Citation Nr: 1326612	
Decision Date: 08/21/13    Archive Date: 08/29/13

DOCKET NO.  11-00 791	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for spondylosis deformans of the lumbar spine. 



REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

A. Hinton, Counsel









INTRODUCTION

The Veteran, who is the Appellant, served on active duty from September 1980 to May 2001.  

The claim is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision in December 2009 of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center in Washington, DC.  


REMAND

In the substantive appeal in December 2010, the Veteran requested a hearing before the Board. 

To ensure procedural due process, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for an electronic hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.

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).











The 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).



_________________________________________________
George E. Guido Jr.
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).