01 / Occupational profile
Your 2100 occupational profile
Operational medicine deployment (FMF, shipboard, submarine)
Location-dependent
Physicians attached to Fleet Marine Force units, surface ships, or submarines deploy with those commands, sharing field, shipboard, or undersea conditions and limited specialist support.
Flight surgeon aircraft noise and vibration exposure
Common occupational factor
Flight surgeons may fly as observers to evaluate aircrew and aircraft conditions, exposing them to cockpit or cabin noise and vibration similar to the aircrew they support.
Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during trauma care
Common occupational factor
Directing and performing trauma stabilization, line placement, and wound management in the field or aboard ship involves repeated blood and sharps contact, often under limited-resource conditions.
Command-level responsibility for casualties and fitness determinations
Assignment-dependent
As the senior medical authority for an attached unit, ship, or submarine, a Medical Corps officer carries decision-making responsibility during casualty events and medical evacuations.
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.
Medical Corps officers conduct direct patient care, from primary care clinics to inpatient and specialty services, and many serve in operational billets — general medical officers (GMOs) with Fleet Marine Force units, undersea medical officers aboard submarines, or flight surgeons supporting naval aviation. Operational medical officers deploy with the units they support, running sick call under field or shipboard conditions, triaging trauma, and making fitness-for-duty determinations with command impact. Shipboard and submarine medical officers work in confined spaces with limited diagnostic equipment and no on-call specialist backup, while FMF-attached physicians share the same field conditions, road marches, and combat training exposure as the Marines they treat. Flight surgeons examine aircrew for fitness to fly and may fly as observers, adding aircraft noise and vibration exposure to the clinical workload.
Duties that may vary by assignment
- Primary, inpatient, and specialty patient care at Navy hospitals or MTFs
- General medical officer (GMO) duty with Fleet Marine Force units
- Undersea medical officer duty aboard submarines
- Flight surgeon duty supporting naval aviation, including observer flights
- Sick call, trauma triage, and tactical combat casualty care direction in the field
- Fitness-for-duty and medical board determinations
- Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during clinical and trauma procedures
- Shipboard, submarine, or field deployment with limited specialist backup
Related historical codes: 2102 Reserve/variant Medical Corps designator
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
Navy · 2100 Medical Corps Officer
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.
Operational medicine deployment (FMF, shipboard, submarine)
Records that may corroborate it
- · Deployment orders and unit/ship location records
- · Burn pit registry enrollment, if FMF-attached and applicable
- · FITREPs describing operational medicine assignment
Limit: Deployment alone does not establish a specific diagnosis; clinical findings and, where applicable, PACT Act presumptive criteria or a medical opinion are required.
Flight surgeon aircraft noise and vibration exposure
Records that may corroborate it
- · Flight records or orders documenting observer flights
- · Hearing-conservation audiograms (DD 2215/2216)
- · FITREPs describing flight surgeon duties
Limit: Flight duty alone does not establish a hearing or vestibular diagnosis; audiometric findings meeting 38 CFR § 3.385 and a medical opinion are required.
Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during trauma care
Records that may corroborate it
- · Occupational health exposure incident reports
- · After-action reports or medical logs from casualty events
- · Credentialing/privileging file for trauma-related procedures
Limit: An operational medicine assignment does not by itself establish a specific exposure event. A reported incident, current diagnosis, and medical opinion are still required.
Command-level responsibility for casualties and fitness determinations
Records that may corroborate it
- · Deployment orders and after-action records for specific incidents
- · Mental health or behavioral health encounter notes, if sought during or after service
- · FITREPs describing the scope of medical and command-advisory responsibilities
Limit: Responsibility level alone does not establish a mental health diagnosis; clinical findings, a stressor statement, and a 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.
Mental health +
PTSD, depression, or anxiety
Why the occupation may matter: Command-level responsibility for casualty decisions during field, shipboard, or submarine deployment is a recognized stressor.
Records and clinical evidence: Current diagnosis, a stressor statement or corroborating record, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Hearing +
Tinnitus and hearing loss
Why the occupation may matter: Flight surgeon observer flights and shipboard engineering/flight-deck spaces can expose physicians to sustained noise.
Records and clinical evidence: Audiometry meeting 38 CFR § 3.385, service audiograms, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Infectious / bloodborne +
Bloodborne pathogen exposure sequelae
Why the occupation may matter: Trauma stabilization and wound management in the field or aboard ship involve repeated blood and sharps contact.
Records and clinical evidence: Occupational health exposure report, current diagnosis, and a medical opinion.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Spine / joints +
Back and joint conditions
Why the occupation may matter: Field movement with an FMF unit, carrying aid bags and equipment, loads the back and joints repeatedly.
Records and clinical evidence: Current diagnosis, in-service treatment or duty records, 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 2100 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.
Designator alone used to infer specialty or platform
2100 spans GMOs, flight surgeons, submarine medical officers, and hospital-based specialists; FITREPs and orders naming the specific billet add the needed detail.
Command-stress claim lacks corroboration
Decision-level stress during a casualty event is often undocumented in real time; after-action reports, deployment orders, and buddy statements may help establish specific incidents.
Flight surgeon noise exposure assumed without flight records
Observer flight frequency and aircraft type vary; orders or flight logs help document the actual noise and vibration exposure.
Oakridge Claims / Appeals Focused
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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.
2100 questions
Does the 2100 designator tell VA whether I was a flight surgeon or a GMO?
Not by itself. FITREPs, orders, and credentialing records document the specific billet — GMO, undersea medical officer, flight surgeon, or hospital specialist — within the Medical Corps.
I was attached to a Fleet Marine Force unit. Does that establish combat exposure?
Not automatically. Deployment orders and unit records document where you served; a specific combat or traumatic stressor still needs separate corroboration.
What if my flight surgeon observer flights were never logged for noise exposure?
Flight records, squadron orders, and buddy statements describing the frequency and aircraft type may help document the exposure.
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.