but never referred to the base hospital. When my hearing returned I was sent back onto the ranges. We used cigarette filters in our ears to mitigate the repeated concussive noise of rifles being fired. I have not been able to receive hearing aids from the VA because my income is too high and unless your hearing loss is service connected. In my attempts to establish service connection to make me eligible for any disability allowance or free hearing aids I've been told that activity isn't in my MOS, or at my rank (E-2) I would not have been exposed to loud noise. I simply have no record of having my hearing damaged. Your thoughts?

Jim's Reply:

Chronic or permanent hearing loss usually occurs over time long after the acoustic trauma has been forgotten about. The temporary loss and then return of the ability to hear is common but the damage is done even though it may not show up until decades later. In a hearing loss claim we don't have to show we were injured or treated extensively for the hearing loss, we have to show we were exposed to an acoustic trauma that would be generally accepted to damage our hearing. Your problem will come in whether or not you can prove you were working on those ranges and how often that happened. If you can show that you were on the range, you're off to a good start for a disability claim.