Citation Nr: 19164652 Decision Date: 08/20/19 Archive Date: 08/20/19 DOCKET NO. 16-46 101 DATE: August 20, 2019 ORDER Service connection for type II diabetes mellitus is denied. FINDING OF FACT Type II diabetes mellitus, diagnosed in November 2001, was not etiologically related to active service from May 1972 to May 1975, and was not aggravated by federal National Guard service in September and October 2005. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for type II diabetes mellitus are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101, 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.6, 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service in the U.S. Army from May 1972 to May 1975. He also had additional service in the Army National Guard from August 1987 to August 2012, including federal service from September 2005 to October 2005. He passed away in November 2018. The appellant is his surviving spouse and had been substituted in his place for the purposes of this appeal. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2015 rating decision. Service connection for type II diabetes mellitus Generally, service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Establishing service connection generally requires competent 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). For service connection purposes, active military, naval, or air service includes any period of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated in the line of duty, or any period of inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA) during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from injury (but not disease) incurred in or aggravated in the line of duty. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101 (21), (24), 106; 38 C.F.R. § 3.6 (a), (d). National Guard duty is distinguishable from other Reserve service in that a member of the National Guard may be called to duty by the governor of their state. “[M]embers of the National Guard only serve the federal military when they are formally called into the military service of the United States, and at all other times, National Guard members serve solely as members of the State militia under the command of a state governor.” Allen v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 54, 57 (2007). To have basic eligibility for veterans’ benefits based on a period of duty as a member of a state National Guard, a National Guardsman must have been ordered into Federal service by the President of the United States, 10 U.S.C. § 12401, or must have performed “full-time duty” under the provisions of 32 U.S.C. §§ 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505. As noted above, the Veteran had active service in the U.S. Army from May 1972 to May 1975 and federal service as a National Guardsman from September 2005 to October 2005. A June 2015 memorandum contained in the Veteran’s personnel records confirms that the remainder of his National Guard service, beginning in August 1987 and ending in August 2012, was not qualifying under the above statutes and cannot serve as the basis for VA benefits. The Veteran had claimed his diabetes mellitus associated with his military service. Private treatment records show the Veteran was being treated with medication for blood sugar control and did not require insulin. Additional records from July 2002 confirm a diagnosis of type II diabetes. First, the Board finds that diabetes is not associated with the Veteran’s period of active service from 1972 to 1975. The Veteran had not alleged any such connection, and the associated service treatment records are negative for any complaints, treatment or diagnoses related to diabetes. In a July 2015 statement, he specifically alleged that diabetes was associated with toxic exposures while stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama. VA has acknowledged the presence of toxins, including radioactive compounds, chemical warfare agents, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/fort-mcclellan/index.asp. The Veteran’s Alabama National Guard records show some service at Fort McClellan. It is unclear, however, whether the Veteran’s federal service from September 2005 to October 2005 was specifically performed at that location. Nevertheless, service connection is not warranted. As noted above, the Veteran was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in November 2001 and there is no indication that the condition was subsequently aggravated by federal service in 2005. Prior to 2005, the Veteran’s diabetes was treated with oral medications and did not require insulin. VA treatment records dated after 2005 continue to show diagnoses of “non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.” Service treatment records dated after 2005 also do not show any worsening of the condition. In fact, records from February 2010 show the Veteran was not even sure if he was diabetic or not, and denied symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and polyuria. In sum, the collectively medical evidence before and after 2005 does not show that preexisting diabetes increased in severity following the Veteran’s period of federal service in 2005. Therefore, service connection cannot be granted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.306 (aggravation of a preexisting disability may not be conceded where the disability underwent no increase in severity during service based on all the evidence of record pertaining to the manifestations of the disability prior to, during and after service). JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Shamil Patel, Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.