Citation Nr: 21021000 Decision Date: 04/09/21 Archive Date: 04/09/21 DOCKET NO. 15-31 266 DATE: April 9, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, his bilateral hearing loss is at least as likely as not related to his military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty with the U.S. Army from May 1977 to May 1980. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran seeks service connection for bilateral hearing loss that incurred, he asserts, because of his exposure to noise from artillery fire during his time in service. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of three things: (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship, i.e., a nexus, between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). Both the November 2013 and January 2020 examinations confirm current hearing gloss, which is disabling for VA purposes, indicating that the Veteran has bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Thus, the current disability requirement is satisfied. Regarding the in-service requirement, service records show the Veteran served with a field artillery unit and his MOS was tactical wire operator. The Department of Defense’s Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing does not have a listing for this particular MOS; however, similar positions have either a moderate or high probability of hazardous noise exposure. In addition to his MOS, the Board notes that the Veteran’s DD-214 report he received an expert badge for hand grenades and the M-16 rifle. His assertions that he was exposed excessive levels of noise are consistent with the circumstances of his service. The Board finds that the Veteran was exposed to the levels of noise in service he described. Thus, the in-service occurrence or injury requirement is likewise satisfied. Turning to the final question of whether a causal relationship exists between the present disability and service, the opinions provided in both the November 2013 and January 2020 VA examinations appear to rest on the fact that the Veteran had normal hearing during his military service and was not diagnosed until 2013. The fact that hearing loss was not identified during service is not fatal to a claim for service connection. A veteran may establish direct service connection for a hearing loss disability, which initially manifested several years after separation from service, by showing evidence of a current hearing loss disability and a causal relationship to active duty service. See Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155 (1993); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Therefore, a lack of threshold shift during service or “normal” hearing at separation is not sufficient to provide the sole basis for a denial of a claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss absent any other rationale. The Veteran has reported that his hearing loss was due to excessive amounts of noise from artillery fire during service. The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise. As such, all reasonable doubt is resolved in the Veteran’s favor, and service connection for bilateral ear hearing loss is granted. H.M. WALKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Price, 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.