Citation Nr: 18160710
Decision Date: 12/27/18	Archive Date: 12/27/18

DOCKET NO. 17-10 832
DATE:	December 27, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for traumatic brain injury is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Traumatic brain injury was incurred in service.  
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to service connection for traumatic brain injury have been satisfied.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active duty service from June 2002 to June 2009 and from June 2009 to December 2011. 
A September 2013 Administrative Decision determined that the period of service between June 19, 2009 and December 2, 2011 was dishonorable for VA purposes.

Entitlement to service connection for traumatic brain injury
The Veteran seeks service connection for traumatic brain injury secondary to exposure to IED blasts during his service in Iraq.  
Service connection on a direct basis is merited if there is evidence of three things: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship, i.e., a nexus, between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability.  Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). 
A service treatment record dated in August 2011 shows that the Veteran was referred for evaluation of brain injury.   The record indicated that he was deployed four times, including from 2004 to 2005 and in 2007 and 2009.  It was noted that he was exposed to blast injuries.  He reported that he only minimally saw stars.  He denied any significant headaches or memory issues or tinnitus or behavioral changes.  He admitted to irritability and paranoid thoughts.  He was diagnosed with a history of traumatic brain injury.  
A VA neurology consultation dated in August 2016 shows that the Veteran’s chief complaint was memory loss.  He reported a history of five deployments to Iraq, with exposure to numerous explosions.  The record noted a history of multiple traumatic brain injuries.  It was recommended that the Veteran undergo a MRI of his brain and a possible PET scan.  
A letter to the Veteran from a VA neurologist, dated in August 2016, reflects that the Veteran was advised that a PET scan revealed mild abnormalities in both parietal lobes that may be vascular related but more likely blast injury/ TBI related.  
A VA neurology report dated in December 2016 reflects a diagnosis of post traumatic brain injury syndrome manifesting with major mood swings, dysmnesia, and dyscalculia. 
Thus, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the evidence establishes that TBI is related to the Veteran’s period of honorable service, and service connection for TBI is warranted.  38 U.S.C.§ 5107 (b) (2012); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55 (1990).

 
JENNIFER HWA
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Catherine Cykowski