Citation Nr: 21004546 Decision Date: 01/27/21 Archive Date: 01/27/21 DOCKET NO. 16-35 887 DATE: January 27, 2021 ORDER New and material evidence having been submitted, the claim of entitlement to service connection for type II diabetes mellitus (DM) is reopened. Entitlement to service connection for DM is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. An August 2006 rating decision denied service connection for DM. The Veteran did not perfect an appeal. 2. At the time of the August 2006 rating decision, the record did not contain evidence showing the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents. Subsequent to that decision, the Veteran submitted additional evidence noting his close proximity to the base perimeter while serving in Thailand. This evidence is new and material and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. 3. The Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents while serving around the perimeter of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) during the Vietnam era. 4. The Veteran has DM. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW New and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for DM 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.104, 3.156, 20.302. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for DM are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(b), 3.307, 3.309(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from February 1966 to September 1986, including overseas service in Thailand. The Veteran appeals an August 2013 rating decision by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). A Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) hearing was held in July 2013. However, December 2020 correspondence noted that a hearing transcript was unable to be produced due to audio malfunctions. Therefore, the December 2020 correspondence offered the Veteran another opportunity for a hearing. The Veteran has not responded. A veteran is entitled to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) disability compensation if there is a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. Generally, to establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an 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, the so-called “nexus” requirement. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that a disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). A veteran who during active military, naval, or air service served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence establishing that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6). In order to benefit from the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with herbicide agent exposure, the veteran must have one of the diseases enumerated in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), which includes DM. Although a veteran who served in Thailand during the Vietnam era is not entitled to the legal presumption of exposure to an herbicide agent, VA’s Adjudication Procedure Manual, M21-1, provides that exposure to an herbicide agent may be considered on a “direct/facts-found basis” if a veteran served in Thailand during the Vietnam Era at one of the RTAFBs as an Air Force security policeman, security patrol dog handler, member of the security police squadron, or “otherwise near the air base perimeter” as shown by evidence of daily work duties, performance evaluation reports, or other credible evidence. M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section H. Importantly, presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure extends to those Veterans whose duties placed them on or near the perimeter of Thailand military bases. See M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, 1.H.5.b. The Veteran has DM. See May 2018 VA treatment records. The Veteran served in Udorn RTAFB as an aircraft mechanic. See January 1973 DD Form 214; February 2013 memorandum; service personnel records (SPRs). The Veteran stated he was housed and worked on aircraft near the perimeter fence line of Udorn RTAFB. See March 2014; August 2016 VA Form 646. The Veteran marked photographs of the base indicating where he lived and worked and the close proximity to the perimeter of the base. The Veteran is competent to attest to living and working near the base perimeter while stationed in Thailand. The Board finds the Veteran’s assertions credible. As such, for purposes of this decision only, the Board finds that the Veteran served in Thailand with activities near the base perimeter and was exposed to herbicide agents in service. Because the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents at Udorn RTAFB and has DM, service connection is presumed, and the claim is granted. DONNIE R. HACHEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Zheng, 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.