The Sick Call Ranger Blog

Notes from the field

Veteran-written guides on understanding your medical records, navigating VA disability, and keeping your Guard/Reserve drill pay straight. Built by veterans, for veterans.

Sick Call Ranger vs. ChatGPT: Which Should a Veteran Use to Make Sense of Their Medical Records?

Tools & AI

July 2026

Sick Call Ranger vs. ChatGPT: Which Should a Veteran Use to Make Sense of Their Medical Records?

ChatGPT is brilliant at a lot of things. Reading 1,800 pages of scanned service treatment records isn’t one of them. Here’s an honest side-by-side — the strengths, the weaknesses, and who wins for what.

Guard & Reserve

April 2026

Drill Pay vs. VA Disability: The Guard/Reserve Veteran’s Survival Guide to Avoiding Clawbacks (2026 Edition)

How Guard and Reserve veterans avoid VA disability clawbacks from drill pay offsets. 2026 rates, VA Form 21-8951, the 1-MUTA trick, SGLI pitfalls, and a simple decision framework.

The Math Behind Your VA Rating: Why 50% + 30% Doesn’t Equal 80%

Rating Math

April 2026

The Math Behind Your VA Rating: Why 50% + 30% Doesn’t Equal 80%

A plain-English walkthrough of 38 CFR § 4.25 and the bilateral factor — why VA disability ratings use residual math instead of simple addition, and how to verify the numbers on your own decision letter.

How AI Helps Veterans Understand Their Own Medical Records in 2026

Veterans Benefits

March 2026

How AI Helps Veterans Understand Their Own Medical Records in 2026

AI can scan hundreds of pages of service and civilian medical records in minutes, surface conditions you’d forgotten, and organize your paperwork before you meet a VSO or attorney.