The Board has determined that the appellant is not eligible for nonservice-connected pension benefits due to his lack of active duty service and because he was not on active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty for training at the time of his head injury.
The deciding factor: The appellant did not meet the criteria for basic eligibility for veterans' benefits as defined by applicable law and VA regulations when he sustained a head injury in October 1996.
- Claimed conditions
- Head injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2002
- Citation
- 0218029
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0218029.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of non-VA care provided by AMRM on March 30, 2021, finding that it met the criteria under 38 U.S.C. § 1725.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for nonservice-connected pension and special monthly pension due to duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining SSA records and scheduling a VA examination.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection for a facial injury, head injury, and left thumb injury as there was no evidence of current disability or functional impairment. The claims for GERD, squamous mucosa, migraine headaches, and hypertension were remanded for further development.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and evidence collection, as some relevant private treatment records have not been obtained.
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