Citation Nr: 22049587 Decision Date: 08/31/22 Archive Date: 08/31/22 DOCKET NO. 22-00 319 DATE: August 31, 2022 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from August 1951 to February 1962. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision. As an initial matter, claims of service connection for hypertension, a traumatic brain injury, bilateral rotator cuff tears, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, an eye disorder, a spinal disorder, and a left shoulder scar were remanded by the Board in December 2021 for additional development. Subsequently in January 2022, the Veteran appealed a January 2022 rating decision seeking increased ratings for service-connected frostbite of the left and right feet. However, in August 2022, the Board granted a July 2022 request for an additional 90 days to submit evidence on the claims. Accordingly, the claims will be addressed in a separate decision at a later date. Turning to the Veteran's case, in a March 2015 letter, the RO informed the Veteran that it required additional information describing the combat-related incidents that resulted in his PTSD. In a subsequent statement received by VA in June 2015, the Veteran described multiple stressors including: being in an accident in August or September 1951 in which a troop carrier overturned and he was not found for an extended period of time, having explosives dropped on his position in Korea, witnessing the deaths of multiple servicemembers during the Korean War, working loading dead bodies on planes for their return to the United States and seeing that the operation was "not respectful" with bodies "stacked up," and feeling mistreated on account of his race. He indicated that the incidents occurred at Pusan Air Base and that he served with the K-9 Air Force Security Unit at the time. Personnel records affirm that the Veteran served in security positions throughout his time in service, but do not document service in Korea. Nevertheless, the record fails to indicate that VA made a formal finding with regard to the sufficiency of the new information provided by the Veteran to verify his stated in-service stressors. Accordingly, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, a remand is necessary for the issuance of a formal finding regarding the sufficiency of the information provided by the Veteran to verify his stated in-service stressors. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Identify and obtain any pertinent, outstanding VA and private treatment records not already of record and associate them with the claims file. 2. Arrange for exhaustive development to corroborate the Veteran's reported in-service stressors. 3. Then, if an in-service stressor is verified, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by a VA psychiatrist or psychologist to determine the nature and likely cause of any acquired psychiatric disorder. The examiner should provide opinions responding to the following: a. What is (are) the diagnosis(es) for the Veteran's current psychiatric disorder(s), if any? b. For each acquired psychiatric disorder diagnosed, please provide an opinion whether it is as at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater) that such acquired psychiatric disorder was caused by his active service? If the examiner concludes that the Veteran has PTSD, the examiner must identify the stressor(s) on which that diagnosis is based. The examiner should consider the statements from the Veteran regarding his mental health symptoms and the diagnoses of any acquired psychiatric disorders in the claims file. Timothy Berryman Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Spigelman, 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.