Citation Nr: 1303902	
Decision Date: 02/04/13    Archive Date: 02/08/13

DOCKET NO.  10-19 898	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office 
in Nashville, Tennessee


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.


REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	Disabled American Veterans


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

J. W. Kim, Counsel






INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from May 1985 to July 1987. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2009 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee.  

In August 2012, the Board remanded the appeal to afford the Veteran an opportunity to provide testimony at a Board hearing.

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required.


REMAND

The Veteran was scheduled for a video-conference Board hearing in December 2012.  However, the record shows that he failed to report to the hearing.  On the day of the Board hearing, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) submitted correspondence requesting that the hearing be rescheduled.  The DAV also submitted a completed VA Form 21-22 appointing DAV as the Veteran's representative.  

The Board construes the DAV's correspondence as a motion to reschedule the Veteran's previously scheduled hearing.  Given the recent appointment of the DAV as his representative, to ensure due process, the Board finds that rescheduling of his hearing is warranted.  As the representative has requested a review of the claims file at the RO, a remand of this matter to the RO prior to the rescheduling of the hearing is also necessary.

Accordingly, this matter is hereby REMANDED to the RO for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for a video-conference hearing.  The RO should notify the Veteran and his representative of the date and time of the hearing, in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(b) (2011).  After the hearing, the claims file should be returned to the Board in accordance with current appellate procedures.

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. 2012).




_________________________________________________
Michael J. Skaltsounis
Acting 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) (2012).