Citation Nr: 21022467 Decision Date: 04/15/21 Archive Date: 04/15/21 DOCKET NO. 09-18 085 DATE: April 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for meningitis is remanded Entitlement to service connection for leukopenia is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran was a member of the Ohio Army National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, and the California Air National Guard, with verified periods of active duty (AD) and active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from August 1975 to March 1976 and from January to April 1991, with additional periods of ACDUTRA and inactive duty training (INACDUTRA). In August 2019, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) denied the Veteran’s claims, and in response she appealed the decision to the higher United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court/CAVC). In August 2020 the Court granted the contesting parties' Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), vacating the Board's decision denying these claims and remanding them back to the Board for further development and readjudication. According to the JMR and with regards to the issue of entitlement to service connection for meningitis, VA is directed to continue attempting to verify the Veteran’s military service. There also must be discussion of the evidence submitted in support of her leukopenia claim. To this end, the Board is remanding these claims back to the Regional Office (RO), i.e., Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). 1. Entitlement to service connection for meningitis is remanded. Pursuant to agreement in the JMR, the Board must ensure substantial compliance with the directives of an earlier August 2015 Board remand. Specifically, VA must verify the nature of the Veteran’s military service in April 1976—a crucial period (for purposes of this adjudication) in which she indicates she was admitted to a hospital to be treated for spinal meningitis. She asserts she was on ACDUTRA during this time; however, this assertion has not yet been verified by the record. The Board’s prior August 2015 remand directed VA to “[c]ontact The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) or any other appropriate agency to verify the precise dates of the Veteran’s AD, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA service. A list of each period and type of service should be associated with the file.” Following that remand, in January 2016, the record indicates VA sent a request to verify all periods of service. In February 2016, a response was received indicating that: NO RECORDS ON FILE AT CODE 13. SINCE THIS INDIVIDUAL SERVED OR IS SERVING IN THE NATIONAL GUARD SUGGEST YOU CONTACT THE ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE FOR THE STATE IN WHICH SERVICE WAS PERFORMED. The response also detailed the nature and periods of service from 1979-1994 with documentation. However, no documents or information were obtained regarding the nature of the Veteran’s service in April 1976. Notably, VA never contacted the Texas Air National Guard or any other appropriate entity regarding these missing records.   In August 2016, VA received a “Financial Records Request from Defense Finance and Accounting Service Indianapolis.” These records included “the pay records that we were able to locate and retrieve Army National Guard pay vouchers from 05/1975 to 08/1975 and 07/1976 to 04/1979.” Unfortunately, these records did not include any information regarding the Veteran’s military status in April 1976. No further attempts were made by VA to verify the Veteran’s status during April 1976 and no findings of unavailability were made regarding those records. Therefore, VA must again try to retrieve records verifying her military status during this time in question or make a formal finding of unavailability. 2. Entitlement to service connection for leukopenia also is remanded. In an earlier March 2018 decision, the Board determined this additional claim of entitlement to service connection for leukopenia is “inextricably intertwined” with the claim for service connection for meningitis. Indeed, a May 2014 VA medical examiner concluded the Veteran’s leukopenia is at least as likely as not related to her spinal meningitis. Therefore, the Board must temporarily defer considering this claim for leukopenia until completing the additional development being directed concerning the underlying clam for spinal meningitis. Accordingly, these claims are REMANDED for the following additional development and consideration: Contact the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) or any other appropriate agency to verify the precise dates of the Veteran’s periods of AD, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA service prior to 1979. A list of each period and type of service must be associated with the claims file. (a.) Specific attention should be paid to periods of service in 1976 and particularly in April 1976. (b.) The NPRC or other appropriate authority is specifically directed to contact the Texas Air National Guard or any other appropriate entity that may be able to verify the Veteran’s service in April 1976 in terms of whether she was on AD, ACDUTRA or INACDUTRA. (c.) If records cannot be located clarifying this, a formal finding of unavailability must be made and documented in the claims file. KEITH W. ALLEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. B. Kucera 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.