Citation Nr: 21042734
Decision Date: 07/13/21	Archive Date: 07/13/21

DOCKET NO. 15-03 649A
DATE: July 13, 2021

ORDER

The legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

On September 18, 2020, the Veteran opted into the modernized appeals system known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) by submitting VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), within 60 days of the issuance of the August 20, 2020, Supplemental Statement of the Case that denied an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for PTSD, thereby withdrawing the instant legacy appeal.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The Board does not have jurisdiction to review the Veteran's legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for PTSD and it must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400(c)(2), 19.2(d), 19.55.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from October 1965 to October 1967, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

In a May 2018 decision, the Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal. Thereafter, he appealed such decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In May 2019, the Court granted an April 2019 Joint Motion for Remand, thereby vacating the May 2018 decision and remanding the matter to the Board for further adjudication. In December 2019, the Board remanded the claim of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD as inextricably intertwined with a referred claim for revision or reversal based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) of a March 1972 rating decision that denied service connection for a nervous condition. 

In an October 2020 decision, the Board again dismissed the Veteran's appeal. Thereafter, he appealed such decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In March 2021, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand, thereby vacating the October 2020 decision and remanding the matter to the Board for further consideration. 

Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for PTSD. 

As noted previously, in an October 2020 decision, the Board dismissed the Veteran's legacy appeal as to the issue of entitlement to an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for PTSD. However, in the March 2021 JMR, the parties found that the Board erred in failing to address whether it had jurisdiction to review the Veteran's claim in the legacy system in light of his election to opt into the AMA system. 

In this regard, on September 18, 2020, the Veteran opted into the AMA system by submitting VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), within 60 days of the issuance of the August 20, 2020, Supplemental Statement of the Case that denied an effective date prior to April 9, 2009, for the award of service connection for PTSD, thereby withdrawing the instant legacy appeal. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400(c)(2), 19.2(d).

As such was a timely filed, valid opt in to the AMA system, which withdrew the Veteran's legacy appeal, the Board does not have jurisdiction over the instant appeal in the legacy system. Consequently, such must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55. The Veteran is further advised that his election into the AMA system will be honored and such appeal will be docketed accordingly. 

 

 

A. JAEGER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

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.