Citation Nr: 18160788 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/27/18 DOCKET NO. 16-56 459 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral tinnitus is granted. FINDING OF FACT 1. The Veteran has provided competent and credible lay reports of tinnitus beginning in service after prolonged and regular exposure to hazardous noise as an aircraft mechanic (which is confirmed by his military occupational specialty listed in his discharge certificate), and that such condition persisted after service, gradually worsening over the years; VA records confirm that he has intermittently reported tinnitus. 2. While a July 2016 VA audiological examiner conceded noise exposure in service, he or she nonetheless opined it is “less likely than not” that the current tinnitus is related to service because there was no documentation of tinnitus or audiometric threshold shifts therein, hearing was normal at induction and separation, and the examiner could not “rule out 30 years of working as an automotive mechanic.” 3. Critically, this opinion fails to consider competent and credible lay statements made outside the examination setting; therefore, it is based on an incomplete review of the pertinent evidence and inadequate; moreover, the rationale misinterprets the pertinent evidentiary context and burden of proof—the Veteran’s statements are, themselves, competent evidence of an in-service element and the examiner’s inability to rule out post-service etiologies does not render a service-related cause less likely than not—at most, it renders it just as likely that the current tinnitus is related to exposures in service as any post-service exposures; consequently, the Board finds the evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether tinnitus began in service and has persisted since that time. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(b), 3.307, 3.309(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from July 1969 to January 1972. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from July 2016 rating decision. For the reasons outlined above, the claim on appeal is granted in full, obviating any need for further discussion thereof at this time. VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Yuan, Associate Counsel