Citation Nr: 18141046 Decision Date: 10/09/18 Archive Date: 10/09/18 DOCKET NO. 14-27 683 DATE: October 9, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for prostate cancer, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is granted. Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Based on service records and the Veteran’s competent and credible assertion of having service in close proximity to the perimeter of the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand, and resolving doubt in his favor, the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during active service. 2. The Veteran has prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II, which is presumed to be related to his exposure to herbicides during his active service in Thailand. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for prostate cancer have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 1154; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. 2. The criteria for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 1154; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from October 1965 to February 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a September 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Roanoke, Virginia. The Veteran contends that he has prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II, that are directly related to his active service. Specifically, the Veteran stated that he was stationed at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base during the Vietnam era and was exposed to herbicides when he was required to perform work along and outside the base perimeter. See VA Form 21-526, Veteran’s Application for Compensation and/or Pension, received February 2012. Service connection will be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). To establish service connection, the evidence generally must show: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). If a Veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service, prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II, shall be service connected if the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6) are met. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). All veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era are presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent. See 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307. However, in this case, the Veteran’s service personnel records do not show that he served in Vietnam. Rather, the Veteran claims exposure to herbicide agents while stationed at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. VA has acknowledged that herbicides were used on certain base perimeters in Thailand during the Vietnam era, although the herbicides were of the commercial variant. Nonetheless, special consideration of herbicide exposure on a facts-found or direct basis can be extended to those veterans whose duties placed them on or near the perimeters of certain Thailand military bases, including the Royal Thai Air Force Bases of U-Tapao, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, Korat, and Don Muang. This allows for presumptive service connection of the diseases associated with herbicide agent exposure. If a veteran served on one of the above air bases during the Vietnam era as a security policeman, security patrol dog handler, member of a security police squadron, or otherwise served near the air base perimeter, as shown by MOS (military occupational specialty), performance evaluations, or other credible evidence, then herbicide exposure can be acknowledged on a facts-found or direct basis. In this case, the medical evidence of record shows a diagnosis of prostate cancer. See, e.g., Medical Treatment Record, dated January 2004. Additionally, the medical evidence of record shows a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, type II. See, e.g., Medical Treatment Record, dated January 2011. Accordingly, the record shows that the Veteran has a current disability of prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II, and if the Veteran is found to have been exposed to an herbicide agent during military service, presumptive service connection is warranted for the Veteran’s prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a), 3.309(e). The Veteran’s military personnel records reflect that the Veteran was a jet aircraft mechanic who assisted in the recovery of crashed aircraft. Aircraft mechanic is not one of the MOSs listed as presumed to have been performed at or near an air base perimeter. However, the Veteran has indicated that part of his job as an aircraft mechanic was to recover crashed aircraft at and outside the base perimeter. See VA Form 21-526, Veteran’s Application for Compensation and/or Pension, received February 2012. The Veteran’s military personnel records confirm that he was stationed at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base from March 1967 to April 1968. Additionally, the Veteran’s military personnel records contain a December 1967 document reflecting that the Veteran was assigned to the crash recovery crew. The document further reflects that the Veteran was responsible for removing crash damaged or disabled aircraft from the active runway and adjoining taxiways. Additionally, the document reflects that the Veteran recovered crashed and damaged aircraft both from the base runways and at off base crash sites. In summary, the evidence of record shows that the Veteran served during the Vietnam era at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. The service records do not clearly show that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides while stationed in Thailand. However, the Veteran has presented statements and evidence showing that he was required to perform work on and outside the perimeter of the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base as part of his MOS. The Veteran stated that he recovered aircraft on and outside the base perimeter. Additionally, the Veteran’s military personnel records reflect that the Veteran was part of the crash recovery team and was required to recover aircraft from both the base runways and at off base crash sites. The Veteran is competent to report his activities while at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. The Board finds no basis in the record to question the Veteran’s credibility regarding his statements. The military personnel records portray the Veteran as an individual of good moral character who was competent in his work as a mechanic and crash crew recovery member and that he was required to leave the base in order to recover crashed aircraft. The Veteran’s statements and the evidence indicate that he had contact with the base perimeter while stationed at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. The Veteran’s statements as to the location and the type of duties he performed while stationed in Thailand are competent and credible. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469-70 (1994). It is the defined and consistently applied policy of VA to administer the law under a broad interpretation, consistent, however, with the facts shown in every case. In the present case, the Veteran has presented credible evidence that he served at or near the perimeter of the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. Any reasonable doubt regarding the accuracy of the Veteran’s statements is resolved in the Veteran’s favor, and the Board finds that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his active service. See 38 C.F.R. § 5107(b); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). The Veteran’s statement, taken in conjunction with the information regarding herbicide use in Thailand, supports a finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his active service. The Veteran’s post-service medical records reflect diagnoses of prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II. Therefore, service connection for prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, type II, is warranted on a presumptive direct-incurrence basis. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. Nathan Kroes Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. G. LeMoine, Associate Counsel