Citation Nr: 18147012 Decision Date: 11/02/18 Archive Date: 11/02/18 DOCKET NO. 15-10 211A DATE: November 2, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for left shoulder condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left elbow condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right elbow condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left and right arch condition is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from November 1987 to September 1995. Service connection for a left shoulder condition, a left elbow condition, a right elbow condition, a lumbar spine condition, a left knee condition and a left and right arch condition was denied in a May 2010 rating decision. The Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) had not been obtained at the time of that decision. His enlistment and separation examinations were subsequently obtained. As these records are relevant to this claim, the Board concludes that reconsideration on a de novo basis is warranted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1). 1. Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder condition, a left elbow condition, a right elbow condition, a lumbar spine condition, a left knee condition and a left and right arch condition are remanded. Since his last VA examination for these conditions in August 2013, the Veteran’s incomplete STRs have been obtained,, and he has notified VA that he is receiving disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The STRs contain information pertinent to the issue of whether there is a nexus between the Veteran’s claimed disabilities and his active duty service. The SSA records may contain additional relevant information. Therefore, the SSA records should be obtained and the Veteran should be afforded another VA examination so an examiner can review this new evidence and then provide another opinion on the etiology of the Veteran’s claimed disabilities. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all Social Security Administration (SSA) records pertaining to the Veteran’s claims for SSA disability benefits, to include any determinations and the medical records used in support of his claim and associate them with the Veteran’s claims folder. All attempts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims folder. Efforts to obtain the requested records should be ended only if it is concluded that the records sought do not exist or that further efforts to obtain those records would be futile. Because these are federal records, if they cannot be located or no such records exist, the Veteran should be notified in writing. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any left shoulder conditions, left elbow conditions, right elbow conditions, lumbar spine conditions, left knee conditions, and left and/or right arch conditions. The examiner must opine whether any such conditions, if present, are at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including: the parachuting injuries and exercise routines described by the Veteran during his January 2018 Board of Veterans’ Appeals videoconference hearing, and his March 1995 reports of having swollen or painful joints, cramps in his legs, broken bones, recurrent back pain, foot trouble and possibly rheumatoid arthritis. The examiner should also opine whether it at least as likely as not that any such disabilities (1) began during active service, (2) manifested within one year after discharge from service, or (3) were noted during service with continuity of the same symptomatology since service. All opinions must be supported by a rationale. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Banks, Associate Counsel