Citation Nr: 21028271 Decision Date: 05/10/21 Archive Date: 05/10/21 DOCKET NO. 16-57 979 DATE: May 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for residuals of right Achilles tendon surgery (claimed as low right leg injury) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Appellant had active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from June to September 1982, at which time he was discharged because he did not meet procurement medical fitness standards. He also had service in the National Guard spanning from August 1981 to December 1982, when he again was discharged for failing to meet procurement standards. The National Guard service included his ACDUTRA. In support of his claim, the Appellant testified at a local Regional Office hearing in March 2016 and more recently during a March 2021 Board hearing before this undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Transcripts of both hearings are of record. The evidence shows that, prior to his service, the Appellant had surgery on his right ankle. He readily concedes as much, but explained during his recent March 2021 hearing before this Board that, although he had two surgeries on this ankle/leg as a child, so before his service, because of congenital defect/disease, he completed physical therapy after those earlier surgeries, passed his military enlistment examination, no problem, also completed basic training without problem, so was fine by the time he entered service and sustained the re-injury at issue during his advanced individual training (AIT). The Veteran's June 1982 Report of Medical Examination for retention in the Illinois National Guard reflects normal lower extremities. The Appellant's service treatment records (STRs) show that, approximately eight weeks after entrance, in August 1982, he had a medical board proceeding during which it was found that he had "painful right Achilles tendon, post-surgery, and ankle equinus"; it was recommended that he be separated from service because he did not meet procurement standards. In other testimony during his recent hearing, the Appellant said he resultantly was separated from service prematurely and given a "2-year reenlistment bar", so he waited that out and, after it expired, he reapplied in 1984 to reenter the military but ultimately was found not qualified ("permanent disqualification"), thus, ultimately not allowed back into the military. The earliest post-service complaint referable to the Appellant's right ankle is in 2014, some 30 years later. He contends that his service aggravated his pre-existing right ankle disability, if somehow concluded he had one because, in his estimation, any he had as a child long since had resolved, and in any event that his injury in service is the reason he continues to have issues with this ankle. The Board finds that further development may be useful to adjudicating this claim. A January 1987 Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services (I.D.R.S.) letter indicates the Appellant had a congenital handicap (cerebral palsy), which primarily affected his right leg and upper extremities; the correspondence explains he had undergone physical therapy. Although he contends that his counselor from I.D.R.S. is deceased, the record does not reflect that I.D.R.S. would not still have some pertinent records, so VA should at least attempt to obtain them. In terms of VA treatment records, the claims file includes a single record from October 2014 noting the Appellant was an "established patient". Prior VA clinical records may support continuity of symptoms since his claimed injury in service. Thus, VA also should attempt to obtain these other records. The Appellant was a VA employee; thus, all employment physicals should be obtained and associated with the claims file, as well, or any other records relating to the history of his claimed disability. Accordingly, this claim is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Attempt to obtain all records for the Appellant from September 1, 1982 through December 31, 1987 from the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services (I.D.R.S.). 2. Obtain the Appellant's VA treatment records and VA employment physicals for the period from March 1, 1987 to the present (including from the Danville, VA, and Fort Meade/Black Hills, South Dakota facilities). 3. Thereafter, if additional records are associated with the claims file, obtain a supplemental opinion to the October 2015 Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) considering all new documents. KEITH W. ALLEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Wishard 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.