Citation Nr: 18143613
Decision Date: 10/19/18	Archive Date: 10/19/18

DOCKET NO. 14-35 916
DATE:	October 19, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for a lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease had its onset in service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a lumbosacral strain have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from February 2002 to February 2007. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2011 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  
The Veteran presented sworn testimony at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in December 2015.
The Veteran seeks service connection for his low back disability, asserting that he experienced recurrent back pain since service.  
Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting in a disease or injury that is incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. §1110; 38 U.S.C. §3.303. To establish service connection for the claimed disorder, the following criteria must be met: (1): evidence of a current disability; (2) evidence of an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and current disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303; see also Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999).
Here, all three elements of service connection are established by the competent and credible lay and medical evidence of record. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303; Shedden, 381 F.3d at 1166-67. The Veteran has a diagnosis of lumbar herniated discs, lumbar muscle spasm, and lumbar spinal stenosis. See April 2011 VA examination.  The service treatment records show that the Veteran was found to be normal at service entry and had numerous complaints of back pain in-service.  See March 2005 and December 2006 STRs. Further, he reports ongoing back problems since service that have progressively worsened. See April 2011 VA examination; December 2015 hearing transcript.  
Although there is some conflicting evidence about the duration of the Veteran’s post-service occupation as a welder, the Veteran’s account of recurrent back problems since service is both competent and credible. The Veteran’s statements are entitled to probative weight, as they are internally consistent and consistent with the evidence of record, showing that the Veteran had numerous complaints of back pain as the result of an in-service injury. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Flynn v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 500, 503 (1994). Thus, service connection is for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease warranted. 
 
STEVEN D. REISS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K.Ijitimehin, Associate Counsel