Citation Nr: 21009585 Decision Date: 02/22/21 Archive Date: 02/22/21 DOCKET NO. 17-15 122 DATE: February 22, 2021 ORDER Service connection for chronic low back pain is granted. FINDING OF FACT Chronic low back pain is attributed to the Veteran’s lifting injury in September 1981 during Army Reserve service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Chronic low back pain was incurred in peacetime service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty with the U.S. Army from October 1976 to October 1979, and was a member of the Army Reserves until October 1982. He timely appealed this matter from a June 2016 rating decision. In August 2019, the Veteran testified during a video conference before the undersigned. In December 2019, the Board remanded the matter for further development. As new and material evidence added to the file includes relevant service department records, the claim must be reconsidered, not reopened, under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c). All available records identified by the Veteran as relating to his claim have been obtained, to the extent possible. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(a)(2). His service treatment records associated with the claims file pertain solely to active duty service. VA attempts to obtain the Veteran’s treatment records for his Army Reserve service have been unsuccessful. As the benefits sought on appeal are granted in full, there can be no prejudice to the Veteran if there were errors in fulfilling either duty. Service Connection for Chronic Low Back Pain The Veteran first filed a claim for service connection in September 2001. He reported injuring his low back during Army Reserve service in 1980 at Aurora, Colorado, and reported continuing low back pain. He has consistently reported such, with minor variation of dates, throughout the appeal. VA treatment and examination records document current back disability, as well as the Veteran’s reports of injury in service. While several post-service injuries, at work and in a motor vehicle accident, are noted in the record, both post-date the initial complaints of low back problems. In April 2011, a VA staff physician opined that the Veteran sustained a military injury during an attempt to lift a heavy cart; and the resulting back injury became chronic. The physician added that the Veteran suffered from disabling chronic low back pain. In January 2016, the Veteran again explained that he was lifting a laundry cart with another reservist at the time of the back injury; and that he was stationed in Aurora, Colorado. The Veteran was sent to Fort Carson, Colorado, for medical treatment at an outpatient clinic. After a few appointments, the Veteran was told that he did not qualify for medical treatment because he was a reservist. Additional service department records received in March 2016 consist of personnel records for both active duty service and Army Reserve service. Of significance is a document entitled, “Record of Interviews,” which includes a notation dated September 8, 1981, noting that the Veteran developed medical problem and was set up with a physician. A “Record of Assignments” reveals that the Veteran was assigned to the 24th PSYOP Co (DS) in Aurora, Colorado, from June 1981 to April 1982. He then was assigned to a unit at Fort Bliss, Texas, located adjacent to El Paso, from April 1982 to October 1982 prior to discharge. In August 2019, the Veteran testified that he was lifting a heavy laundry cart when he got hurt and notified his sergeant. He testified that it was on a weekend in Aurora, Colorado, and he was told to go to an outpatient clinic. He testified that he had problems with his low back ever since. Following his discharge from the Army Reserve in 1982, he started getting treatment at VA facilities in El Paso in approximately 2001. He testified that he had treatment across the border in Mexico, but it was before 1981, and that he was unable to obtain those records. The added service department records are relevant to the Veteran’s claim; and the Board finds that they support his contention of injury during Army Reserve service. Specifically, the notation in September 1981 that the Veteran developed medical problem and was set up with a physician corroborates the Veteran’s testimony of injury during Army Reserve service. Because treatment records are not available, these additional service department records, which correlate with the Veteran’s testimony, are the best evidence substantiating an injury during Army Reserve service. There are no records to the contrary. Moreover, these records are highly probative because they were created contemporaneously with the incident in Army Reserve service in 1981. The Board finds that the Veteran primarily has been consistent throughout the appeal, while not recalling precise dates or treatment locations. He consistently reported injuring his low back while lifting a heavy cart in Army Reserve service in Aurora, Colorado. The evidence reflects more than thirty-plus years of low back pain, with onset in 1981. The Veteran is competent to testify on factual matters of which he has first-hand knowledge. Washington v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 362, 268 (2005). He presented a history of onset of low back pain, following injury during Army Reserve service. Further, the independent, documentary evidence tends to corroborate his reports. Again, there is no evidence to the contrary. Service connection is warranted for chronic low back pain attributed to injury during Army Reserve service. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Mary C. Suffoletta 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.