Citation Nr: 18142467
Decision Date: 10/15/18	Archive Date: 10/15/18

DOCKET NO. 16-29 641
DATE:	October 15, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted
FINDING OF FACT
The evidence is in equipoise that the Veteran has PTSD related to his military service in Vietnam.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to service connection for PTSD have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from September 1968 to April 1970.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2009 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Baltimore, MD.
Entitlement to service connection for PTSD.
Combat trauma is conceded by VA due to the Veteran’s presence in Vietnam and his military occupational specialty (MOS) as a light weapons infantryman.  In May 2012 the Veteran’s treating VA psychiatrist opined that the Veteran has PTSD that meets the criteria pursuant to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV).  Moreover, the diagnosis is based on the Veteran’s reported combat experiences in service.  Therefore, there is competent evidence of record associating the Veteran’s diagnosed PTSD to the reported combat stressors. The Board acknowledges that at a May 2011 VA examination the Veteran was found not to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD.  However, this was prior to the May 2012 diagnosis. It is possible that the PTSD criteria were not met in 2011 but were in 2012.  Therefore, the evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran has PTSD related to his military service, and service connection is warranted.

 
E. I. VELEZ
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Baronofsky Associate Counsel