Citation Nr: 1320610	
Decision Date: 06/26/13    Archive Date: 07/05/13

DOCKET NO.  12-22 870	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Huntington, West Virginia


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for hearing loss.

2.  Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.



REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	The American Legion



ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

J. H. Nilon, Counsel



INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1968 to January 1971.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a March 2012 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Veteran was scheduled to testify before a Member of the Board by videoconference hearing from the RO in January 2013.  He failed to appear, but explained that his absence was due to severe weather.  The Member of the Board who had been scheduled to preside at the January 2013 hearing granted the Veteran's motion to reschedule another hearing at a later date, and the Veteran was duly scheduled for a videoconference hearing from the RO on June 12, 2013.

In May 2013 the Veteran's representative submitted a request on the Veteran's behalf, citing that the representative would not be available on June 12, the date of the scheduled videoconference hearing, and asking that the venue of the pending hearing be changed to an in-person hearing before a Member of the Board at the RO ("Travel Board" hearing).  The representative's request for a change in date and venue was timely filed.  See 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(c) (2012).

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 on his part.


REMAND

The Veteran has requested a Travel Board hearing at the RO.  Because such hearings are scheduled by the RO, remand is necessary.



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

Schedule the Veteran for a Travel Board hearing at the RO, in accordance with his request and with the docket number of the appeal.  

The Veteran need take no action until he is otherwise notified, but he may furnish additional evidence and/or argument during the appropriate time frame.  See 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).



_________________________________________________
M. N. HYLAND
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).