Citation Nr: 18156941
Decision Date: 12/11/18	Archive Date: 12/11/18

DOCKET NO. 17-17 574
DATE:	December 11, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss had its onset in service.
2. The Veteran’s tinnitus had its onset in service.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(b), 3.307(a), 3.309(a), 3.385.
2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.307(a), 3.309(a).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran served on active duty from September 1952 to July 1954.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2016 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.
2. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.
The Veteran seeks service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, which he contends began in service and has been recurrent since that time.  
All three elements of service connection are established by the competent and credible lay and medical evidence of record.  38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004).  The Veteran has a diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss, reports ongoing tinnitus and suffered acoustic trauma when exposed to extreme loud noise in service while performing his duties during basic training without the benefit of hearing protection and as a radio operator, which has a moderate probability of noise exposure.  See December 2015 Written Statement; June 2016 VA Examination Report.  Thus, the first two criteria have been met.
Further, the competent and credible evidence of record shows that his current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus began during service and have been recurrent since that time.  The Veteran reported that he first noticed hearing loss and tinnitus during service and that it has worsened over the years. Id.  The Veteran is competent to report the onset and continuation of his hearing loss and tinnitus symptoms and the Board finds his report credible.  See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370, 374 (2002); see also Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465 (1994); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007).  The Board notes that the June 2016 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not related to service; however, that opinion is inadequate, as the examiner does not consider the Veteran’s competent and credible reports of continuous ringing in the ears and decrease in hearing since noise exposures in service.
 
S. BUSH
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Forde, Counsel