Citation Nr: 18148357
Decision Date: 11/07/18	Archive Date: 11/07/18

DOCKET NO. 14-02 504
DATE:	November 7, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1989 to May 1989 and from November 2009 to June 2010.  She also had service with the Army National Guard.
Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder and entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea are remanded.
In its September 2017 Remand, the Board requested the RO to make additional attempts to obtain the Veteran’s service treatment records for her period of active duty service from November 2009 through June 2010 by contacting the Missouri Office of the Adjutant General, the Veteran’s Army National Guard unit, and any other appropriate records repository including the NPRC and/or the RMC.  Review of the claims file reflects that the RO obtained the Veteran’s service personnel records from the Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System (DPRIS), but it does not reflect any attempts to obtain the identified service treatment records, as requested.  Accordingly, remand is required for compliance with the Board’s September 2017 Remand directives.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998) (a remand by the Board confers on the veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand orders).
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Contact the Missouri Office of the Adjutant General, the Veteran’s Army National Guard unit, and any other appropriate records repository including the NPRC and/or the RMC to obtain the Veteran’s service treatment records from her period of active duty service from November 2009 through June 2010.  The RO must identify the Veteran using all of her known surnames.  All information obtained must be made part of the claims file.  All attempts to secure this evidence must be documented in the claims file by the RO.  If the RO determines that such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain them would be futile, the RO must notify the Veteran and her representative and (a) identify the specific records the RO is unable to obtain; (b) briefly explain the efforts that the RO made to obtain those records; (c) describe any further action to be taken by the RO with respect to the claim; and (d) notify her that it is ultimately her responsibility to provide the information identified.  The Veteran and her representative must be given the appropriate time to respond.
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2. Thereafter, readjudicate the issues on appeal.  If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, issue an additional Supplemental Statement of the Case, and provide the Veteran and her representative sufficient time in which to respond.  Then, return the appeal to the Board.
 
MICHAEL MARTIN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Katz, Counsel