Citation Nr: 18160275
Decision Date: 12/26/18	Archive Date: 12/26/18

DOCKET NO. 17-07 072
DATE:	December 26, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.

FINDING OF FACT
In giving the benefit of the doubt to the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for tinnitus.

CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from June 1965 to June 1967.
This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Fargo, North Dakota. 
Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. In cases of tinnitus, ringing in the ears is capable of lay observation, and as such a Veteran is able to ascertain that he has the disability of tinnitus.  See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370 (2002).  
In this case, the Veteran asserts in his January 2016 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) that he developed ringing in his ears during active service. VA treatment records from February 2014 reveal that during a new patient assessment, the Veteran raised concerns about tinnitus. A thorough review of medical records reveals the Veteran reported intermittent bilateral tinnitus during a May 2015 VA audiology consultation. The Veteran subsequently underwent a VA hearing examination in 2014, the results of which are not included in the claims file but are discussed at length in a VA audiology opinion dated February 2015. The VA audiologist’s report notes that the Veteran is diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss; however, his “best guess as to the time frame of tinnitus onset is 20 years ago.” The audiologist opined that the Veteran’s tinnitus is less likely than not caused by the result of military noise exposure. As the rationale for that opinion, the audiologist stated that the Veteran first complained about tinnitus more than 25 years after active service separation, hearing thresholds where within normal limits at enlistment and discharge, and there was no objective evidence of noise exposure during service. 
Nevertheless, as to noise exposure during service, the Veteran’s DD Form 214 revealed that his military occupational specialty (MOS) was army combat medic. In the January 2015 VA-212507a Request for Examination, the RO noted the probability to military noise exposure was “moderate” and conceded acoustic trauma for the purpose of establishing the in-service event. Moreover, the Veteran has consistently reported the onset of tinnitus to have been service related, a fact to which the VA audiologist seemingly gave no weight. Indeed, in correspondence dated December 2014, the Veteran asserted his tinnitus was related to the acoustic trauma he suffered during active service. The Veteran reported that his barracks were alongside a road, and across the road was a helicopter landing area with helicopters coming and going all day and night.   
Given the above, and affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt on key elements of the claim, the Board finds that the Veteran’s tinnitus was incurred as due to service, and that service connection for such a disability is warranted. See Charles, supra. Accordingly, the appeal in this matter is granted.
 
A. C. MACKENZIE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. Banks, Associate Counsel