01 / Occupational profile
Your 17C occupational profile
Sustained workstation and keyboard use
Common occupational factor
Console-based cyber operations involve extended periods at a keyboard and monitor, often during long or irregular shifts.
Shift work and sustained operational tempo
Assignment-dependent
Continuous network-defense missions can require rotating or overnight shifts and sustained vigilance against active threats.
Prolonged sitting
Common occupational factor
The duty day is largely sedentary, seated at a workstation for extended periods.
02 / Your service
What did you actually do?
Your MOS is the starting point. Your actual assignment, era, equipment, location, and duties determine which parts of the occupational history are relevant. Use the Evidence Builder below to select your actual duties and see records that may corroborate them.
17Cs detect, identify, and respond to attacks against friendly networks, and produce synchronized cyber effects using software, firmware, and hardware tools. Duties range across analyst, operator, developer, and forensic network/host analyst roles, typically performed at a workstation in a secure facility for extended periods, often on rotating or overnight shifts to maintain continuous mission coverage. The work is sedentary and screen-intensive rather than physically demanding, with the occupational history centering on sustained console work, shift patterns, and the cognitive and stress demands of defending systems against active threats.
MOS 17C was established starting in 2015 as the Army built out its Cyber branch; earlier Soldiers performing similar work may have held other intelligence or signal MOS codes with an electronic warfare or cyber-related ASI before 17C existed.
Duties that may vary by assignment
- Detecting, identifying, and responding to attacks against Army networks
- Defensive and offensive cyberspace operations
- Network and host forensic analysis
- Malware analysis and incident response
- Extended workstation-based shifts in secure facilities
- Rotating or overnight shift schedules for continuous coverage
Private, on this page only
Military Occupational Evidence Builder
Based on what you actually did in the military, what records might document it? Select only what applied to you. No name, file number, contact details, free text, or upload. Nothing is saved or sent.
Military service
Army · 17C Cyber Operations Specialist
For another specialty, open its guide from the MOS library. A job code alone does not establish individual duties or exposure.
Era(s) of service
Deployments
Already have a VA decision?
Your Evidence Builder identifies records that may document your service history. If VA has already decided your claim, the next question is different: what did VA accept, what did VA reject, and why?
Request a free decision review03 / Corroboration
Building your occupational history
Records matter because they can connect a job title to an individual's actual work and circumstances.
Sustained workstation and keyboard use
Records that may corroborate it
- · Sick call and occupational health entries describing wrist, hand, or eye strain
- · Assignment records identifying a cyber operations or SOC duty position
- · Evaluations describing workstation-based duties
Limit: Workstation duty alone does not establish a current repetitive-strain or vision condition; a current diagnosis and medical opinion are required.
Shift work and sustained operational tempo
Records that may corroborate it
- · Unit duty rosters or shift schedules, if retained
- · Evaluations describing shift or on-call duties
- · Sick call entries for sleep or stress-related complaints during the assignment
Limit: Shift work and operational tempo alone do not establish a current mental health or sleep diagnosis; clinical findings and a medical opinion are required.
Prolonged sitting
Records that may corroborate it
- · Sick call entries for back or neck complaints during the assignment
- · Evaluations describing workstation-based duties
Limit: Prolonged sitting alone does not establish that a current spine condition is related to service; a current diagnosis and medical opinion are required.
04 / Evidence standard
What your MOS can — and cannot — establish
May help document
Work performed, circumstances of service, consistency of an alleged exposure, and the nature or duration of duties where supported by individual records.
Does not automatically establish
A diagnosis, medical causation, severity, percentage, presumption, or entitlement to service connection.
05 / Medical evidence
Conditions that may be relevant to the occupational history
This is not a list of conditions to claim. A veteran's actual diagnosis and individual service record determine relevance; occupational evidence is not medical causation.
Musculoskeletal +
Wrist, hand, or neck conditions
Why the occupation may matter: Sustained keyboard and console use over long shifts is a recognized repetitive-strain demand.
Records and clinical evidence: Current diagnosis, duty records, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Sleep +
Sleep disorders from rotating shift work
Why the occupation may matter: Continuous cyber-defense coverage can require rotating or overnight shifts.
Records and clinical evidence: Current diagnosis, shift-schedule records, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Mental health +
Anxiety or related conditions from sustained threat-response duty
Why the occupation may matter: Defending networks against active intrusions involves sustained vigilance and stress.
Records and clinical evidence: Current diagnosis, documented duty history, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
06 / Exposure record
ILER and toxic exposure
For applicable exposure-related claims, VA may review the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) and a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) memorandum along with deployment and occupational records. An ILER entry does not automatically establish exposure or service connection.
07 / After a decision
Why a 17C claim may still be denied
An exposure finding is not the same as a grant. These are examples from the researched guide, not predictions about a particular case.
VA may accept
A duty or event consistent with the service record
But may deny
A diagnosis, medical relationship, or rating element
Record to examine
Decision findings, service and private treatment records, examination rationale, and medical opinions.
Non-combat duty assumed to carry no occupational demands
Sedentary console work is sometimes treated as having no occupational relevance at all; shift schedules and ergonomic complaints may help show the actual duty demands.
Shift-work sleep claims lack duty documentation
Rotating cyber-operations shifts were often not formally logged; evaluations and buddy statements may help document the pattern.
Repetitive-strain claims denied for lack of in-service treatment
Wrist or hand strain was sometimes self-managed rather than reported; duty descriptions and later diagnosis may still matter.
Oakridge Claims / Appeals Focused
Already have a VA decision?
The important question is what VA accepted, what it rejected, and why. A decision review considers the decision, examinations, and the complete record — including private and VA records that may need development. Oakridge is appeals-focused — core work is post-decision, but initial and new claims are accepted on a case-by-case basis (no fee for pre-decision work).
Fees for eligible post-decision representation are governed by a written agreement. See fee details. No outcome is guaranteed.
17C questions
Does the 17C MOS establish a wrist or hand condition by itself?
No. It documents the occupational field; a current diagnosis and a medical opinion connecting it to sustained duty are still required.
What records show my specific shift pattern?
Unit duty rosters, evaluations describing watch-standing duties, and buddy statements are the usual starting points when formal schedules were not retained.
I served in intelligence or signal work with a cyber ASI before 17C existed. Does that matter?
It may. Evaluations and orders describing your actual duties can document similar demands even if your MOS code at the time was different.
Sources and legal references
General education only; not legal or medical advice. Oakridge Claims is a private business, not affiliated with or endorsed by VA. Nothing here establishes a representative-client relationship or guarantees a result. Free accredited VSO help is available.