Citation Nr: 21002101
Decision Date: 01/12/21	Archive Date: 01/12/21

DOCKET NO. 20-10 821
DATE: January 12, 2021

ORDER

Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The evidence, to include the Veteran’s and his spouse’s credible testimony, shows the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss to have been either incurred in or otherwise related to his active military service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.385.   

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty for training in the U.S. Army National Guard from May 1964 to September 1964.  The matter is on appeal before the Board from an October 2018 rating decision.  The Veteran and his spouse testified at a January 2021 Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of the hearing has not yet been associated with the file; however, a copy of the transcript will be associated with the claims file in the ordinary course of business. 

Service Connection Bilateral Hearing Loss 

Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active military service.  38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.  

Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service.  Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

For VA purposes, impaired hearing will be considered to be a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz are 26 decibels or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent.  38 C.F.R. § 3.385.

Through credible testimony from the Veteran and his spouse at his Board hearing in January 2021, the criteria for service connection were established.  The Veteran did not have hearing problems entering service.  While on active duty for his initial training for the Kentucky National Guard, and in weekend and summer drills, the Veteran was around considerable noise exposure from serving as a tank training NCO, where he was close to numerous tanks firing their shells, often with little to no hearing protection.  The Veteran and his wife were married shortly after his stint on active duty and they both recall an incident early in their marriage in which the Veteran was unable to hear the preacher in church, while she was clearly able to.  They also testified to his continually worsening hearing loss through the years since service, despite little noise exposure during that time.  The Veteran was found to have hearing loss in both ears for VA purposes on the first audiometric test administered after service.  Accordingly, service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.

 

 

MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Lutgens-Staley, 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.