Citation Nr: 21070821
Decision Date: 11/26/21	Archive Date: 11/26/21

DOCKET NO. 14-36 125
DATE: November 26, 2021

REMANDED

The claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1977 to February 1978.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a    July 2010 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

In October 2017, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of that hearing is of record.

This matter was previously before the Board in April 2018, at which time it was remanded for further development.  The requested development was completed, and the case has been returned to the Board for further appellate action.

1. The claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded.

In April 2018, the Board remanded the claim to attempt to verify the Veteran's claimed in-service stressors of the suicide of a member of his unit and being subject to sniper fire in Westerburg, Germany.  If the information provided by    the Veteran lacked sufficient specificity to be verified, the Board directed the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) to make a formal finding to that effect.  A correspondence received in June 2021 indicates that a search of the Official Military Activities Report (OMAR) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Casualty Database revealed no evidence to verify the Veteran's assertion that a member of his unit died of suicide on December 30, 1977.  However, the record does not show that the AOJ attempted to verify the Veteran's other claimed stressor of being subject to sniper fire at the nuclear site in Westerburg, Germany in July 1977, nor was a formal finding made indicating that the information provided by the Veteran lacked sufficient specificity to be verified.  Accordingly, a remand is necessary in order to comply with the Board's prior remand instructions.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Attempt to verify through official sources the Veteran's claimed in-service stressor of being subject to sniper    fire at the nuclear site in Westerburg, Germany in July 1977 (See VA Form 21-0781, Stressful Incident No. 2, received February 26, 2010).  All actions to verify the alleged stressor should be fully documented in the claims file.  If the information provided by the Veteran lacks sufficient specificity to be verified, the AOJ should make a formal finding to that effect. 

2. If the claim remains denied, issue a supplemental statement of the case.

 

 

K. A. BANFIELD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Banister, 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.