The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA medical opinions provided prior to the March 2025 rating decision on appeal are based on incorrect premises and need to be reconsidered.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions were based on an incorrect premise that there were no complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of a mental health condition in service, which is contradicted by the Veteran's STRs from November 1981.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2026
- Citation
- A26026633
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 A26026633.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there is no evidence linking his current mental health condition to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as the stressors could not be verified, and there is no evidence of fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to verify an in-service stressor and not affording a VA examination.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, finding that the Veteran's current symptoms are causally related to in-service stressors and granting benefit of doubt.
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