OATH Act Fast-Tracks Disability Pay for Veterans Who Kept Government Secrets

The OATH Act of 2025 (Obligations to Aberdeens Trusted Heroes Act) is a targeted bill aimed at making sure veterans who kept government secrets under non-disclosure agreements get the benefits they earned, and get them faster. At its core, the bill defines a “secrecy oath program” as any U.S. government program requiring participants to sign a non-disclosure agreement that carries serious penalties (like court-martial or criminal charges) for breaking the silence (SEC. 2).

The VA’s New To-Do List: Finding the Quiet Heroes

The biggest change here is that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can’t wait for these veterans to come forward anymore. The bill mandates a proactive search. If a veteran was in a secrecy oath program and is later released from that oath, the VA Secretary has 90 days to find them and notify them about every benefit and service they qualify for under VA law (SEC. 3). This is a huge shift from the usual process, where the burden is often on the veteran to navigate the complex system.

There’s a specific focus on veterans who participated in the secrecy oath program at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland between 1948 and 1975. The VA has 90 days from the law’s enactment to identify and notify this specific group. If you were one of the many service members involved in testing programs at Edgewood—programs that, due to their nature, were kept under wraps—this bill ensures the VA reaches out directly to you with the full list of your entitlements. This is an administrative lift for the VA, but for the veteran, it’s a necessary outreach to correct historical oversights.

Backdating Benefits: The Day After Discharge

For veterans who were part of a secrecy oath program, the bill fundamentally changes when their disability compensation starts. Normally, payments start based on when the claim was filed or when the disability was diagnosed. Under the OATH Act, if a veteran is approved for disability compensation, the effective date for their payments will be the day immediately following their discharge or release from service (SEC. 4). This applies to Edgewood Arsenal veterans and participants in any other defined secrecy oath program.

Think about the real-world impact: Many of these veterans couldn’t file claims or even discuss their service-related injuries because they were legally bound to secrecy. By setting the effective date to the day after discharge, the bill essentially offers retroactive compensation. For a veteran who has been waiting years, this change means a potentially significant lump sum payment, providing financial relief that aligns with the true start date of their service-related disability. This provision acknowledges that the secrecy oath itself acted as a barrier to accessing benefits, and now the government is correcting that timeline.