Citation Nr: 25003744 Decision Date: 03/19/25 Archive Date: 03/19/25 DOCKET NO. 15-10 387 DATE: March 19, 2025 REMANDED Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from October 1971 to October 1973. This appeal is being processed under the legacy review system. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a February 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office, an agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). In a March 2015 VA Form 9, Appeal to Board, the Veteran did not request a hearing before the Board. The record does not have any subsequent requests for a hearing. In April 2023, the Board denied entitlement to a TDIU. In April 2024, the Board remanded the appeal for further development pursuant with a February 2024 U.S. Court of Veterans Claim (CAVC) order. The April 2024 Board remand directed the AOJ to ask the Veteran to verify his employment with the Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West was with a federal agency; verify with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) whether his NAS Key West employment was with a federal agency; if so, obtain any relevant employment records from NARA; then readjudicate the appeal. The AOJ sent May 2024 and August 2024 letters to the Veteran requesting he verify his NAS Key West employment was with a federal agency. In September 2024, the AOJ received ten IRS Form W-2s from the Veteran reflecting his NAS Key West employment. The W-2s indicated he received payments through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS. The Board finds that this evidence verifies that the Veteran's employment at NAS Key West was with a federal agency. Thereafter, the AOJ sent a September 2024 VA Form 21-4192 Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits (VA Form 21-4192) to NARA. NARA submitted an incomplete September 2024 VA Form 21-4192 to the AOJ, noting the Veteran was employed with NAS Key West from February 1998 to March 2015. NARA suggested that any additional information should be requested from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In a November 2024 Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC), the AOJ denied entitlement to a TDIU, considering all new evidence of record at the time, and further stated that additional development for any employer records beyond the VA Form 21-4192 already of record as to the NAS Key West employment was not requested because it was not relevant. In a November 2024 Memorandum for Record, the AOJ further explained that the evidence needed for a favorable determination is medical evidence to refute the preponderance of medical evidence already of record against sedentary functional impairment rendered from the Veteran's service-connected disability. The AOJ further stated regulatory guidance instructed against developing evidence to deny and construed additional administrative and work history evidence as such. The Board disagrees with this conclusion and finds that additional remand is needed to comply with the Board's September 2022 remand instructions. The response from NARA said to contact OPM for any additional federal employment information. The RO did not do this. Thus, the Board cannot find that there was substantial compliance with the directive to the RO to obtain all relevant federal employment records. These matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact U.S. Office of Personnel Management, or any other federal agency identified, and request all records related to the Veteran's employment with the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida from February 1998 to March 2015. Make as many attempts as necessary to obtain these records, unless such records do not exist, or further attempts would be futile. If such records cannot be obtained, inform the Veteran as outlined in 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e). 2. Readjudicate the appeal. R. Feinberg Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Peņa, Alan M. 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.