Citation Nr: 0815073 Decision Date: 05/07/08 Archive Date: 05/14/08 DOCKET NO. 06-02 479 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville, Tennessee THE ISSUES 1. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for sinusitis. 2. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for atherosclerotic heart disease with hypertension. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant and his wife ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E. I. Velez, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from May 1964 to November 1984. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a decision of May 2005 by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee. A Decision Review Officer hearing was held in September 2006. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claim file. A Travel Board hearing in front of the undersigned Veterans Law Judge was held in December 2007. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claim file. 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 notes that the VCAA codified in pertinent part at 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5103, 5103A (West 2002), and the pertinent implementing regulation, codified at 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2007), provides that VA will assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate a claim but is not required to provide assistance to a claimant if there is no reasonable possibility that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. In the present case, the veteran has requested to reopen his claim for service connection for sinusitis and for arteroscleorotic heart disease with hypertension. At the travel Board hearing the veteran testified that he worked at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, after retiring from the military and that he was treated at the Hospital in Fort Campbell for his sinusitis and high blood pressure within the first year after retiring. He further testified that he started working at Fort Campbell in June 1985. However, there is no evidence that these records have been requested and they have not been associated with the claim file. These records must be requested. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: The AOJ should obtain any outpatient treatment records for the veteran's treatment of sinusitis and hypertension at the Fort Campbell Hospital in Kentucky from June 1985 to December 1985 and associate them with the claim file. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters 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). _________________________________________________ H. N. SCHWARTZ 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).