Citation Nr: 21003234 Decision Date: 01/21/21 Archive Date: 01/21/21 DOCKET NO. 18-50 530 DATE: January 21, 2021 REMANDED The claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability is remanded. The claim for service connection for plantar fasciitis is remanded. The claim for service connection for tinnitus is remanded. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The appellant was a member of the Army National Guard of California from July 2010 to July 2016. The record on appeal contains a DD Form 214 reflecting that he served on active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from February 2011 to June 2011. This matter originally came before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from September 2017 and December 2017 rating decisions issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In September 2019, the Board denied the claims for service connection for a neck (cervical spine) disability and tinnitus. The appellant appealed the denial of the claims to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2020, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) filed by the parties, vacating and remanding the Board’s September 2019 decision to the extent it denied the claims for service connection for a cervical spine disability and tinnitus. These claims have now returned to the Board for further action and are joined by the claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and plantar fasciitis. The Board regrets further delay in this case, but finds that a remand is necessary to comply with the August 2020 JMPR and ensure proper development of all the claims on appeal. The JMPR found that the August 2017 and December 2017 VA medical opinions pertaining to service connection for tinnitus and a cervical spine disability, respectively, were not adequate. New VA medical opinions are therefore required. Furthermore, the Board finds that VA examinations and medical opinions are necessary to determine the nature and etiology of the claimed acquired psychiatric disabilities and plantar fasciitis. A remand is also necessary to verify the appellant’s periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty training (INACDUTRA). The appellant contends that he incurred a cervical spine disability due to a fall during a period of ACDUTRA in Germany in 2013, as well as an acquired psychiatric disability due to a traumatic event during a period of training at Fort Irwin, California, in July 2013. He contends that he developed tinnitus while performing reserve duty in Germany in 2013. The claims file does not contain the information necessary to verify the claimed period or periods of ACDUTRA in 2013. The August 2020 JMPR specifically found that the status of the Appellant’s service in Germany in 2013 was a legal question that the Board did not answer in its September 2019 decision. Accordingly, a remand is necessary to determine the dates and nature of the appellant’s reported active service in the National Guard. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Verify all periods of active duty, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA, if any in the California National Guard from July 2010 to July 2016, to include the appellant’s duty status in July 2013 and October/November 2013 when he reports service at Fort Irwin, California and Germany. 2. Ask the Appellant to complete a VA Form 21-4142 medical release form authorizing VA to obtain complete medical treatment records from Kaiser Permanente. If a properly completed medical release form is received, make two requests for the authorized records unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 3. If the appellant was serving on a period of active duty, ACDUTRA, or INACDUTRA in October or November 2013, provide the claims file to an appropriate clinician for a medical opinion addressing whether his current cervical strain and cervical disc protrusion are at least as likely as not related to his reports of a fall while hiking in Germany in October/November 2013 while on National Guard duty. The examiner should also discuss the appellant’s contentions that his current cervical spine disability is the result of wearing a heavy backpack during multiple periods of training with the National Guard. The clinician should consider the appellant’s reported 2013 injury and symptoms in service and thereafter. If there is any medical reason to accept or reject the proposition that the appellant’s reported 2013 injury and/or symptoms in service and thereafter represented the onset of his current cervical spine disability, this should be noted. Stated another way, do the Appellant’s reports about his injury and symptoms align with how the currently diagnosed cervical spine disability is known to develop or are the appellant’s reports generally inconsistent with medical knowledge or implausible? If the clinician determines that the opinion cannot be provided without an examination, one should be scheduled. 4. If the appellant was serving on a period of active duty, ACDUTRA or INACDUTRA in July 2013, schedule him for a VA psychiatric examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, depressive disorder, or anxiety disorder. For every diagnosed psychiatric disability, the examiner must opine whether each diagnosed disability is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, to include the appellant’s reports of receiving death threats from a fellow soldier during a shooting exercise at Fort Irwin in July 2013. The examiner must also provide an explanatory rationale to support any stated opinion(s). 5. Provide the claims file to an appropriate clinician for a medical opinion addressing whether the appellant’s current tinnitus at least as likely as not had its inception during, or is otherwise related to, noise exposure during his episodic periods of ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA with the National Guard between July 2010 to July 2016. 6. Schedule the Appellant for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any currently present plantar fasciitis (or other chronic foot condition). If a diagnosis cannot be provided but the appellant’s condition manifests in symptoms that cause functional impairment, then the examiner should consider them a “disability” for the purpose of providing the requested opinion(s). 7. The examiner should determine whether any currently present chronic foot disability is at least as likely as not had its inception during his episodic periods of ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA with the National Guard between July 2010 to July 2016, or is otherwise related to wearing combat boots with poor foot support, walking on uneven terrain, and carrying heavy combat gear during these episodic periods of ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA with the National Guard between July 2010 to July 2016. K. Conner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals M. Riley, Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs 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.