Citation Nr: 18152817 Decision Date: 11/27/18 Archive Date: 11/26/18 DOCKET NO. 14-21 801 DATE: November 27, 2018 ORDER An extension of the delimiting date under the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran served on active duty from January 4, 1983, to December 13, 1984; it is neither claimed nor shown that she had additional active duty service after that date. 2. The Veteran’s basic period of eligibility for receiving Chapter 32 educational benefits ended on December 13, 1994. 3. The Veteran filed for an extension of his Chapter 32 delimiting date on January 17, 2014. 4. It has not been shown that the Veteran was prevented from initiating or completing an educational program during his basic delimiting period due to his own physical or mental disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW An extension of the Veteran’s period of eligibility for receiving VA educational assistance benefits under Chapter 32 beyond December 13, 1994, is not warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 3232 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 21.5041, 21.5042 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from January 1983 to December 1984. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2014 decision that was issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which denied the Veteran’s request for an extension of the delimiting date for his Chapter 32 education benefits. Jurisdiction over the present claim currently lies with the RO in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Veteran was scheduled to testify before a Veterans Law Judge in November 2018, but did not appear for his hearing and has not requested that the hearing be rescheduled. Accordingly, the Board will proceed with appellate review. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(d) (2017) (providing that failure to appear for a scheduled hearing will be processed as though the request for hearing had been withdrawn). 1. Entitlement to an extension of the delimiting date under the VEAP. Chapter 32 of Title 38, United States Code, sets forth provisions to allow for educational assistance for members of the Armed Forces after their separation from military service. See 38 U.S.C. § 3201 (2012). The law generally provides that educational assistance will not be provided to a veteran beyond ten years from the later of (i) the date of his or her last discharge or release from a period of active duty of 90 days or more of continuous service; or (ii) the date of his or her last discharge or release from a period of active duty of any length if the discharge or release is because of a service-connected disability, a medical condition which preexisted such service and which VA determines is not service connected, hardship, or was involuntary for the convenience of the Government after October 1, 1987, as the result of a reduction in force as determined by the Secretary of the military department concerned. See 38 U.S.C. § 3232 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 21.5041(a) (2017). VA shall grant an extension of the applicable delimiting period provided that a veteran applies for an extension within a specified time period, and the veteran was prevented from initiating or completing the chosen program during the original period due to physical or mental disability that did not result from their willful misconduct. 38 C.F.R. § 21.5042(a) (2017). VA must receive a claim for an extended period of eligibility by the later of the following dates: one year from the last date of the delimiting period, or one year from the date on which the eligible claimant’s physical or mental disability no longer prevented her from beginning or resuming a chosen program of education. 38 C.F.R. § 21.5042(b). The Veteran served on active duty from January 4, 1983, to December 13, 1984, and there is no evidence of subsequent service. Accordingly, the Board finds that the Veteran’s basic period of eligibility for receiving educational assistance benefits under Chapter 32, Title 38, United States Code, ended on December 13, 1994. Generally, the Veteran asserts that he was prevented from completing a program of education to use his Chapter 32 benefits prior to the December 13, 1994, delimiting date because his wife had a serious health condition that required ongoing and specialized care during the relevant ten-year period and he had to homeschool a son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. See January 2014 Request for Extension; see also June 2014 VA Form 9. The Veteran’s request for an extension of the delimiting date for Chapter 32 education benefits was received by VA on January 17, 2014. As the Veteran’s delimiting date was December 13, 1994, his request for an extension was not timely. However, even if his application were timely, the Board finds that the Veteran’s circumstances are not such that an extension can be granted. Under 38 C.F.R. § 21.5042(a), an extension of the delimiting date may be granted if the Veteran was prevented from initiating or completing the chosen program during the original period due to physical or mental disability. The evidence does not indicate that the Veteran himself was prevented from using his educational benefits due to any physical or mental disability. Notwithstanding his wife’s and his son’s health challenges, the Board finds that there is no medical evidence to establish that the Veteran had a physical or mental disability that prevented him from initiating or completing an educational program, and thus, his request for an extension of the delimiting date must be denied. See 38 C.F.R. § 21.5042. While the Board is certainly sympathetic to the Veteran and his particular circumstances, VA is bound by the applicable law and regulations as written. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(c) (2012). Unfortunately, the law does not permit an extended delimiting date in the circumstances described by the Veteran and the claim for extension must be denied as a matter of law. See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994). STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. C. Wilson, Counsel