Citation Nr: 18146503
Decision Date: 10/31/18	Archive Date: 10/31/18

DOCKET NO. 16-26 417
DATE:	October 31, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for a left ankle disability is denied.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran does not have a diagnosis of a left ankle disability.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a left ankle disability have not been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from November 1983 to August 2008.  

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Veteran contends that his left ankle disability is related to his service.  
Service connection may be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred or aggravated in active military service.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.  In general, service connection requires competent and credible evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability.  See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
In an August 2008 compensation and pension examination for the Veteran’s right ankle service connection claim, the examiner also addressed the Veteran’s left ankle.  The examiner remarked that the left ankle showed no signs of edema, effusion, weakness, tenderness, redness, heat, subluxation or guarding of movement.  Range of motion on the left ankle was normal with no pain.  The joint function was not additionally limited by pain, fatigue, weakness, lack of endurance, or incoordination after repetitive use.  
The Veteran was afforded a VA examination of his left ankle in February 2014.  The diagnosis for the left ankle was “left ankle normal.”  Additionally, the Veteran denied any left ankle abnormalities.  On range of motion testing, left ankle plantar flexion was normal with no objective evidence of painful motion and left ankle plantar dorsiflexion was to 15 degrees with pain at 15 degrees.  There was no additional limitation of range of motion following repetitive use testing.  With regard to functional loss, the examiner found that there was no functional loss for the left lower extremity attributable to the claimed condition.  Pain was only present on the right ankle.  
In the absence of proof of a current disability, there can be no valid claim for service connection.  Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992); Gilpin v. Brown, 155 F.3d 1353 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (service connection may not be granted unless a current disability exists).  The Veteran has not submitted any medical evidence that shows he has a current left ankle disability.  In this regard, the Board finds that the record provides no indication of a left ankle disability during the appellate period.  
Here, because there is no diagnosis of current ankle disability, service connection cannot be granted.  Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992).  Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, and the claim must be denied.  38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990).  
The record does not reflect that he has had a functional disability, to include one caused by pain, of his left ankle at any time period relevant to the appeal.  Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2018).  On this basis, service connection is denied.

 
 DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Thompson, Associate Counsel