Citation Nr: 21063452
Decision Date: 10/14/21	Archive Date: 10/14/21

DOCKET NO. 17-47 660
DATE: October 14, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for diabetes is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served active duty in the United States Coast Guard from October 10, 1978 to May 28, 1979, from September 17, 2001 to October 17, 2001, from January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2005, and from March 19, 2006 to August 15, 2006. 

In March 2019, the Board issued a decision which denied the claim on appeal.  The Veteran filed a timely appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims (Court).  In a November 2019 Joint Motion for Remand, the parties agreed to remand the appeal to the Board for further development.

In May 2020, the Board remanded the appeal for further development.

1. Service connection for diabetes is remanded.

2. Service connection for sleep apnea is remanded.

3. Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

The Veteran contends that his diabetes, sleep apnea, and bilateral hearing loss are due to his period of active duty service. 

In a May 2020 Board decision, the Board remanded the above issues to, in part, ensure that the Veteran's complete personnel file from his period of service is of record.  Specifically, the Board noted that VA did not continue efforts to locate the Veteran's Coast Guard Reserve records by initiating a request to the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center after receiving a negative response from the Records Management Center (RMC) in October 2014.  In the text of the remand, the Board directed that the RO attempt to obtain any outstanding records from the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center and the RMC and associate any records obtained with the Veteran's claims file.  To date, it does not appear that the records have been associated with the claims file, and there is no memorandum of record to indicate that the records are unavailable.  Therefore, a remand is necessary.

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The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Undertake appropriate action to conduct additional search(es) for the Veteran's military personnel records, to include a request to the RMC and the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center to obtain the Veteran's Coast Guard Reserve records.  If the search for these records is negative, such should be documented in the claims file, and the Veteran must be informed of this in writing in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).

 

 

M. Mills

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Ford

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.