Citation Nr: 18158971 Decision Date: 12/18/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 16-20 029 DATE: December 18, 2018 REMANDED Whether new and material evidence has been received to open a claim of entitlement to service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome is remanded. Whether new and material evidence has been received to open a claim of entitlement to service connection to an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include panic disorder and agoraphobia, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for fibromyalgia is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1968 to February 1969. He also had various periods of active duty for training and inactive duty for training with the Army National Guard of Massachusetts and the Air Force Reserve. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2013 rating decision. While the Veteran sought service connection for panic anxiety attacks in February 2011, because the scope of an acquired psychiatric disorder includes any acquired psychiatric disorder that may reasonably be encompassed by the claimant’s description of the claim and reported symptoms and all other information of record, the Board has recharacterized this claim more broadly to encompass all acquired psychiatric disorders. See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009). The Board acknowledges receipt of July 2018 written correspondence from the Veteran’s former attorney, requesting a withdrawal of services as his attorney due to factors which make the continuation of representation impossible, impractical, or unethical. Because the representative’s July 2018 request to withdraw was received after the appeal was certified to the Board, the attorney was obligated to make a motion to the Board demonstrating good cause. 38 C.F.R. § 20.608(b). In August 2018 the Board notified the attorney and the Veteran that the motion to withdraw met the requirements set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 20.608. As such, there has been compliance with the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 20.608(b), and withdrawal of representation is accepted as valid. Accordingly, the Veteran proceeds unrepresented. 1. Whether new and material evidence has been received to open a claim of entitlement to service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome; 2. Whether new and material evidence has been received to open a claim of entitlement to service connection to an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include panic disorder and agoraphobia; and 3. Entitlement to service connection for fibromyalgia are remanded. The Veteran asserts entitlement to service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and fibromyalgia. Specifically, he maintains that his current disabilities are linked to vaccinations he claims he received between 1986 to 1987, which may have occurred during his Air Force Reserve service. As noted above, the Veteran had various periods of active duty for training and inactive duty for training with the Army National Guard of Massachusetts and the Air Force Reserve. Because the Veteran’s claim is predicated on the notion that his disabilities are related to his Air Force Reserve service, it is critically necessary to determine the exact circumstances surrounding and dates of his service in the Air Force Reserve, including exactly when he was on ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA. Here, however, there has been no verification of ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA. This verification is particularly important given the length of his Air Force Reserve service and in light of his statements that his current disabilities are a result of vaccinations that occurred during a period of service with the Air Force Reserve. Accordingly, there is not sufficient information of record to determine whether any claimed disabilities resulted from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated while performing ACDUTRA or from an injury incurred or aggravated while performing INACDUTRA. See 38 U.S.C. § 101(2), (24); 106; 38 C.F.R. § 3.6(a). Therefore, verification of all periods of ACDUTRA and/or INACDUTRA should be accomplished on remand. The Veteran indicated in his April 2011 VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim, that he was hospitalized at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, due to adverse reactions to vaccinations and at Torrejón Air Base, Spain, in April 1987 because he fell backwards onto concrete steps. It does not appear that any clinical records are contained in the Veteran’s claims folder. A remand is required to allow VA to request these potentially relevant records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Make arrangements to verify the Veteran’s complete periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA). Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the claims folder. 2. Following completion of the above, issue a memorandum for inclusion in the Veteran’s claims folder detailing each period of verified active service, whether on active duty, ACDUTRA, or INACDUTRA. 3. Obtain the Veteran’s complete service treatment records and service personnel records for all periods of active duty, ACDUTRA, or INACDUTRA from any appropriate entity, to include the Army National Guard of Massachusetts and the Air Force Reserve. 4. Obtain the Veteran’s complete service treatment records, to include all clinical and field hospital records at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, and Torrejón Air Base, Spain, from 1986 to 1987. Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the claims folder. 5. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for any adequately identified physicians and facilities. Make two requests for the authorized records from physicians and facilities adequately identified by the Veteran, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 6. After the above development is completed, determine whether VA examinations are in order, and if so, schedule the Veteran for any appropriate examinations. P.M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Mussey, Associate Counsel