Citation Nr: 18144346 Decision Date: 10/25/18 Archive Date: 10/24/18 DOCKET NO. 13-28 736A DATE: October 25, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the lumbar spine (low back disability) is granted. Entitlement to service connection for DJD of the cervical spine (cervical spine disability) is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s low back disability had its onset in service. 2. The evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s cervical spine disability had its onset in service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. With reasonable doubt resolved in favor of the Veteran, the criteria for entitlement to service connection for a low back disability are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 2. With reasonable doubt resolved in favor of the Veteran, the criteria for entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine disability are met. 38 U.S.C. §§, 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from September 1968 to February 1991. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2010 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In that decision, the RO denied entitlement to service connection for a low back and cervical spine disabilities. In July 2018, the Veteran and his friend testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claims file. Service Connection Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that current disability resulted from a disease or injury incurred in active military service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of three things, (1) current disability; (2) in-service incurrence of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018). Consistent with this framework, service connection is warranted for a disability first shown after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Entitlement to service connection for low back and cervical spine disabilities. The Veteran claims that his low back and cervical spine disabilities are related to his military service and that he has had low back and cervical spine persistent pain in and since service. See Veteran’s statement dated August 2009, Board hearing transcript dated July 2018, and Veteran’s statement dated July 2018. Specifically, he claims that his low back and cervical spine disabilities are the result of his military occupational specialty (MOS), that is, aviation support equipment technician, which required lifting and pushing heavy equipment along the flight line during maintenance operations. See, e.g., Veteran’s statement dated September 2013. For the following reasons, entitlement to service connection for low back and cervical spine disabilities is warranted. The medical evidence of record demonstrates current low back and cervical spine disabilities, diagnosed as DJD of the lumbar and cervical spine. See VA examination report dated March 2010. Thus, current low back and cervical spine disabilities have been established. The Veteran’s DD Form 214 confirms that his MOS was aviation support technician. His service treatment records (STRs) show that he reported back pain while laying on his back in January 1972. Even though the Veteran was not diagnosed with neck and back disorders in service, the evidence of record sufficiently in-service disease or injury element has been met. In this regard, the 1972 STR shows that the Veteran reported back pain in service and the Veteran has provided competent, credible reports of back and neck pain in and since service, which are consistent with the physical rigors of his MOS. This case turns on the remaining element of service connection, that is, whether the Veteran’s low back and cervical spine disabilities are related to or had their onset during service. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Post-service, private treatment records as early as April 1994 document the Veteran’s complaints of low back pain and degenerative changes of the lumbar spine. Private treatment records thereafter show continued complaints of persistent low back and cervical spine pain. See, e.g., private treatment records dated July 1996 and March 2005, and private consultation report dated May 2010. Specifically, the private treatment reports note that the Veteran has had a history of back pain. For instance, a July 1996 private treatment record, reflects that the Veteran has had a history of degenerative changes of the back. In a May 2010 private consultation report from the Veteran’s treating physician indicated that the Veteran has had a “20-year history of recurrent back [,] which has gotten worse over the last few years.” During the July 2018 Board hearing, a friend who served alongside the Veteran testified that he has witnessed the Veteran suffer from back pain since separation from service. On VA exam in March 2010, the Veteran reported that his low back and cervical spine pain began in 1980 and 1990, respectively; however, the examiner did not opine as to whether such were related to service. In short, the evidence of record establishes that the Veteran has had low back and cervical spine pain in service and that his pain has been ongoing since service. For instance, the Veteran has asserted that he has experienced low back and cervical spine pain in and since service. His friend, who testified during the July 2018 Board hearing, corroborated the Veteran’s assertions regarding his continuous low back and cervical spine pain since service. The Veteran and his friend are competent to report factually observable occurrences in service, the timing of the observable symptoms of a disability, and to receipt of medical treatment and what providers had related about the conditions. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Furthermore, the Veteran’s statements as to the onset of his low back and cervical spine pain are competent and credible as his statements have remained the across various treatment providers. For example, the Veteran has reported that he his low back and cervical spine pain began during service. Several private treatment providers, as early as July 1996, documented that the Veteran has had a long history of low back and cervical spine pain. Importantly, three years following his discharge from service, he reported back pain, which was diagnosed as degenerative changes of the lumbar spine. See private treatment report dated April 1994. As the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s low back and cervical spine disabilities had their onset in service, service connection for low back and cervical spine disabilities is warranted. JAMES L. MARCH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. Castillo, Associate Counsel