I do not deny that it exists. But in this day and age, so much hearing degradation occurs from the music and never ending environmental noise before even entering the service. And it is NOT difficult to cheat the system on this one. Just sit there and do not respond. How hard is that! I have tinitus, and it was exacerbated to some extent during my stint in the army. We did not have noise protection gear when firing tanks or any arms. And of course, I did not claim it either. Yes, if a blast goes off closeby, get the disability. But waaaay too many and waaay too easy to claim.
We had hearing protection. The “soft” plastic variety. Non of them fit my ear correctly. I use the foam stuff now (around diesel generators, electric motors etc) they work just fine. My issue earplugs always fell out!
LOL You try to fake it they'll catch it. Maybe not the first exam but they will catch it. They can be talking to you and even be checking your involuntary reactions in the exam.
I watched my then 7 year old grandson not even flinch in a test. I was inside the booth with him. I could hear the tones he couldn't. This was the part of the test where they check the skull. He couldn't hear it. Yea my daughter swore he could hear fine. We have different loss ranges is why I could hear but we have equal total percentage in loss.
Hearing is measured & tested over the entire hearing frequency spectrum. The losses from exam to exam will be consistant or worse. Hearing doesn't improve IOW unless it was a temporary issue like an ear infection etc causing the temporary loss. They check for that as well. Very hard to fake more than once or twice. When you loose your hearing the way you talk changes as well as they way you hear.