Citation Nr: 18147841 Decision Date: 11/07/18 Archive Date: 11/06/18 DOCKET NO. 16-21 024 DATE: November 7, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left ear tinnitus is granted. FINDING OF FACT Providing the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, his left ear tinnitus is due to his military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for left ear tinnitus are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 5107(b) (2014); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a) (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the U.S. Air Force from November 1972 to January 1974. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Providence, Rhode Island. The September 2015 rating decision denied entitlement to service connection for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. A November 2015 statement was taken as a notice of disagreement with both issues, and a March 2016 Statement of the Case addressed both tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. On his May 2016 substantive appeal, the Veteran specifically only appealed the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. In July 2018, the Veteran submitted a statement that he wished to withdraw his claims of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus and hearing loss. As noted above, only the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus was on appeal. He stated he wished to withdraw both claims because he intended to file a new claim for tinnitus and hearing loss with “new and material evidence.” On the same day he submitted his withdrawal, the Veteran submitted a claim of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus and hearing loss. Although the July 2018 statement showed the clear intent to withdraw his pending claim of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus, the accompanying claim for tinnitus shows that the Veteran still wishes to receive disability benefits for his tinnitus. As it benefits the Veteran, the Board has declined dismissing his initial claim and will instead grant the claim. His claim regarding bilateral hearing loss is not currently on appeal, and the Board does not have jurisdiction over it. 1. Entitlement to service connection for left ear tinnitus The Veteran argues that he suffered exposure to hazardous noise levels in service which resulted in his development of tinnitus. His MOS in service was as a police officer. Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing lists a police officer (police officer in the Army listing, and security in the Air Force listings) as having a moderate probability of exposure to hazardous noise. As such, VA concedes that the Veteran was exposed to hazardous noise during his period of service. In August 2015, the Veteran was afforded a VA audio examination. During the examination, the Veteran stated he could not remember when his tinnitus started, but that he had it “for about 30 years.” The examiner provided a negative nexus opinion because the Veteran’s hearing was normal during testing in January 1974, and he could not recall the date or circumstances surround the onset of his tinnitus. During the examination, the Veteran reported that he only had tinnitus in his left ear. For this reason, the Board has awarded entitlement to service connection for tinnitus of the left ear (Diagnostic Code 6260 provides a 10 percent rating for unilateral or bilateral tinnitus). In a January 2016 statement, the Veteran stated that he “began to have ringing and bussing in his left ear in the late 1970s.” He stated he was seen numerous times by his family physician, who asked him if he had been subjected to any loud noises. He reported to his family physician that he had been around jet engines on the flight line of a pilot training base during his service in the Air. Force, without ear protection. He also stated that he “shot [his] rifle left handed, which brought the loud noise of shooting within two to three inches of his left ear.” In subsequent statements, the Veteran reported that he used hearing protection for his employment as a police officer after service. He stated his family physician diagnosed him with tinnitus related to his service. The family physician had passed away, and the Veteran was unable to obtain these old records. A January 2016 statement from a U.S. State’s Attorney included a character statement in support of the Veteran as a truthful individual, based upon his participation in a corruption claim. (Continued on the next page)   The Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise, and will provide the Veteran with the benefit of the doubt. As such, entitlement to service connection for left ear tinnitus is granted. KRISTI L. GUNN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M.H. Stubbs, Counsel