The Board has granted service connection for PTSD with chest pain and insomnia, finding that the Veteran's MOS as a combat engineer in Southwest Asia supports his claim of exposure to hostile military activity. The Veteran is now entitled to an initial rating for this condition.
The deciding factor: VA regulations allow for presumptive service connection for PTSD based on fear of hostile military or terrorist activity experienced by Gulf War veterans, including the Veteran's MOS as a combat engineer in Southwest Asia.
- Claimed conditions
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with chest pain and insomnia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2011
- Citation
- 1111999
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 1111999.
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 decided to remand the case due to a lack of rationale in the VA examiner's opinion and an inconsistency between the examination report and nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's irritable bowel syndrome is granted a rating of 30 percent, the maximum schedular rating under Diagnostic Code 7319. Service connection for migraine headaches as secondary to service connected tinnitus and PTSD is also granted.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date of May 19, 2024, for a separate 10 percent rating for GERD. The decision states that prior to this date, ratings for GERD and Irritable Bowel Syndrome could not be combined due to VA regulations at the time.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to August 1, 2025, for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities. The evidence did not show that he was precluded from employment solely due to his service-connected conditions.
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