Citation Nr: 21042708 Decision Date: 07/13/21 Archive Date: 07/13/21 DOCKET NO. 20-23 823 DATE: July 13, 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 hazardous noise exposure experienced during combat. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304(d). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1969 to June 1971. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2018 rating decision by a Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). A hearing was held before the undersigned Veteran's Law Judge in February 2021; a transcript has been associated with the file. Service Connection Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381, F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38C.F.R. §3.303(d). A hearing loss disability is defined for VA compensation purposes with regard to audiologic testing involving puretone frequency thresholds and speech discrimination criteria. 38C.F.R. §3.385. For purposes of applying the laws administered by VA, impaired hearing will be considered a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz (Hz) is 40 decibels (dB) or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hz are 26 dB or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC test are less than 94 percent. Id. 1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran asserts his bilateral hearing loss is a direct result of in-service noise exposure experienced during combat while stationed in Vietnam. Specifically, the Veteran asserts he was a "gunner on a 155 SP howitzer" that was in the field "all the time" engaging in combat without hearing protection. As stated above, the first element of service connection is a current disability. The Veteran was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss in a December 2017 VA audiology note. Additionally, the Veteran underwent a VA examination in June 2018 in which the audiogram showed hearing loss for VA purposes. The first element of service connection has been met. The Veteran is in receipt of a Combat Infantryman Badge and an Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and "V" Device. His military records also provide the Veteran was stationed in Vietnam during his active duty service. As such, the Veteran is entitled to the combat presumption, which provides that if a Veteran engaged in combat with the enemy, his or her lay reports will be sufficient to establish the occurrence of an event or injury during combat as long as such reports are consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service. This is true even if there is no official record of the reported incident unless there is clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C. § 1154 (b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (d). This presumption also extends to a combat Veteran's reports of experiencing a permanent disability beginning at the time of injury during combat. Reeves v Shinseki, 682 F.3d 988, 998-1000 (Fed. Cir. 2012). As there is no clear and convincing evidence of record to rebut the Veteran's assertions regarding noise exposure in service, the second element of service connection has been met. The evidence contains conflicting probative evidence both for and against the claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. In reviewing the record as a whole, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his in-service acoustic trauma. Resolving reasonable doubt is his favor, the Board grants service connection for bilateral hearing loss. LAURA E. COLLINS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Associate Counsel, S. Conti 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.