Citation Nr: 23054079 Decision Date: 09/28/23 Archive Date: 09/28/23 DOCKET NO. 16-19 787A DATE: September 28, 2023 REMANDED Entitlement to an annual clothing allowance for the calendar year 2015 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1980 to June 1982. This appeal is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA), who is the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). The original paper file for the clothing allowance claim on appeal and all relevant documents to the appeal cannot be located, and attempts to obtain such records from VHA administratively have been unsuccessful. While the year for which the current clothing allowance on appeal is at issue is not totally clear from the record, it appears that the year for the clothing allowance at issue is 2015. VA administrative records indicate that a notice of disagreement (NOD) to a VHA decision was submitted by the Veteran and received by VA on April 29, 2016, and that, a following a statement of the case issued by VHA, a substantive appeal was filed by the Veteran and received by VA on May 24, 2016; however, the NOD and substantive appeal are not of record. Also, a February 2015 decision letter from the AOJ granting each of two clothing allowance claims for which the Veteran had applied for 2014 is of record, as is a December 2018 Board decision adjudicating a separate claim for an annual clothing allowance for the calendar year 2016. The issue on appeal has thus been characterized as entitlement to an annual clothing allowance for the calendar year 2015, as above. It is also not clear from the record which appliance(s) and/or medication(s) the Veteran seeks a clothing allowance, or clothing allowances, for. However, the February 2015 AOJ decision granting two clothing allowances for 2014, and denying none, granted allowances for a back brace and a right knee brace. The December 2018 Board decision denying a clothing allowance for the year 2016 for use of a back brace noted within the decision that the AOJ had "already awarded a separate VA clothing allowance for the year 2016 due to the use of a right knee brace." Moreover, a July 2018 VA Clothing Allowance Award record reflects that the Veteran was already approved for at least one clothing allowance award for the year 2015. Based on these records showing that clothing allowances had been granted for a right knee brace in both 2014 and 2016, and that a clothing allowance had been granted for a back brace in 2014 but denied in 2016, and that at least one clothing allowance was already granted for the year 2015, it appears quite possible that the item at issue in the current clothing allowance claim for 2015 is again the back brace. Therefore, the matter on appeal must be remanded in order for the AOJ to reconstruct the record and upload all documentation related to the appeal to the electronic claims file. If such records are unable to be located, the AOJ should make a formal finding of unavailability. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Reconstruct the record and upload all documentation related to the claim for a clothing allowance on appeal to the electronic claims file. Please note that, based on current VA administrative records and the VA adjudications for 2014 and 2016 clothing allowances already of record, the clothing allowance claim on appeal may be for a back brace for the 2015 calendar year. If such records are unable to be associated with the record, make a formal finding of unavailability. 2. Readjudicate the claim. JONATHAN B. KRAMER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Andrew Mack, 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.