Citation Nr: 18150287
Decision Date: 11/14/18	Archive Date: 11/14/18

DOCKET NO. 15-22 946A
DATE:	November 14, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The evidence is at least in equipoise with regard to showing that the Veteran has PTSD associated with his credible in-service stressor. In March 2017, a psychologist diagnosed the Veteran with PTSD in accordance with the applicable DSM criteria. The Veteran has consistently contended that during an overseas deployment to Beirut in 1983 he encountered and dealt with the immediate aftermath of a car bomb that killed Marines nearby. The psychologist identified that incident as the Veteran’s in-service stressor, opined that it is related to his fear of hostile military or terrorist activity, the stressor is adequate to support a diagnosis of PTSD, and the Veteran’s symptoms are related to the named stressor. In the May 2015 statement of the case, VA conceded that the stressor is consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of the Veteran’s service. Although the record also shows that a VA examiner in July 2013 opined that the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of PTSD nor was his stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity, the Board finds that the evidence is, at least, in equipoise. Accordingly, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for PTSD is warranted. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for PTSD have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.304(f) (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1972 to February 1975, from November 1975 to November 1977, and from October 1980 to November 1999. He served honorably in the United States Navy. The Board thanks the Veteran for his service to our country. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Detroit, Michigan. In November 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Pursuant to the Board’s findings of fact above, service connection for PTSD is granted. Last, the Board notes that as the substantive appeal pertaining to service connection for a back condition was not timely, that claim is not for consideration in this decision. 
 
M. C. GRAHAM
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Fales, Associate Counsel