Citation Nr: 21008583 Decision Date: 02/17/21 Archive Date: 02/17/21 DOCKET NO. 16-18 528 DATE: February 17, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had honorable active service with the United States Air Force from November 1979 to November 1999. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2016 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In September 2019, the Board issued a decision which denied entitlement to service connection for Parkinson’s disease. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2020, the Veteran and the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs (collectively, as parties) filed a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR). The parties requested that the Court vacate the Board’s September 2019 decision and remand the matter for further consideration and instructions consistent with the JMR. The JMR stipulated that the Board failed to ensure that the duty to assist was satisfied because the Board failed to obtain service personnel records. The Court granted the JMR in August 2020. The Veteran contends that he was exposed to chemicals during his twenty years of service in the military as an aerospace equipment craftsman. See NOD received January 2016 and Appellate Brief received August 2019; see also Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty (DD 214) received August 2015. In April 2016, a Statement of the Case (SOC) reported that the Veteran’s Master Workplace Exposure Data Summary stated that the exposure to various chemicals was a risk for the Veteran. However, no exposures were documented. See SOC dated April 2016. The Veteran’s claims file has only one page of service personnel records. See Military Personnel Records received August 2015. As the claims file does not contain a complete record of the Veteran’s service personnel records, relevant to his claim of exposure, further development is needed. On remand, the RO is directed to undertake all appropriate development to obtain the Veteran’s service personnel records from all periods of service from November 1979 to November 1999. In conclusion, a remand of the claim to obtain service personnel records is required to satisfy the duty to assist the Veteran and to comply with the Court’s remand. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Take all appropriate actions to attempt to obtain all potentially missing service personnel records. Please note that the Veteran had service from November 1979 to November 1999. 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 any benefit sought on appeal is not granted, the Veteran and his representative should be provided a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) and afforded the requisite opportunity to respond before the case is returned to the Board. B. MULLINS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Associate Counsel, C. Parnell 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.