The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, due to a lack of credible supporting evidence for the claimed in-service stressor and inconsistent statements regarding his combat experiences.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's lay statements were not credible and did not provide sufficient evidence to corroborate the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD))
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19113016
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19113016.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for his acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is being remanded due to the need for a VA examination to assess its current severity.
- Granted
The Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of PTSD and that his symptoms are related to his military service. As such, the claim for service connection is granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the veteran's PTSD, finding that his current diagnosis is related to in-service sexual and physical assaults.
- Denied
The Board found no credible supporting evidence of the stressor upon which PTSD was diagnosed, and no competent evidence relating any other psychiatric diagnoses to service. Therefore, the claim for service connection for PTSD is denied.
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