Citation Nr: 21014507 Decision Date: 03/12/21 Archive Date: 03/12/21 DOCKET NO. 15-09 511 DATE: March 12, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (DO), to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from July 1970 to June 1972. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2011 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a travel Board hearing in August 2018. A transcript of the proceeding is associated with the claims file. The Board remanded the claim in March 2019 for further development. 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric DO, to include PTSD and anxiety is remanded. The Veteran contends that his acquired psychiatric DO, to include PTSD and anxiety is due to military service. Throughout the course of the appeal, the Veteran was diagnosed with several acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD, anxiety, not otherwise specified, cognitive disorder, not otherwise specified, and depression. In the Board's March 2019 remand, a directive stated that the RO attempt to corroborate the Veteran’s claimed in-service stressor of the shooting incident that occurred between April 1, 1971 and June 5, 1971 at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Beaufort, South Carolina. The Board acknowledges that the RO sent a letter to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in April 2019 requesting assistance with researching the stressor; however, in June 2019, the NPRC responded that “incidents resulting in serious injury or death of personnel may result in a court of inquiry, and instead, the inquiries were maintained at the Office of the Judge Advocate General, United States Navy.” The RO sent requests to this agency; however, a negative response was not received from the agency that the requested records do not exist, or the agency does not have them. Therefore, another remand is required to obtain these records. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). Also, in a November 2008 VA treatment record, the medical provider noted the Veteran had a psychiatric history of “court-ordered individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric care. He reports that he had problems with mental health professionals in the past although did gain some positive effects from it.” The record does not reflect that the RO attempted to obtain these records. A remand is required to allow VA to request these records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Veteran and request that he identifies the names, addresses, and approximate dates of treatment for all VA and non-VA health care providers who treated him from discharge until the present for any mental health condition, including court-ordered individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric care. With any necessary authorization from the Veteran, the RO should attempt to obtain copies of pertinent treatment records identified by the Veteran which have not previously been secured. Any records obtained should be associated with the file. Failures to respond or negative replies should be noted and associated with the claims file. 2. Complete development to verify the claimed stressor of the death of a soldier during a shooting incident while the Veteran was stationed at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina for the period of April 1, 1971 to June 5, 1971. (Note: the RO sent requests to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, United States Navy but a negative response was not received from the agency that the requested records do not exist, or the agency does not have them.) 3. After the above development has been completed, afford the Veteran a VA examination. The claims folder, to include this Board remand, must be provided to the examiner for review. All indicated tests and studies should be accomplished, and all clinical findings should be reported in detail. All acquired psychiatric disorders should be diagnosed and noted in the examination report. For each diagnosed disorder, the examiner should opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., 50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is causally or etiologically due to service, to include the Veteran's reported incidents. The Veteran’s reported incidents include: *harassment from fellow recruits and drill instructors during bootcamp; *harassment from fellow Marines and superior officers while stationed at MCAS Beaufort; *death of a soldier during a shooting incident at MCAS Beaufort during military service. All opinions should be supported by a clear rationale, and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved would be of considerable assistance. TANYA SMITH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Edwin B. Esmenda, 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.