The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and alcohol abuse, as secondary to PTSD. The claim for PTSD was denied due to a lack of credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressors actually occurred. The claim for alcohol abuse was also denied because there is no underlying service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was insufficient credible supporting evidence for the veteran's claimed in-service stressors, and thus could not establish the occurrence of the stressor necessary to grant service connection for PTSD. Additionally, as there was no underlying service-connected condition, secondary service connection was also denied.
- Claimed conditions
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Alcohol Abuse
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2006
- Citation
- 0631342
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 26% (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 0631342.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is rated at a 70 percent level, reflecting significant occupational and social impairment.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal of the denial for service connection for PTSD has been dismissed because the issue was already under review through Higher-Level Review.
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