Citation Nr: 18142165 Decision Date: 10/16/18 Archive Date: 10/12/18 DOCKET NO. 16-21 823 DATE: October 16, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from July 1967 to June 1971. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (the Board) on appeal from a June 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. The Veteran contends that he has a lumbar spine disability that is related to service, to include an injury to his back in Vietnam when performing his duties as a mechanic on an aircraft that made a hard landing. See, e.g., the Veteran’s notice of disagreement dated February 2014. The Board observes that the Veteran’s service treatment records are absent complaints of or treatment for a back disability. However, the Veteran is competent to attest to experiencing an injury to his back from being on an aircraft that made a hard landing. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Therefore, although the Veteran as a lay person has not been shown to be capable of making medical conclusions, he is competent to report the circumstances of injuring his back. Moreover, his service personnel records document his military occupational specialty (MOS) as an aircraft mechanic, service in Vietnam, and receipt of the Combat Action Ribbon. The Board therefore accepts as established fact that the Veteran experienced such injury during service, as he is credible with regard to his reported in-service injury. The Board further notes that a May 2015 MRI of the Veteran’s lumbar spine reveals an impression of diffuse degenerative changes with bulging disc and disc space narrowing throughout the lumbar spine as well as mild spinal canal stenosis. There is no medical opinion of record which indicates whether the Veteran has a current lumbar spine disability that is related to service. In light of the foregoing, the Board finds that the Veteran should be provided a VA examination to determine the etiology of any current lumbar spine disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Take appropriate steps to contact the Veteran and obtain the names and addresses of all medical care providers who treated him for the claim remanded herein. After obtaining proper authorization, obtain any relevant records from these providers that are not already of record in order to ensure that complete records from these facilities are of record. If, after making reasonable efforts to obtain named records, the records are unavailable, notify the Veteran and (a) identify the specific records that VA is unable to obtain; (b) briefly explain the efforts that were made to obtain those records; and (c) describe any further action to be taken by VA with respect to the claim. The Veteran must then be given an opportunity to respond. 2. Thereafter, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his current lumbar spine disability. The claims file must be reviewed in conjunction with the examination. All testing deemed necessary must be conducted and results reported in detail. Based on the review and the physical examination, the examiner is asked to render an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e. probability of 50 percent or greater) that the Veteran has a current lumbar spine disability that is related to his active service. The examiner must accept as established fact that the Veteran suffered an in-service injury to his back from being on an aircraft that made a hard landing during the Vietnam War. The examiner is asked to provide the rationale for any opinion expressed. Biswajit Chatterjee Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Arif Syed, Counsel