Citation Nr: 18152645
Decision Date: 11/23/18	Archive Date: 11/23/18

DOCKET NO. 16-19 239
DATE:	November 23, 2018
ORDER
Whether the character of the Veteran’s discharge for the period of service from May 21, 2009, to August 28, 2013 is a bar to the receipt of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
The RO decided that all of the Veteran’s service was honorable in a September 2017 administrative decision. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The claim for whether the Veteran’s service from May 21, 2009 to August 28, 2013 is a bar to the receipt of VA benefits has already been granted and is dismissed. Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997); Barrera v. Gober, 122 F.3d 1030 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active duty from August 2005 to August 2013. 
Whether the character of the Veteran’s discharge for the period of service from May 21, 2009, to August 28, 2013 is a bar to the receipt of VA benefits
In the October 2014 administrative decision on appeal, the RO found that the Veteran’s period of service from May 21, 2009 to August 28, 2013 was dishonorable for VA purposes. This claim was subsequently granted in an administrative decision in September 2017. The Board finds that the decision that the Veteran’s service was honorable for VA purposes constitutes a full award of the benefits sought on appeal with respect to this issue.  See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158 (Fed. Cir. 1997).  The record currently available to the Board indicates that the appellant did not initiate an appeal of the RO’s September 2017 full grant.  Thus, the matter is not in appellate status.  Grantham, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158 (Fed.Cir.1997) (holding that a separate notice of disagreement must be filed to initiate appellate review of “downstream” elements such as the disability rating or effective date assigned).  As the RO’s September 2017 decision constitutes a full grant of the benefits sought on appeal, no further consideration is necessary.  
 
J. Rutkin
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Parke