01 / Occupational profile
Your 62B occupational profile
Field and deployed operational medicine duty
Location-dependent
62Bs operate aid stations and clinics in the field and during deployment, exposed to the same austere environmental conditions, terrain, and, in some deployments, documented burn pit or airborne hazard sources as the unit they support.
Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during trauma care
Common occupational factor
Directing and performing trauma stabilization, line placement, and wound management at a battalion aid station or Role 1/2 facility involves repeated blood and sharps contact, often under field conditions.
Command-level responsibility for casualties and medical risk
Assignment-dependent
As the unit's senior medical authority, a 62B carries decision-making responsibility during mass-casualty events, medical evacuations, and fitness-for-duty determinations with command consequences.
Field conditions and physical demands of unit movement
Common occupational factor
62Bs move with the unit on road marches, field exercises, and austere deployments, carrying aid bags and equipment alongside the soldiers they treat.
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.
62B physicians lead the medical section of a battalion or similar unit, running sick call, managing soldier readiness and medical boards, and advising the commander on medical threats to the mission. In garrison, that means a full clinic schedule plus administrative responsibility for the unit's medical readiness; in the field or deployed, it means operating a battalion aid station or Role 1/2 facility, triaging casualties, and directing tactical combat casualty care under the command surgeon's guidance. Field exercises and deployments put 62Bs outdoors for extended periods, exposed to the same environmental conditions as the troops they support, while also carrying the clinical and administrative weight of running a medical treatment facility with limited staff and supplies.
Duties that may vary by assignment
- Battalion or unit-level sick call and primary care
- Operating battalion aid stations and directing tactical combat casualty care
- Soldier readiness processing, medical board recommendations, and fitness-for-duty determinations
- Advising command on medical threats, preventive medicine, and casualty estimates
- Field and deployed clinical duty, including trauma stabilization
- Minor procedures (suturing, splinting, line placement) in field conditions
- Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during clinical and trauma care
- Extended field exercises and deployments in austere environments
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 · 62B Field Surgeon
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.
Field and deployed operational medicine duty
Records that may corroborate it
- · Deployment orders and unit location records
- · Burn pit registry enrollment, if completed
- · OERs describing field or deployed clinical 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.
Sharps and bloodborne-pathogen exposure during trauma care
Records that may corroborate it
- · Occupational health/employee health exposure incident reports
- · After-action reports or unit 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 medical risk
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
- · OERs 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.
Field conditions and physical demands of unit movement
Records that may corroborate it
- · Sick call or physical therapy records during the assignment
- · Line-of-duty or incident reports for a specific injury
- · Unit training schedules or deployment records documenting field time
Limit: Field duty alone does not establish a specific musculoskeletal diagnosis; 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.
Mental health +
PTSD, depression, or anxiety
Why the occupation may matter: Command-level responsibility for casualty decisions and mass-casualty events during deployment are recognized stressors.
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.
Infectious / bloodborne +
Bloodborne pathogen exposure sequelae
Why the occupation may matter: Trauma stabilization and wound management at an aid station 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 the 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.
Respiratory +
Respiratory conditions from deployed environmental exposure
Why the occupation may matter: Deployed clinical duty at some installations involved documented burn pit or airborne hazard exposure.
Records and clinical evidence: Deployment location records, current diagnosis, and PACT Act presumptive criteria or a medical opinion where applicable.
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 62B 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.
"Field Surgeon" title misunderstood as surgical practice
The AOC name is historical; most 62Bs provide primary and operational care, not surgery. Clarifying actual duties in a statement can prevent confusion during review.
Mass-casualty or command-stress claim lacks corroboration
Command-level stress is often undocumented in real time; after-action reports, deployment orders, and buddy statements may help establish specific events.
Field-related joint or back pain treated informally
Physicians sometimes self-treat minor injuries without a chart entry; buddy statements and unit training records may help fill that gap.
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.
62B questions
Does 62B mean I performed surgery?
No. "Field Surgeon" is the historical title for the battalion-level Medical Corps physician AOC; most 62Bs provide primary and operational medicine, not surgical procedures.
Does my 62B record automatically establish combat exposure?
No. Deployment orders, unit location records, and after-action documentation (where they exist) are what corroborate specific exposures or events.
What if my own back or joint pain from field duty was never charted?
A current diagnosis, buddy statements, and unit training or deployment records describing your field role may help support the claim even without a contemporaneous entry.
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.