Citation Nr: 18125347
Decision Date: 08/09/18	Archive Date: 08/09/18

DOCKET NO. 07-24 716
DATE:	August 9, 2018
REMANDED
Service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include as secondary to cystic fibrosis, is remanded.
Service connection for a disability manifested by fatigue, to include as secondary to cystic fibrosis, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1983 to October 1991, with additional subsequent service in the National Guard. 
These matters come to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2005 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  
The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a personal hearing in December 2009.  A transcript is of record.  The claims were remanded by the Board in April 2010, September 2012, May 2016, and August 2017.
As noted in the August 2017 Board decision, the Veteran filed a notice of disagreement (NOD) at the RO concerning the issues of service connection         



 for a left knee disability, back disability and disability of the left and right hips. This appeal remains in the VACOLS appeals tracking system as an active appeal   at the RO. While the Board is cognizant of the Court’s decision in Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238 (1999), the Board notes that in this case, unlike in Manlincon, the RO has fully acknowledged the NOD and is still in the process     of adjudicating the appeal. As such, no action will be taken by the Board now and the issues presently before the RO pertaining to service connection for a left knee disability, back disability and bilateral hip disability will be the subject of a later Board decision, if ultimately necessary.
1. Service connection for a disability manifested by fatigue, to include as secondary to cystic fibrosis, is remanded.
2. Service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include as secondary to cystic fibrosis, is remanded.
The Board remanded the claims in August 2017 for the RO to request the Veteran’s complete service clinical records related to mental health treatment/counseling he received at Fort Bragg between November 1986 and December 1987. Although a request for records dating in 1987 was submitted, there is no indication that the RO requested records dated in November 1986 and December 1986. This must be rectified on remand. 
The claim for service connection for a disability manifested by fatigue remains inextricably intertwined with the psychiatric claim and must also be remanded.
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
Request the Veteran’s complete service clinical records related to mental health treatment/counseling he received at Fort Bragg between November 1986 and December 1986.  If additional records are not obtained, the record should document whether further efforts to obtain clinical records would be futile.
 
K. A. BANFIELD
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Van Wambeke, Counsel