Citation Nr: 20026043
Decision Date: 04/15/20	Archive Date: 04/15/20

DOCKET NO. 11-05 768
DATE: April 15, 2020

REMANDED

The claim for an effective date earlier than October 25, 2000 for the award of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1963 to February 1966. This case comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2009 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Service connection for PTSD was granted in a June 2009 rating decision effective April 16, 2008. The Veteran initiated an appeal regarding the effective date for the award of service connection and in December 2010, an earlier effective date of April 9, 2008 was granted by the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). The claim was first before the Board in May 2014 when an earlier effective date of May 25, 2000 was assigned for service connection for PTSD. The AOJ implemented the Board’s award in a June 2014 rating decision. 

The Veteran appealed the May 2014 Board decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In October 2017, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the portion of the May 2014 Board decision that denied entitlement to an effective date prior to May 25, 2000 for service connection for PTSD. The case was remanded back to the Board, and in April 2018, the Board again denied the claim for an earlier effective date. The Veteran appealed to the Court a second time, and in an August 2019 memorandum decision, the Court vacated the April 2018 decision and remanded the case back to the Board. The claim for an earlier effective date has now returned to the Board for additional appellate action.

1. Entitlement to an effective date earlier than October 25, 2000 for the award of service connection for PTSD.

Since the Court issued its August 2019 memorandum decision, the Veteran has contacted VA numerous times and submitted additional evidence and argument. In February 2020, the Veteran requested that the Board remand his case to the AOJ for review of the additional evidence and argument that he submitted in support of his appeal. The Veteran also expressed understanding that remanding the case could “significantly delay the Board’s review of my appeal.” The Veteran has a right to have the evidence considered by the AOJ and has specifically not waived initial AOJ review. Thus, the claim must be remanded to allow for readjudication by the AOJ before the Board issues its decision.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Readjudicate the claim on appeal with consideration of all the evidence of record, including the evidence and argument submitted by the Veteran since the Board’s 

 

April 2018 decision and the Court’s August 2019 memorandum decision.   

 

M. H. HAWLEY

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Riley, 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.