Citation Nr: 18140936 Decision Date: 10/09/18 Archive Date: 10/09/18 DOCKET NO. 16-23 743 DATE: October 9, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include unspecified anxiety disorder, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had qualifying service from April 1971 to April 1973. Entitlement to service connection for PTSD was expanded to an acquired psychiatric disorder based on the psychiatric diagnoses described below. See August 2016 VA Form 8; Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009). The Veteran filed this claim on October 21, 2015. See October 2015 Statement; October 2015 VA Form 21-0781; October 2015 opinion by TN. During the appeal period, the Veteran was diagnosed with: (a) unspecified anxiety disorder rule out obstructive sleep apnea, pursuant to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM 5) (see Mountain Home VAMC record dated March 10, 2016); and (b) PTSD, pursuant to the DSM, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) (see October 2015 opinion by TN). Treatment records from Mountain Home VAMC also show positive depression screens (June 21, 2013; October 18, 2014; and March 1, 2016), although no formal diagnosis of depression is apparent. Crucially, only appeals certified to the Board prior to August 2014 are exempt from the requirement of needing PTSD diagnoses pursuant to the DSM 5. 80 Fed. Reg. 53, 14308 (March 19, 2015). The Veteran’s appeal was certified to the Board in August 2016 and there are no DSM 5 diagnoses of PTSD in the claims file. See October 2015 opinion by TN (PTSD diagnosis pursuant to DSM-IV, not DSM 5); Mountain Home VAMC records (no PTSD diagnosis). Thus, the Board requires clarification regarding whether the Veteran has PTSD under the DSM 5. Further, although there is a formal finding that the Veteran provided insufficient information to send a request for stressor verification, that finding only considered the October 2015 Statement. See February 2016 formal finding of unavailability (indicating that, after the October 2015 Statement regarding racial tension and people trying to kill him, the Veteran did not provide further information about the contended stressors). However, the Veteran’s October 2015 contentions contained more stressors than described in the formal finding and the Veteran submitted subsequent stressor information and buddy statements in February 2016. The contended stressors from the October 2015 Statement were: (a) beaten and almost killed twice by fellow servicemembers; and (b) witnessed two people die. The contended stressors from the October 2015 VA Form 21-0781 were: (a) constant violence, racial tension, and substance abuse that made him afraid to go anywhere alone; (b) at Fort Knox, witnessed fellow servicemembers get beat up and taken to the hospital; (c) at Fort Hood, witnessed a fellow servicemember shoot a third servicemember; (d) at Fort Hood, woke up to fellow servicemembers trying to smother him; (e) at Fort Benning, witnessed a parachuter die after jumping out of a Black Hawk during airborne training; (f) at German Air Force base, was unnerved because he had be on guard duty without weapons and the area was near huge tanks of jet fuel that terrorist groups or the enemy could have blown up; (g) at German Air Force base, was attacked with a knife; (h) at German Air Force base, was attacked with rocks by a group of people, at which time the Veteran began drinking to cope; (i) at German NGO club, was involved in a fight, which service police broke up; and (j) in Munich, was at the 1972 Olympics, during which there was a hostage situation and murder, creating havoc in the city. In the February 2016 Statement, the Veteran added that: (a) the Black Hawk parachuter event should be documented because he was unable to complete airborne training; (b) the Fort Hood shooting/killing of the fellow servicemember should be documented; and (c) the day he attended the Olympics was September 5, 1972, the day of the hostage crisis. The Veteran also submitted February 2016 buddy statements from fellow servicemembers (Danny S. [Fort Hood], Jimmy M. [Germany base], and Dean S. [Germany base and Munich Olympics]) who all described how racial tension led to terrifying fights, fear about going out alone, and fearing for their lives. In sum, the Board requires further development of all the contended stressors and subsequent medical clarification regarding the nature and etiology of any psychiatric disabilities. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Seek to verify all contended stressors, delineated above. 2. After completing the above, obtain an opinion to determine the current nature and etiology of any psychiatric disability pursuant to the DSM 5. 3. Readjudicate the appeal. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD H. Daus, Associate Counsel