Citation Nr: 18144475
Decision Date: 10/25/18	Archive Date: 10/24/18

DOCKET NO. 15-02 869
DATE:	October 25, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The appellant served on active duty in the United States Army from March 1981 to March 1985.  
This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a May 2011 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) which granted the appellant entitlement to service connection for hearing loss and assigned an initial noncompensable rating, effective August 5, 2010.  
The appellant contends in his December 2014 Substantive Appeal that his hearing disability is more disabling than initially rated and that his hearing acuity has deteriorated since his last VA examinations in October 2010 and April 2011.  As such, the appellant should be afforded an appropriate VA examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected hearing loss.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the appellant for an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability.  The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the disability under the rating criteria.  
 
K. Conner
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Kleponis, Associate Counsel