Citation Nr: 18145630
Decision Date: 10/29/18	Archive Date: 10/29/18

DOCKET NO. 16-37 191
DATE:	October 29, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for a right hip disability is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Competent and credible medical evidence makes it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater) that the Veteran’s right hip is due to his active service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a right hip disability have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active service in the Marine Corps from February 1981 to December 2008, to include service in Southwest Asia.
Service Connection
In order to establish entitlement to service connection, there must be (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical, or in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal connection between the claimed in-service disease of injury and the current disability.  Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
The Veteran filed his service connection claim for a right hip disability in May 2013, asserting that his right hip disability is due to his nearly 30 years of active service in the United States Marine Corps. 
The Veteran credibly reported that he started experiencing right hip pain within a year of his separation from active service.  The Veteran’s medical records show that he was diagnosed with right hip osteoarthritis in May 2011 and underwent total right hip replacement surgery in March 2013.  He reported that his physician said his right hip required replacement due to the wear and tear during his almost 28 years of active service in the Marine Corps.
The Veteran’s lay statements are given great probative weight as they are consistent with his STRs, medical records, and long and honorable military service.  Having weighed the evidence of record, the Board finds that the evidence for and against the Veteran’s claim is in relative equipoise.  Accordingly, the Veteran’s claim for service connection for a right hip disability is granted.
 
MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Berryman, Counsel