Citation Nr: 18146795
Decision Date: 11/01/18	Archive Date: 11/01/18

DOCKET NO. 15-34 896
DATE:	November 1, 2018
ORDER
New and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim of whether the Veteran’s character of discharge is a bar to the receipt of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.
The Veteran’s character of discharge is not a bar to the receipt of VA benefits.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. In the May 1979 administrative decision, the Regional Office (RO) denied the Veteran’s claim that his character of discharge was not a bar to the receipt of VA benefits.
2. The evidence added to the file subsequent to the May 1979 administrative decision relates to a previously unestablished fact and presents a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim of whether the Veteran’s character of discharge is a bar to the receipt of VA benefits.
3. The Veteran’s character of discharge was upgraded in May 1998 by the Army Discharge Review Board to under honorable conditions (general). 
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. New and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of whether the Veteran’s character of discharge is a bar to the receipt of VA benefits. 38 U.S.C. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156.
2. The character of the appellant’s discharge from military service is not a bar to the award of VA benefits. 38 U.S.C. § 5303; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1(d), 3.12.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran had active service from November 1951 to September 1954. 
In his September 2015 VA Form 9, Substantive Appeal to the Board, the Veteran requested a hearing before the Board. However, in a February 2018 written statement, the Veteran withdrew his hearing request. Accordingly, the Board considers his request for a hearing to be withdrawn and will proceed to adjudicate the case based on the evidence of record. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(d), (e).
Whether the Veteran’s character of discharge is a bar to the receipt of VA benefits
When a person is seeking VA benefits, it first must be shown that the service member upon whose service such benefits are predicated has attained the status of veteran. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; see Cropper v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 450, 452 (1994). The term “veteran” means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. 38 U.S.C. § 101(2); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(d).
When the Veteran initially filed his claim of entitlement to service connection in September 1977, he was in receipt of a discharge under other than honorable conditions. In a May 1979 administrative decision, the RO determined that the Veteran’s character of discharge was a bar to his receipt of VA benefits. Since that time, in May 1998, the Army Discharge Review Board upgraded the Veteran’s discharge to under honorable conditions (general). Thus, new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim regarding the character of the Veteran’s discharge. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156.
Because of the Veteran’s upgraded character of discharge, he is entitled to VA benefits. Therefore, the claim is granted.
 
DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Parke