Citation Nr: A20009155 Decision Date: 05/21/20 Archive Date: 05/21/20 DOCKET NO. 190613-14850 DATE: May 21, 2020 REMANDED Service connection for a left ankle disability, to include chronic left ankle sprains, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from August 1966 to August 1970. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a June 2018 rating decision. Briefly, during the pendency of the appeal, in April 2018, the Veteran opted into the modernized review system (known by the Board as the AMA) by submitting a Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) election form; he elected to have all eligible issues currently on appeal processed in the Supplemental Claim lane. In June 2018, the RO issued a RAMP rating decision that also denied the Veteran’s claim of service connection for a left ankle disability. Subsequently, the Veteran submitted a VA Form 10182 Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (NOD) in June 2019. The Veteran selected the Evidence Submission Lane. No hearing was requested. Service connection for a left ankle disability, to include chronic left ankle sprains, is remanded. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a left ankle disability. He contends that he injured his left ankle in service around February or March 1967, while stationed at Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya. The Veteran believes that he has a current disability related to that claimed injury. Under the AMA, Board remands are generally limited to correcting duty to assist errors that occur prior to the rating decisions on appeal. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.802. The Board finds two such errors in this case. First, a review of the available service treatment records (STRs) do not indicate that the Veteran was treated for a left ankle disability during service. However, the Veteran has submitted a statement indicating that the STRs on record could potentially be incomplete. See April 2018 Correspondence. The Veteran has stated that his in-service ankle treatment was outpatient treatment. Due to the implication, the Veteran’s complete STRs have been associated with the record, further development is needed to obtain any outstanding in-service medical treatment records. Second, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed left ankle disability. The Veteran has expressed experiencing pain, instability, and discomfort in his left ankle that he contends is related to an in-service injury. As such, a VA examination is needed to address whether the Veteran has a current left ankle disability related to his active service. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 81 (2006). The Board, at this point, makes no findings – positive or negative – as to the Veteran’s statements regarding his in-service incurrence or regarding continuous symptoms since the claimed in-service injury. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. The AOJ should make appropriate efforts to obtain complete copies of the Veteran’s service treatment records, including clinical records concerning outpatient left ankle treatment received around February-March 1967 at Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya. If no such records are available, then a formal finding of unavailability should be prepared. 2. After the above has been completed, schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed left ankle disability. The evidence of record, to include a copy of this Remand, must be made available to the examiner and the examiner must indicate that the pertinent medical records and lay statements have been reviewed. Following a review of the record, the examiner must address the following: (a) Identify all diagnoses of the Veteran’s left ankle. If it is found that the Veteran does not have any disability of the left ankle, the examiner must opine whether the Veteran’s left ankle pain reaches the level of a functional impairment of earning capacity. (b) Is it at least likely as not that any identified left ankle disability is related to his active duty service? Specifically, the examiner is to state whether any left ankle disability identified is consistent with the type of injury the Veteran contends that he suffered during his active service. The examiner is instructed that the Board has not made any determinations as to credibility with regard to the Veteran’s contentions of an in-service injury or with respect to any continuity of symptoms since such an injury. The examiner should refrain from making any such findings as well. A detailed rationale supporting the examiner's opinion must be provided. If the examiner is unable to offer the requested opinion, it is essential that the examiner offer a rationale for the conclusion that an opinion could not be provided without resort to speculation, together with a statement as to whether there is additional evidence that could enable an opinion to be provided, or whether the inability to provide the opinion is based on the limits of medical knowledge. See Jones v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 382 (2010). Evan M. Deichert Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J.R. Higgins, Associate 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.