Citation Nr: 18100799 Decision Date: 04/20/18 Archive Date: 04/20/18 DOCKET NO. 14-34 114 DATE: April 20, 2018 ISSUES DECIDED: 1 ISSUES REMANDED: 0 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for tendonitis and degenerative joint disease of the right ankle is granted. FINDING OF FACT The most probative evidence of record shows that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s current tendonitis and degenerative joint disease of the right ankle were incurred in or caused by service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for tendonitis and degenerative joint disease of the right ankle are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from February 1977 to January 1980 and from January 1982 to August 1984. The matter comes on appeal from a May 2012 rating decision. Entitlement to service connection for a right ankle disability With respect to the Veteran’s claims herein, VA has met all statutory and regulatory notice and duty to assist provisions. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 5100, 5102, 5103, 5103A, 5106, 5107, 5126 (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.156(a), 3.159, 3.326 (2016); see also Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2015). Service connection may be established for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To establish service connection for a disability, the Veteran must show: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The Veteran contends that he injured and fractured his right ankle during basic training in 1977. The Veteran contends that he turned his ankle on a rock while running, went to sick call, and was put in a boot for three weeks. The Veteran alleges that his current disabilities are related to this prior injury. The record shows that the Veteran has current right ankle disabilities of tendonitis and degenerative joint disease. The Board notes that the Veteran’s service treatment records, other than his enlistment examination, are unavailable from his first period of service. While the Board notes that a prior fracture does not appear on the Veteran’s second enlistment examination in December 1981, the Veteran also has noted a prior injury of a rock falling on his big toe during his first period of service. The prior injury is discussed in service treatment records from 1984, and is noted to have occurred during the first period of service. However, that injury is also not present on the Veteran’s second enlistment examination in December 1981. The Veteran attended a VA examination in March 2012 to determine the nature and etiology of all right ankle disability(ies). There, the examiner noted that x-ray evidence showed chronic degenerative arthritis of the right ankle that could be post traumatic. The examiner opined that the Veteran’s claimed conditions were at least as likely as not incurred in or caused by service. The examiner noted the Veteran’s toe injury in service, and stated that the Veteran’s osteoarthritis is consistent with his in-service ankle injury. The examiner also noted an old healed fracture of the distal tibia and fibula shown on a September 2010 x-ray. The Board notes that the Veteran is considered credible in his contention of an ankle injury in 1977, as the record does not otherwise impugn his credibility. This is for particular consideration inasmuch as the Veteran’s service treatment records, other than his enlistment examination, are unavailable from his first period of service. The Board affords great probative weight to the March 2012 VA examiner’s opinion, as he applied his medical expertise and reviewed the relevant evidence of record. As such, the Board finds that the most probative evidence of record shows that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s current right ankle disability was incurred in or caused by service. The Board must therefore resolve any doubt in the Veteran’s favor, and conclude that service connection for right ankle disability is warranted. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). U. R. POWELL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Baker, Associate Counsel