Citation Nr: 18147501 Decision Date: 11/06/18 Archive Date: 11/05/18 DOCKET NO. 18-47 545 DATE: November 6, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to eligibility to veterans’ disability benefits for panic disorder is denied. FINDING OF FACT The appellant’s enrollment in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program does not entitle him to veterans’ disability benefits for his panic disorder that had its onset during ROTC training. CONCLUSION OF LAW The appellant’s enrollment in ROTC does not entitle him to veterans’ disability benefits for panic disorder. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1(d), 3.6. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The appellant had service in the Army National Guard from April 2012 to July 2014. The appellant seeks veterans’ disability benefits for his panic disorder, which had its onset during ROTC training. The appellant has a current diagnosis of panic disorder, and the medical evidence is undisputed that the appellant’s panic disorder had its onset during ROTC training. However, the question for the Board is whether the appellant has qualifying service to entitle him to veterans’ disability benefits for that disorder. The Board concludes that the Veteran does not have qualifying service for purposes of entitlement for veteran’s disability benefits for panic disorder. Entitlement to veterans’ disability benefits is limited to an injury or disease incurred during active military service will be deemed to have been incurred in line of duty when the person on whose account benefits are claimed was, at the time the injury was suffered or the disease contracted, in active military service, whether on active duty or on authorized leave, unless such injury or disease was the result of the person’s own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs. 38 U.S.C. § 105(a). Under relevant regulation, “Active military, naval or air service” is further defined as (1) active duty or a period of Active Duty Training (ACDUTRA) during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, and (2) any period of Inactive Duty for Training (INACDUTRA) during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from an injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. 38 U.S.C. § 101(24). Under the governing statute, ROTC members are either ACTDUTRA or INACTDUTRA. ROTC training will be considered ACDUTRA if: (1) the member was ordered to such duty for the purpose of training or a practice cruise under chapter 103 of title 10 U.S.C., (2) the duty must be prerequisite to the member being commissioned, and (3) it must be for a period of at least four continuous weeks. 38 C.F.R. § 3.6(c)(4). All other ROTC training, prescribed under chapter 103 of title 10 U.S.C., will be considered INACDTRA. See id. at § 3.6(d)(3). In the instant case, the record does not indicate that the appellant was in a period of ACTDUTRA during the onset of his panic disorder, as the Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System (DPRIS) response contained no indication that he had qualifying service under title 10, Chapter 103. Thus, this period will be considered INACDUTRA and does not qualify for purposes of entitlement to veteran’s disability benefits for panic disorder. Benefits for periods of INACDUTRA is limited only to injuries. See 38 U.S.C. § 101(24)(C). The medical evidence reflects that the sought benefit is a disease and not the result of an injury.. As a result, the appellant is not entitled to veteran’s disability benefits for his panic disorder. As the evidence does not reflect that the appellant’s ROTC training qualifies him for benefits, it follows that, as a matter of law, his claim must be denied. Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). In making this legal determination, the Board has sympathetically read the Veteran’s statements. Unfortunately, the Board cannot find a basis for finding that the psychiatric disability began during a period of ACTDUTRA. On this basis, the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 57 (1990). Nathaniel J. Doan Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. Dellarco, Associate Counsel