Citation Nr: 21063512 Decision Date: 10/14/21 Archive Date: 10/14/21 DOCKET NO. 15-25 361 DATE: October 14, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service from December 1968 to December 1972. This matter is on appeal from a November 2012 rating decision. In July 2021, the Veteran testified at a virtual Board hearing before the undersigned. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) has previously adjudicated the issue on appeal as entitlement to service connection for PTSD. The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court or CAVC) has held that the scope of a mental health disability claim includes any mental disability which may reasonably be encompassed by the claimant's description of the claim, reported symptoms, and the other information of record. Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009). In consideration thereof, the issue on appeal has been recharacterized as entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, to more accurately reflect the issue before the Board. The issue on appeal is remanded for updated VA treatment records and a VA medical opinion. In July 2021 correspondence, the attorney requested updated VA treatment records considered by the Board in connection with the appeal. The most recent VA treatment records in the record are dated in April 2013. Because of the various psychiatric diagnoses included in the VA treatment records currently of record, a remand to obtain updated VA treatment records is warranted to help identify any mental disability that may be reasonably raised and considered as part of the appeal. See Clemons, 23 Vet. App. at 1. Also, at the Board hearing, the Veteran testified that his claimed in-service stressor event involved the F-111 aircraft and the ongoing mechanical problems with the plane that led to numerous deaths. The Veteran testified that he was responsible for maintaining the F-111 aircraft during the time when the aircraft was having significant mechanical problems and airmen were being killed on the planes. He testified that he started finding serious problems with things that were never inspected on the plane and was later told to keep quiet after he had reported the problems and a plane crashed, that he was blamed for the problems, and that he was threatened with a court martial if he did not keep quiet. Shortly thereafter, the Veteran reported that he requested a transfer to Project CARE in May 1971. Service personnel records show that the Veteran served as an aircraft systems repairman or mechanical accessories equipment repairman from December 1968 to May 1971 at Cannon Air Force Base (AFB) in New Mexico. Duties included trouble-shooting, testing, inspecting, servicing, overhauling, modifying, and performing shop repair of components of the liquid oxygen (i.e., LOX), air-conditioning, and pressurization systems, and related systems, and included work on F-111 aircraft. In November 1970, the Veteran was recommended for promotion; however, in May 1972, he was transferred to the Project CARE area of the Social Actions office where he was responsible for the overall operation and performed all types of counseling, coordinated between action agencies and individuals, and maintained necessary records. Although the Air Force Military Personnel Center reported that there was no plane crash at Cannon Air Force Base (AFB) in June 1971 as alleged by the Veteran, it confirmed that two pilots died as part of a 651 Test Squadron at Edwards AFB in April 1971. See April 2015 Report of General Information. An article on the production of F-111s was submitted by the Veteran and reads that testing in 1969 had revealed that a contractor had been paying off inspectors to approve sub-standard work on structural wing components, and all aircraft had to have the component replaced at significant cost (since most F-111As had already been completed). Other newspaper articles show that the Air Force grounded the F-111 aircraft after an investigation showed that a capsule that should have separated from the plane and parachuted to the ground failed to function, which ultimately caused the death of two crewman near Edwards AFB. In consideration of the foregoing, the Board finds that the claimed stressor event has been sufficiently corroborated by credible, independent evidence. The VA treatment records currently of record include past diagnoses of pain disorder associated with both psychological factors and a general medical condition; therefore, the theory of secondary service connection due to service-connected loss of bladder control, fecal incontinence, lumbar spine arthritis, and/or lower extremity radiculopathy has been raised by the record. 38 C.F.R. section 3.310. No VA examination has been provided and no VA medical opinion has been obtained in connection with the appeal; however, because a claimed in-service stressor event has been sufficiently corroborated by credible, supporting evidence, the Veteran has been diagnosed with various psychiatric disabilities, and there is a raised question of whether a current psychiatric disability was caused or aggravated by service-connected disabilities, a remand for a VA examination and/or VA medical opinions is also needed to address whether any current psychiatric disability is related to the claimed in-service stressor event or was otherwise caused or worsened beyond the natural progression by a service-connected disability (38 C.F.R. section 3.310). The issue is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain VA treatment records from April 2013 to the present. 2. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate examiner regarding whether any current psychiatric diagnosis is at least as likely as not: (1) causally related to the in-service claimed stressor event of being denied promotion and threatened with a court martial after discovering a defect in the F-111 plane and being told to keep quiet by his superiors when the defect caused a plane crash killing two pilots in April 1971; (2) caused by any service-connected disability/disabilities; and (3) worsened beyond its natural progression by (aggravated by) any service-connected disability/disabilities. The examiner should assume that the claimed stressor event has been sufficiently verified in this case. The examiner should review the record and provide rationale for the medical opinion. A telephonic interview or an in-person examination should be scheduled if needed to provide the medical opinion. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Palmer, 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.