01 / Occupational profile
Your 6116 occupational profile
Turboprop engine and proprotor noise
Common occupational factor
Ground turns and engine runs on the MV-22 expose mechanics to high-intensity turboprop and proprotor noise at close range.
Work at height and awkward nacelle access
Common occupational factor
Nacelle and proprotor maintenance often requires working from stands or platforms and reaching into tight access panels, straining the back, shoulders, and knees.
Fuel and hydraulic fluid contact
Common occupational factor
Fuel servicing and hydraulic system maintenance involve routine skin contact with jet fuel, hydraulic fluid, and solvents.
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.
6116s perform pre-flight and post-flight inspections, assist with engine start-up/shutdown, and conduct ground maintenance and repairs on the MV-22's airframe, nacelle, proprotor, and mission systems. Ground handling includes taxi directing, towing, refueling, and securing/un-securing the aircraft. Because the MV-22's engine nacelles tilt and the proprotors are large, maintenance tasks can involve working at height on nacelle access stands, in proximity to rotating proprotor blades during ground turns, and around running turboprop engines. Work also includes interpreting technical manuals, documenting maintenance in a database system, and troubleshooting mission-system faults.
Duties that may vary by assignment
- Pre-flight, post-flight, and periodic inspections of MV-22 airframe and nacelle systems
- Assisting with engine start-up/shutdown and ground handling
- Ground maintenance and repair of airframe, proprotor, and mission systems
- Working at height on nacelle access stands and platforms
- Working near running turboprop engines and rotating proprotor blades during ground turns
- Fuel system servicing and refueling
- Documenting maintenance actions in maintenance management database systems
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
Marine Corps · 6116 Tiltrotor Mechanic, MV-22
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.
Turboprop engine and proprotor noise
Records that may corroborate it
- · Hearing-conservation audiograms (DD 2215/2216) and DOEHRS-HC records
- · Squadron assignment records identifying flight-line or ground-turn duties
- · Evaluations describing MV-22 maintenance duties
Limit: Assignment to a tiltrotor squadron does not by itself establish a current hearing-loss or tinnitus diagnosis; audiometric evidence and a medical opinion are still required.
Work at height and awkward nacelle access
Records that may corroborate it
- · Sick call and physical therapy entries during the assignment
- · Line-of-duty or incident reports for a documented injury
- · Evaluations describing nacelle or proprotor maintenance duties
Limit: Typical maintenance demands do not by themselves establish that a specific joint injury occurred in service.
Fuel and hydraulic fluid contact
Records that may corroborate it
- · Occupational health or hazmat-program records, if enrolled
- · Evaluations describing fuel or hydraulic servicing duties
Limit: The MOS does not establish contact with any specific substance; current clinical findings and a medical link are still 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.
Auditory +
Hearing loss and tinnitus
Why the occupation may matter: Ground-turn and engine-run exposure near turboprop engines is a routine part of tiltrotor maintenance duties.
Records and clinical evidence: Audiometric records showing a threshold shift, a current diagnosis, and evidence tying the exposure to your specific squadron assignment.
Occupational history alone does not establish this diagnosis or its medical relationship to service.
Musculoskeletal +
Back, shoulder, and knee conditions
Why the occupation may matter: Working at height and in tight nacelle access panels is a routine part of the job.
Records and clinical evidence: Sick call or physical therapy entries from the relevant period, imaging, and a current orthopedic diagnosis.
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 6116 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.
Nacelle work at height not reflected in the record
A denial may miss the at-height, confined-access nature of MV-22 nacelle maintenance if evaluations only describe general aircraft maintenance.
No baseline audiogram for comparison
Without an entrance audiogram, it can be harder to show a threshold shift occurred during service rather than existing beforehand.
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.
6116 questions
Is tiltrotor maintenance noisier than other helicopter maintenance?
The MV-22's turboprop engines and large proprotors are part of the aircraft's design, and ground-turn/engine-run work puts mechanics close to that noise source — but individual noise exposure still depends on your specific duties and is documented through hearing-conservation records.
Does the 6116 MOS by itself establish a nexus for a joint or hearing condition?
No. The occupation describes typical duties and demands; a current diagnosis and a medical opinion connecting it to service are still required.
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.