Citation Nr: 21029868 Decision Date: 05/17/21 Archive Date: 05/17/21 DOCKET NO. 15-06 791A DATE: May 17, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for bronchial asthma is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from July 1956 to June 1960. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2014 rating decision issued by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). In August 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing via videoconference before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. This matter was previously before the Board in January 2019 and most recently in September 2020 where it was remanded for additional evidentiary development. Unfortunately, remand is again necessary to ensure compliance with the Board's prior January 2019 and September 2020 remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 270-71 (1998). At his August 2018 hearing, the Veteran testified that after he retired from Detroit Police Department where he worked from 1960 to 1992, he went to the U.S. Marshal Service as a court security officer where his hearing was tested with annual physical during employment from 1992 to 2007. See Hearing Transcript at 6. In January 2019, based on the hearing testimony, the Board remanded to obtain the Veteran's federal civilian personnel file and medical testing done during his employment with the U.S. Marshals Service from the period 1992 to 2007. The record shows that a request was made to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in January 2020. In February 2020, NPRC provided two pages of medical records from the US Public Health Occupational Health and indicated in a response letter that the "official folder is not at this Center" and advised VA to contact the Federal Agency employing office. See NPRC Response Letter dated February 2020. In the Board's September 2020 remand, the Board again instructed AOJ to take additional efforts to obtain the records from the U.S. Marshal Service in Detroit, Michigan. Although the record shows efforts made to obtain releases for private medical records, development was not accomplished to contact the employing office as advised by NPRC. In a April 2021 brief, the Veteran's representative pointed out the AOJ's failure of duty to assist "by not contacting the United States Marshall Service (a federal entity) to obtain the appellant's records. The AOJ's only effort was to solicit a VA Form 21-4142 and 4142a to the appellant, when they should have reached out as one federal agency to another." See Appellant's Post-Remand Brief at 4. Accordingly, remand is warranted to obtain the federal records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Attempt to obtain the Veteran's federal civilian personnel file or official folder from the U.S. Marshal Service. In so doing, attempt to obtain medical records of any hearing testing and annual physical evaluations done during his employment from 1992 to 2007. See February 2020 response letter from National Personnel Records Center advising VA to contact the employing office. KELLI A. KORDICH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. An, 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.