Citation Nr: 21072888 Decision Date: 12/06/21 Archive Date: 12/06/21 DOCKET NO. 11-14 557 DATE: December 6, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served in the United States Air Force from July 1966 to December 1970, including one year of service in Vietnam. The Veteran served as a member of the United States Air Force Reserve in 1977 and retired in October 2002. While in the United States Air Force Reserve, the Veteran was called to active-duty service from January 1991 to May 1991 and from October 2001 to September 2002. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2009 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This claim was remanded by the Board in March 2016 and in December 2017. In a June 2019 decision, the Board denied the claim for service connection for a left shoulder disorder. The Veteran timely appealed that decision to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals, resulting in a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) by the parties. An August 2020 Court Order remanded the matter for compliance with the instructions in the JMR. In this regard, the JMR noted that there were potentially relevant, outstanding service treatment records from the Veteran's second period of active-duty service from October 2001 to September 2002. The claim was further remanded by a March 2021 Board decision directing the RO to obtain a list consisting of all the locations and years of the Veteran' s service, so that VA may assist him in developing his claim by seeking out relevant records, to include the period from October 2001 to September 2002. Furthermore, if the records provided relevant information for the claim, then the VA should order a new examination and medical opinion. The VA forwarded two correspondence letters in March 2021 and April 2021 to the Veteran requesting a list consisting of all locations and his years of service, so that VA may assist him in developing his claim. The Veteran did not submit any new records or respond to this letter. In a July 2021 supplemental statement of the case, the RO further denied his claim, because the Veteran did not provide a list of all his locations and years of service. The Veteran's representative contends that the Veteran already provided the location and time frame of the relevant documents needed to substantiate his claims in his November 2009 notice of disagreement. Specifically, the Veteran stated that he sustained injury to his left shoulder and received surgery at the Naval Hospital when he was assigned to the 437th Security Force Squadron at the Charleston Air Force Base. The representative further contends that a remand is necessary to obtain medical records from the Charleston Air Force Base from the period of October 2001 to September 2002, or a statement that the documents cannot be located, otherwise. See November 2021 Appellate Brief. An initial request was made for records specifically from Charleston Air Force Base Naval Hospital in October 2016 via a VA correspondence and a Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System (DPRIS) response was provided in March 2017. The DPRIS Response only provided the Veteran's service personnel records, to include the period from 2001 to 2002. The DPRIS Response does not include any medical records from Charleston Air Force Base's Naval Hospital. Therefore, on remand, the RO should accept the Veteran's previous statements in his November 2009 NOD as to where his left shoulder surgery was conducted and provide medical records from the Charleston Air Force Base's Naval Hospital from the period of October 2001 to September 2002. Moreover, in the event the aforementioned records sought contain information relevant to the Veteran's claim, VA shall order a new examination and medical opinion. However, if the records sought cannot be located the VA should provide a response stating that the files could not be located. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain medical treatment records from the Charleston Air Force Base Naval Hospital from October 2001 to September 2002, as detailed by the Veteran in his November 2009 Notice of Disagreement. All reasonable attempts should be made to obtain such records. If any records cannot be obtained after reasonable efforts have been made, issue a formal determination that such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain such records would be futile, which should be documented in the claims file. The Veteran must be notified of the attempts made and why further attempts would be futile, and allowed the opportunity to provide such records, as provided in 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(b)(2) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e). 2. If, and only if, additional service records are received that are relevant to the claim on appeal, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to assist in determining the nature and etiology of his left shoulder disorder. The entire claims file must be provided to the examiner. The examiner should respond to the following: Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's left shoulder disorder was incurred in service or is otherwise related to service? A rationale should be provided for all opinions offered. If it is not possible to provide a specific opinion regarding the above questions, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). The medical opinion must support the conclusions reached with an analysis that is adequate to consider and weigh against other evidence of record; medical opinions must contain not only clear conclusions with supporting data, but also a reasoned medical explanation connecting the two. If an opinion cannot be expressed without resort to speculation, ensure that the clinician so indicates and discusses why an opinion is not possible, to include whether there is additional evidence that could enable an opinion to be provided, or whether the inability to provide the opinion is based on the limits of medical knowledge. KRISTY L. ZADORA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Adeyemi, 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.