I needed a down payment for my VA loan only because my income/debt ratio did not qualify for the full cost of the house. However, when I refinanced (at a lower interest rate) and cashed out a year later, the margin was smaller (or my income went up). So I was able to not only get a large percentage of the appreciation but some of my down payment back as well.
If your income to debt ratio is fine, you would only need a down payment if you need to make up for the difference between the VA loan limit and the cost of the house. For the difference, you need to make a 25% down payment. For example, the house costs $500,000, the VA loan limit is $400,000 for your county. So you would need to come up with 25% of $100,000 (i.e. $25,000) for your down payment if this applies.
Also, I forgot to mention the headache with VA loans and non-VA approved condos (I went through it). I assume because you are in the suburbs, you are not looking at condos. If you are looking at condos, let me know and I can walk you through that process.