Citation Nr: 22028107 Decision Date: 05/12/22 Archive Date: 05/12/22 DOCKET NO. 12-31 643 DATE: May 12, 2022 ORDER Service connection for a right ankle disability is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has a current right ankle disability. 2. The Veteran sustained multiple in-service right ankle injuries. 3. The current right ankle disability is etiologically related to the in-service right ankle injuries. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for service connection for a right ankle disorder are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154(b), 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304(d). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service from April 2001 to April 2005, which involved multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and which led to receipt of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The instant issue is on appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a November 2009 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) rating decision that, in pertinent part, denied service connection for a right ankle disorder. In October 2020, the Board denied the claim for service connection for a right ankle disorder. The Veteran appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a January 2022 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the parties to the JMR agreed that the Board had erred in relying upon an inadequate VA examination and the Court adopted the agreement that vacated the decision to allow for another VA examination. As this decision grants the benefits sought in full, the need for another VA examination has been rendered moot. The Veteran testified at a January 2016 Board hearing. A copy of the hearing transcript has been associated with the claims file. Service Connection for a Right Ankle Disorder is Granted. Service connection may be granted for disability arising from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38U.S.C. §1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection may 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. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires competent evidence of the existence of: (1) a current disability; (2) a disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. After a review of all the evidence, lay and medical, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the question of whether the Veteran has a current right ankle disability. Although the most recent May 2020 VA examination indicates that the Veteran does not have a current disability associated with the right ankle, the Board notes there was a diagnosis of a right ankle sprain in June 2009, during the pendency of this appeal. See June 2009 VA Treatment Records (diagnosing bilateral ankle sprains). As such, the Veteran has a current disability of a right ankle sprain for VA compensation purposes. See Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992); see also McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007) (service connection may be warranted if there was a disability present at any time during the claim period, even if it is not currently present); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013) (when the record contains a recent diagnosis of a disability immediately prior to a veteran filing a claim for benefits based on that disability, the report of diagnosis is relevant evidence that the Board must address in determining whether a current disability existed at the time the claim was filed or during its pendency). For these reasons, the Board will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran to find that there is a current right ankle disability. The evidence also demonstrates multiple in-service right ankle injuries. In November 2001, the Veteran injured the right ankle during a parachuting fall while training. See January 2016 Hearing Transcript (describing the November 2001 fall); November 2001 and December 2001 Service Treatment Records (documenting treatment for a right ankle sprain). The Veteran stated that the right ankle was problematic for the rest of enlistment. See October 2010 Statement. The Veteran also testified to injuring both ankles while deployed during a roping mission. See January 2016 Hearing Transcript. The Veteran was an Army Ranger with documented service in both Iraq and Afghanistan and in receipt of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The reported injury is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of service. For these reasons, the Board will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran to find that he sustained an additional right ankle injury despite the lack of documentation of such in the service treatment records. See 38 U.S.C. § 1154(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(d). The Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on whether the current right ankle disability is etiologically related to the multiple in-service right ankle injuries. In an August 2016 VA Opinion, the VA examiner stated that the service in a Ranger unit suggests increased risk of ankle injuries from years of heavy physical training, combat activity, and traumatic parachute landings. The August 2016 VA examiner also stated that the November 2001 right ankle sprain resulted in a positive anterior drawer test, which indicated significant ligament tearing and which led to a grade IV ankle sprain diagnosis. The August 2016 VA examiner stated that the injury was severe enough to become chronic because after an initial ankle sprain the ligaments that maintain ankle stability can become weakened. The Veteran provided lay statements from his father and wife who documented that the Veteran experienced chronic ankle symptoms after service separation. See August 2009 Statement (wife); July 2009 Statement (father). This evidence is consistent with the Veteran's self-report that his ankles have consistently bothered him since service separation. The Board resolves reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran to find that the post-service ankle disability is etiologically related to the multiple in-service right ankle injuries. As the evidence shows a current disability, multiple in-service injuries, and an etiological relationship between the two, the elements for direct service connection (38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a)) have been met; therefore, the appeal for service connection for a right ankle disability will be granted. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Smith, 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.