BVA9502480 DOCKET NO. 93-09 416 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans INTRODUCTION The appellant served on active duty from October 1976 to January 1978. He had no wartime service. This appeal arises from a January 1992 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Regional Office (RO), denying service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A decision by the RO in February 1985 denied the veteran service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. In April 1991, the veteran submitted an application for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a theory of entitlement not previously denied by the RO. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL In essence, it is maintained by and on behalf of the appellant that as a result of incidents that occurred while he was in the navy, the appellant developed PTSD. He avers that he inadvertently became involved in a card game, was told to pay $5.00, refused, and thereafter was threatened with knives by other participants in the card game. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. Based on its review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the veteran has not met the burden of submitting evidence has not submitted clear and convincing evidence to justify a belief in an impartial individual that his claim is well-grounded. FINDINGS OF FACT The evidence fails to demonstrate that the veteran developed post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of events that occurred in peacetime service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran has not submitted a well-grounded claim. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The veteran has requested service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The initial burden is on the veteran to submit evidence to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that the claim is well grounded under 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a). A well grounded claim is a plausible claim which is meritorious on its own or capable of substantiation. Such a claim need not be conclusive but only possible to satisfy the initial burden of 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a). Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990). A review of the veteran's service records and service medical records reveals that he had no combat duty. During service, he was seen at the dispensary on numerous occasions for drunkenness, suicide attempts (hanging himself with his trousers, hanging from a radio tower in a drunken state), and inappropriate behavior. After the hanging attempt in June 1977, he related to a psychiatrist that he disliked military service and wanted to get out. He joined the Navy because he was jobless, getting drunk daily, and at odds with his parents. Throughout service, adjustment reaction of adolescence was noted. PTSD was never diagnosed. Following service, the veteran has been hospitalized at private medical facilities (McKeesport Hospital, Latrobe Area Hospital), as well as VA medical centers for treatment of alcohol and substance abuse, a dysthymic disorder, and major depression. There is no record of a diagnosis of PTSD. "Service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder requires medical evidence establishing a clear diagnosis of the condition, credible supporting evidence that the claimed inservice stressor actually occurred, and a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptomatology and the claimed inservice stressor. If the claimed stressor is related to combat, service department evidence that the veteran engaged in combat or that the veteran was awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, or similar combat citation will be accepted, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as conclusive evidence of the claimed inservice stressor." 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f) (1993) In the present case, there is no credible supporting evidence that the claimed inservice stressor (being threatened with a knife) actually occurred. Despite the appellant's obvious distress at being in the Navy, he never, in all of his psychiatric or other medical interviews discussed the threats made against his life. Further, there has never been a diagnosis of PTSD. For these reasons, the claim is not well- grounded. As the claim is not well-grounded, the Board is not required to develop it further or to carry it to full adjudication. Since the Board's decision does not reach the merits of the claim, it is not deemed a final decision of the Board. The Board's action here allows the veteran to begin, if he can, on a "clean slate". Grottveit 5 Vet.App. at 93. ORDER The veteran not having submitted evidence of a well grounded claim, the appeal for entitlement to service connection for post- traumatic stress disorder is dismissed. RENÉE M. PELLETIER Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) 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. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.