The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. However, there is no credible evidence that the veteran engaged in combat with the enemy during his military service, and thus, the claimed stressors cannot be verified. The VA examiner found that the veteran does not meet the criteria for PTSD based on his current symptoms.
The deciding factor: The veteran's service records do not show any documentation of MOS changes while stationed in Vietnam or evidence of combat engagement. As a result, independent corroboration of the claimed stressors is required but cannot be provided due to lack of unit histories.
- Claimed conditions
- psychiatric disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2003
- Citation
- 0300991
Veterans Law Judge
Acting
Decisions by this judge: 191 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0300991.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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