For many veterans, filing a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs can feel like pulling teeth. The process has its own language, rules, and requirements that are tough to navigate. DeWayne Kimble understands that frustration from both sides of the process.
Before building an online audience of more than 160,000 YouTube subscribers, Kimble served in the Army and later worked for the VA, where he adjudicated thousands of veterans’ claims. That experience showed him how frequently former service members entered the process without understanding what benefits were available or what information they might need to provide.
After leaving the VA, he turned that knowledge into a career that helps veterans with their problems through social media and several self-published materials. His YouTube Channel has also been super successful.
The channel, KMD89 VA Claims Consulting, has accumulated more than 17 million views, according to Spectrum News. Kimble has also written books that offer veterans step-by-step guidance for preparing their claims.
Addressing Repetitive Problems
In his time at the VA, he noticed a pattern that many veterans were facing, and they lacked the information and education about the claims process.
“Adjudicating thousands of VA claims, what I noticed was a pattern: veterans were not educated on the process,” Kimble told Spectrum News.
The problem was familiar because Kimble had experienced it personally after leaving the Army. He said approximately 12 years passed between the end of his military service and the beginning of his VA career. During that period, he did not realize he might qualify for VA benefits.
“When I got out, I think it was a 12-year period before I went to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I didn’t know I was entitled to any of these benefits,” Kimble said.
This experience is not unique to Kimble. One of the central problems facing veterans trying to gain access to the program is this very problem. Knowing that they are eligible, but having no idea of how to proceed, and being unsure of the eligibility determinations, is an issue he wanted to address. By the time Kimble retired from the agency, he had gained the institutional knowledge that he lacked when he first left the Army.
Turning Work Experience into A Solo Venture
Kimble used his work experiences from the VA, along with what he learned in researching others’ cases, to establish his channel.
The channel breaks down parts of the claims process that can otherwise seem overwhelming. Its growth suggests a significant demand for straightforward explanations from someone who has experience as both a veteran and a former VA employee.
More than 160,000 people have subscribed to the channel, while its videos have generated over 17 million views. Those numbers have transformed what began as an effort to share information into a sizable online platform.
Having authored several books on the subject, he told Spectrum News that thousands of books have been sold as part of his effort to help out veterans. The goal is not simply to educate veterans and tell them what to do; he wants to encourage them to take a more active role in their own claims.
Education Instead of Frustration
The YouTuber’s new audience provides evidence that veterans can benefit from accessible explanations for a super-complex system at times. A Google review from a fellow veteran who watches the channel and has read some of his books showed this case.
“I stopped being frustrated and decided to become educated,” the veteran wrote, according to Kimble.
This comment shows the larger purpose Kimble wants to address. Veterans can be discouraged from doing their own work, as terminology can be confusing. Kimble’s content wants to replace some of this confusion with practical knowledge.
His expanding platform has also received outside recognition. Kimble was selected as one of 25 grant recipients recognized for operating companies that increase the educational resources available to veterans.
Using Education from Both Sides
Kimble’s appeal comes partly from occupying several roles throughout his career. He has been a soldier transitioning out of uniform, a veteran unaware of the benefits potentially available to him, a VA employee evaluating claims and, eventually, an educator explaining the system to others. This combination is the source of his insight into how veterans struggle and how they can finally understand the system.
His rise from Army officer and VA employee to an online educator for fellow veterans is a linear progression. Now, he can use YouTube to reach thousands with one single video.
The audience he has built reveals just how many people are searching for help. More than 17 million views later, Kimble is still addressing the same problem he identified inside the VA: Too many veterans begin the claims process without knowing what they may be entitled to or how to pursue it.
Education is the start, and the sky is the limit.
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