Citation Nr: 21070085 Decision Date: 11/23/21 Archive Date: 11/23/21 DOCKET NO. 19-16 838 DATE: November 23, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's tinnitus was incurred during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b) (2018); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304 (2021). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1970 to October 1974. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2016 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In November 2021, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection requires evidence showing: (1) a current disability; (2) incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service; and (3) a nexus between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated in service. See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disability was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). The Veteran reported that he has had ringing in his ears since his time in the Navy. See November 2021 Board hearing; June 2016 notice of disagreement (NOD). The Veteran is competent to report tinnitus and when his condition began. More, the undersigned had the opportunity to observe the Veteran during his hearing and finds his testimony credible. A May 2016 VA examiner diagnosed tinnitus and discussed that noise exposure during service is conceded due to the Veteran's military occupational specialty (MOS) as a boiler technician. The Veteran's DD 214 supports his MOS and, as a result, noise exposure during service is conceded. Although the May 2016 VA examiner opined it was less likely than not that the Veteran's tinnitus was related to his service, the examiner relied on the absence of evidence of hearing loss during service and did not have the opportunity to consider the Veteran's later reports of tinnitus continuing since that time. As a result, the opinion is inadequate and given no probative weight. In light of the Veteran's conceded noise exposure during service and his competent and credible reports of tinnitus continuing since that time, the Board finds that the Veteran's tinnitus was incurred during service. Thus, service connection is warranted, and the claim is granted. E. I. VELEZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Sandler, 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.