What Is a VA TERA Memo and How Does It Affect Claims?

A VA TERA memo is an internal Department of Veterans Affairs document that records whether your military service included a toxic exposure risk activity, or TERA. A claims processor builds it during the adjudication of your disability claim using your service records, deployment history, and occupational specialty. If the memo’s finding is positive, the VA must concede that the exposure occurred and, under 38 USC 1168, order a medical opinion on whether your claimed condition is connected to it. That mandatory step is what makes this one of the most consequential documents in a toxic exposure claim.

What the Memo Contains and Where It Comes From

TERA stands for “toxic exposure risk activity.” Federal law defines it as any activity that either requires an entry in an exposure tracking record system, or that the VA Secretary determines is reasonably prudent to recognize for protecting veteran health.¹ That second clause gives the VA room to recognize exposures even when they weren’t formally tracked at the time.

The processor documents the finding in a TERA memorandum, which is filed in your claims file (C-file) and becomes part of the evidence an examiner uses to evaluate your condition.²

Much of the data behind the memo comes from the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER), a Department of Defense system that pulls unit assignments, deployment records, environmental monitoring data, and hazard reports into a single view of your career.³ ILER is one of the primary tools a claims processor uses to verify your exposure history against documented environmental and unit-level data.

When the VA Creates a TERA Memo

You don’t request a TERA memo separately. The VA generates one during the adjudication of a disability claim that involves a condition potentially linked to toxic exposure. The claims processor runs your service history through the TERA determination and documents the result.

One distinction matters more than any other: TERA memos carry weight for conditions that are not already on the VA’s presumptive list. If your condition is presumptive under the PACT Act, you generally don’t need the TERA process to establish an exposure link. You need to show you served in the qualifying location or time period and have a current diagnosis.⁴ The TERA memo becomes critical when your condition falls outside those categories and you have to prove a direct connection between your service and your health problem.²

What a Positive Finding Does for Your Claim

A positive TERA finding does two concrete things.

First, it gives the VA a basis to concede your exposure. The VA accepts that the exposure happened and stops requiring you to prove it. In one Board of Veterans’ Appeals matter, a TERA memo noting that a veteran’s military occupational specialty made asbestos exposure “probable” led the VA to formally concede that exposure along with exposure to related chemicals.⁵ Once exposure is conceded, the remaining question narrows to whether your condition is connected to it.

Second, a positive finding triggers a mandatory medical examination and nexus opinion. When you file a claim with evidence of a disability and evidence of TERA participation, and that evidence alone isn’t enough to establish service connection, 38 USC 1168 requires the VA to provide a medical examination and obtain an opinion on “whether it is at least as likely as not that there is a nexus between the disability and the toxic exposure risk activity.”⁶ The statute uses “shall.” The VA does not decide whether an exam is warranted when a positive TERA finding exists; it is legally obligated to order one.

The examiner must consider two things: the total potential exposure across all your military deployments, and the combined effect of all your toxic exposure risk activities taken together.⁶ If you served in multiple roles or locations with different exposures, the examiner cannot evaluate each one in isolation.

There is one statutory carve-out. The VA is not required to order an exam or nexus opinion if it determines there is “no indication of an association” between the disability you claimed and the exposure you documented.⁶ If you believe the VA applied that exception incorrectly, the determination is appealable.

Which Exposures Qualify

The VA has identified broad categories of hazardous exposures that qualify as toxic exposure risk activities. The list is not exhaustive.

Air pollutants, including burn pits, sand and dust particulates, oil well fires, and sulfur fires.
Chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides such as Agent Orange, depleted uranium with embedded shrapnel, and contaminated water such as at Camp Lejeune.
Occupational hazards, including asbestos, industrial solvents, lead, paints such as chemical agent resistant coating (CARC), and firefighting foams.
Radiation from various sources encountered during military service.
Warfare agents, including nerve agents, chemical weapons, and biological weapons.

The VA maintains additional categories on its Public Health website beyond this core list.⁷ If your exposure isn’t on the published list, that doesn’t automatically disqualify you. The statutory definition gives the VA Secretary discretion to recognize any activity that’s reasonably prudent to protect veteran health.¹

How to Get a Copy of Your TERA Memo

Because the memo is an internal VA document placed in your claims file, you won’t automatically receive a copy. To see what the VA actually found about your exposure history, request your records through the Privacy Act.

You have three options:

Online, by completing and submitting VA Form 20-10206 (Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act Request) through the VA’s online portal.
By mail, sending VA Form 20-10206 to the VBA Centralized Support Division at: Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.
By written letter to the same address. Including your Social Security number or C-file number helps the VA locate your records faster.

Your request must include your full name, date of birth, and signature.⁸ For questions about the process, call the VA at 1-800-827-1000. Reading your TERA memo before a Compensation and Pension exam tells you exactly what exposures the VA has acknowledged, which helps you prepare for the examiner’s questions.

If Your Memo Is Incomplete or the Finding Is Negative

A TERA memo is only as good as the records behind it. If your exposure history wasn’t well-documented, common for veterans who served before modern tracking systems existed, the memo may miss exposures you actually experienced. You can strengthen your file in three ways.

Submit Lay Evidence

VA Form 21-10210, the Lay/Witness Statement (often called a buddy statement), lets you or someone who served with you submit a formal written statement describing the exposure.⁹ You can submit it online or by mail. A statement from a fellow service member who was at the same location, handled the same materials, or witnessed the same conditions can fill gaps that official records don’t cover. The VA is required to consider competent and credible lay evidence when evaluating claims.²

File a Supplemental Claim

If your claim is denied based on a negative TERA finding or an unfavorable medical opinion following the TERA process, you can file a supplemental claim with new and relevant evidence, such as buddy statements, unit histories, or deployment records you gathered independently. Both disability claims and supplemental claims use VA Form 21-526EZ.¹⁰ A veterans service organization can help identify what evidence would be most effective for your situation and assist with paperwork at no cost.

Check Your Exposure Record Directly

The Department of Defense has been expanding access to the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record so that service members and veterans can view their own data. The DoD indicated that service members would begin gaining access in early 2026, with veteran access planned to follow.³ Once available, reviewing your ILER before filing gives you insight into what the VA will see when building your TERA memo, and a chance to address gaps with additional evidence before the process even starts.

1
Cornell Law – Legal Information Institute. 38 USC 1710(e)(4) – Toxic Exposure Risk Activity Definition
2
Vbatraining.org. Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA) Tool Processing Guide
3
Health.mil. Understanding the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record
4
Veterans Affairs. The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits
5
Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Remanded – Entitlement to Service Connection for Cause of Veterans Death
6
GovInfo. 38 USC 1168 – Medical Nexus Examinations for Toxic Exposure Risk Activities
7
VA.gov. All Things PACT Act 101
8
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Privacy. Privacy Act Requests
9
Veterans Affairs – VA.gov. About VA Form 21-10210
10
Veterans Affairs. How to File a VA Disability Claim