Citation Nr: 18148632
Decision Date: 11/08/18	Archive Date: 11/07/18

DOCKET NO. 16-36 004A
DATE:	November 8, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss (BHL) is granted.
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Veteran’s BHL is at least likely as not related to in-service noise exposure.  
2. The Veteran’s tinnitus is at least likely as not related to in-service noise exposure.  
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.385
2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran served on active duty with the Navy from May 1967 to February 1971.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Travel Board hearing in May 2018.  A transcript of the proceeding has been associated with the claims file.  
The Board notes that the RO’s April 2014 rating decision and July 2016 statement of the case based their findings on a VA examination from a different Veteran than the Veteran whose claim is currently before the Board.  As a result, the Board will proceed based on the findings of a VA examination that pertains to this Veteran. 
Entitlement to service connection for BHL and tinnitus
The Veteran seeks service connection for BHL and tinnitus.  He contends that he was exposed to loud noises while in close proximity to aircraft during active duty service.   
Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110.  Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of three things: (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship, i.e., a nexus, between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability.  Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a).
The Board concludes that the Veteran has current diagnoses of BHL and tinnitus that is related to the Veteran’s noise exposure while serving with the Navy. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a).
The Veteran’s service treatment records are silent as to hearing loss or tinnitus.  
The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in March 2014.  The examiner concluded that the Veteran’s hearing loss and tinnitus were at least as likely as not related to his military noise exposure, and provided a detailed rationale.  
The clinical results of the March 2014 audiological examination demonstrate that the Veteran has bilateral hearing loss for VA purposes.  38 C.F.R. § 3.385.  Thus, the first requirement for the establishment of service connection is established.   
The Board finds no reason to question the Veteran’s account of exposure from noise resulting from being in close proximity to aircrafts, and his exposure to acoustic trauma is conceded. 
Evidence of a current hearing loss disability and a medically sound basis for attributing such disability to service may serve as a basis for a grant of service connection for BHL and tinnitus.  As there is a positive opinion of record, the Veteran has credibly reported noise exposure, and currently diagnosed BHL and tinnitus disabilities for VA benefit purposes is present, service connection for BHL and tinnitus is granted.  
 
H.M. WALKER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Hartford, Associate Counsel