Citation Nr: A21019092 Decision Date: 12/01/21 Archive Date: 11/30/21 DOCKET NO. 191212-54073 DATE: December 1, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a lumbar spine disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence weighs in favor of a finding that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability is etiologically related to his active duty service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1960 to October 1963. This claim is on appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an October 2017 rating decision. On August 23, 2017, the President signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). This law creates a new framework for Veterans dissatisfied with VA's decision on their claim to seek review dated on or after February 19, 2019. Following a November 2019 Statement of the Case, the Veteran opt-ed into the AMA by way of a December 2019 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, and elected the Hearing docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the November 2019 Statement of the Case as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or his representative at the hearing or within 90 days following the hearing. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a). The Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in July 2012. A transcript of that hearing is of record and has been considered by the Board. Legal Criteria Service connection may be established for disability due to a disease or injury that was incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection may also be granted for any disease initially diagnosed after service, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). In general, in order to prevail on the issue of service connection the evidence must show: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Factual Background and Analysis The Veteran is claiming he has a lumbar spine disability which began during or is etiologically related to his active duty service, specifically related to "jump school." See July 2017 Fully Developed Claim. He indicated that he made approximately 25 jumps as a paratrooper carrying over 100 pounds of equipment. See July 2021 Hearing Testimony, 4. The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is currently diagnosed as lumbar spondylosis, status post fusion (1998) and degenerative arthritis. See September 2017 VA examination report; see also August 2021 Private Doctor Letter. His Form DD-214 reflects his military occupational specialty was a light weapons infantryman and indicates that he received the Parachutist Badge. Therefore, the Board concedes that the in-service event that the Veteran participated in jump school. See 38 U.S.C. § 1154(a). Accordingly, the question before the Board is whether there a nexus between the Veteran's currently diagnosed lumbar spine disability and his participation in jump school during active duty service. In support of his claim, the Veteran submitted an August 2021 private report from a physician which indicates that the Veteran's lumbar spondylosis was directly caused by the Veteran's jumps as a paratrooper during the military, explaining that the injury pattern indicates compressive forces on the lumbar spine consistent with his lumbar spondylosis. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability is etiologically related to service, and therefore, his claim is granted. Jennifer White Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board O'Connell, Jessica L. 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.