Citation Nr: 0811693 Decision Date: 04/09/08 Archive Date: 04/23/08 DOCKET NO. 05-40 761 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis, Missouri THE ISSUE Entitlement to nonservice-connected pension. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. M. Kreitlow, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran reportedly had active military service from September 1986 to January 1987. She has additional service in the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2005 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, Missouri. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND The Board finds that remand is necessary in order to provide assistance to the veteran in verifying her periods of active service, active duty for training and inactive duty for training during her service in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. The veteran filed a claim in June 2005 seeking nonservice- connected pension. On her application, she indicated she has active service from September 9, 1986 to January 27, 1987. She further reported having service in the National Guard from September 25, 1987 to March 7, 2003. The RO denied her claim in July 2005. In response, the veteran submitted National Guard discharge records. The earliest records show she served in the New Jersey Air National Guard from September 1987 to June 1988, and was then transferred to the Air Force Reserve unit HQ ARPC (ORS) in Denver, Colorado. The terminal date of her reserve/military service obligation was April 16, 1994. Later records show she served in the Florida Air National Guard from July 1997 to March 1998 and was again transferred to the Air Force Reserve unit HQ ARPC (ORS) in Denver, Colorado. The terminal date of this period of her reserve/military service obligation was July 30, 2003. No apparent efforts have been undertaken to verify the veteran's service, including by obtaining her personnel records. The Board notes that 38 C.F.R. § 3.2(i) states that the Persian Gulf War commenced on August 2, 1990, and continues through to a date yet to be prescribed by Presidential proclamation or law. Thus it is possible, if the veteran's National Guard/Reserve unit was activated after August 2, 1990, that she has the requisite wartime service. Verification of the veteran's service must, therefore, be undertaken. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the National Personnel Records Center, or any other appropriate agency including any state's Office of the Adjutant General, and request it provide documentation verifying the veteran's active and inactive periods of service during her association with the Air Force Reserves, and the Florida Air National Guard after August 1990, including but not limited to any DD Form 214, NGB Form 22, or other personnel records showing time served and type of service (i.e., active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty for training). 2. Then, after taking any actions needed to ensure VA's duty to assist and notice obligations are accomplished, the veteran's claim should be readjudicated. If such action does not resolve the claim, a Supplemental Statement of the Case should be issued to the veteran and her representative. An appropriate period of time should be allowed for response. Thereafter, this claim should be returned to this Board for further appellate review, if in order. The veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2007). _________________________________________________ MICHAEL E. KILCOYNE Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2007).