Citation Nr: 18149397
Decision Date: 11/09/18	Archive Date: 11/09/18

DOCKET NO. 14-39 581
DATE:	November 9, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
In giving the benefit of the doubt to the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for tinnitus.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from May 1968 to April 1972.
These matters are before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an January 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, Missouri. 
1. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus
Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. In cases of tinnitus, ringing in the ears is capable of lay observation, and as such a Veteran is able to ascertain that he has the disability of tinnitus.  See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370 (2002).  
In this case, there is evidence that the Veteran discussed tinnitus with a private physician in October 2010. He was subsequently afforded a VA audiology examination in December 2012. The examination report notes the Veteran’s assertion of experiencing tinnitus within the previous six to seven years as well as the Veteran’s diagnosis of hearing loss based on military noise exposure. However, the examiner noted that hearing loss and tinnitus can occur together or separately; while they may have a common cause, one does not cause the other. The VA audiologist opined that the Veteran’s reported tinnitus was less likely than not caused by or a result of military noise exposure. As the rationale for that opinion, the audiologist stated that the Veteran first complained about tinnitus many years after active service separation, there is no mention of tinnitus in the Veterans service treatment records, the Veteran denied ear problems at the time of separation physical, and the Veteran had post service noise exposure. 
Nevertheless, as to noise exposure during service, the Veteran’s DD Form 214 revealed that his military occupational specialty (MOS) was aircraft maintenance specialist. Bilateral hearing loss was service connected in a January 2013 rating decision. The RO conceded acoustic trauma in the November 2014 Statement of the Case issued by the Decision Review Officer. Moreover, the Veteran has consistently reported the onset of tinnitus to have been service related, a fact to which the VA audiologist seemingly gave no weight. Indeed, in a January 2012 statement in support of claim, the Veteran asserted his tinnitus was related to the acoustic trauma he suffered during active service. The Veteran’s Representative was more direct when stating in an October 2018 Brief submitted to the Board, “[d]uring his military career, the veteran worked as an airplane mechanic and was exposed to loud noises frequently.”						
Given the above, and affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt on key elements of the claim, the Board finds that the Veteran’s tinnitus was incurred as due to service, and that service connection for such a disability is warranted. See Charles, supra.  Accordingly, the appeal in this matter is granted.

 
A. C. MACKENZIE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. Banks, Associate Counsel