The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral foot condition, diagnosed as hallux valgus and pes planus, was incurred in service due to wearing ill-fitting military boots during training. The claim is granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s statements regarding his symptoms during service were corroborated by medical records showing a pre-existing condition of pes planus at the time of enlistment, which developed into hallux valgus and was aggravated by the conditions in service (wearing ill-fitting boots).
- Claimed conditions
- hallux valgus, pes planus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19162251
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 19162251.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral plantar fasciitis, finding that the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus condition was aggravated by service. The effective date is August 15, 2025.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hallux valgus, finding no competent and credible evidence linking her current condition to active service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral plantar fasciitis with pes planus, finding that her current condition had its onset during active military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for service connection for pes planus was dismissed because he filed a supplemental claim after the AOJ had already addressed his initial denial, violating the AMA rule against concurrent jurisdiction.
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