BVA9503746 
DOCKET NO.  92-21 287     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville,
Tennessee

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to a 100 percent disability evaluation for
schizophrenia for the period of February 1988 to November 1989.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

J. A. McDonald, Associate Counsel

INTRODUCTION

This case was previously before the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(hereinafter Board) in December 1993, at which time it was
remanded to the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in
Nashville, Tennessee (hereinafter RO) to develop the issue of a
total rating for compensation purposes based upon individual
unemployability.

REMAND

The veteran served on active duty from March 1967 to March 1969.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (hereinafter VA) has a duty to
assist the veteran in the development of facts pertinent to his
claim.  38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(a)
(1993).  In reviewing the record, the Board notes that
clarification of the veteran's claim(s) is necessary in order to
proceed with appellate review.

In April 1991, the veteran stated that he was not seeking an
increase in his current 50 percent evaluation for his psychiatric
disorder, but was claiming a total disability evaluation for the
period of February 1988 to November 1989.  In a brief on appeal
dated in March 1993, the veteran's representative requested that
the issue on appeal be amended to include the issue of
entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based
upon individual unemployability as they contended that the
veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorder currently
precluded all types of gainful, substantial employment.  The
Board remanded the case to the RO to develop this issue in 1993.

However, in a statement from the veteran received by the RO in
April 1994, the veteran reiterated that he was satisfied with his
current 50 percent disability rating, but requested a 100 percent
disability rating for the period from 1988 to 1989.  A rating
decision in May 1994 addressed and denied the issue of
entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based on
individual unemployability, to include the period from February
1988 to November 1989.  In the brief on appeal filed by the
veteran's representative in October 1994, however, the veteran's
representative stated that the veteran was confused as to the
appropriate issue that needed to be addressed.  The
representative stated that the issue on appeal was the issue of
entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based
upon individual unemployability at present, not the issue of
entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based
upon individual unemployability for the period of February 1988
to November 1989.  The Board cannot proceed until the issue(s) on
appeal is clarified.  The Board has taken into consideration that
the veteran's service-connected disorder can cause confusion and
impaired reasoning; consequently this appeal will be remanded
once again.

The veteran should be contacted through his
representative, and they should clarify what
issue the veteran wishes to pursue on appeal.

Following completion of this action, the RO should
review the evidence and determine whether the veteran's
claim(s) may now be granted.  If not, the veteran and
his representative should be provided with an
appropriate supplemental statement of the case and be
afforded an opportunity to respond.  Thereafter, the
case should be returned to the Board for appellate
consideration.

          E. W. SEERY
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures
Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___
(1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be
assigned to an individual member of the Board for a

determination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an
individual member of the Board.

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals.  This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board
on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1993).