BVA9500352 
DOCKET NO.  93-11 031     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Atlanta,
Georgia

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for schizophrenia.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Georgia Department of Veterans
Service

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

K. E. Harrison, Associate Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active military service from September 11, 1979
to September 10, 1982.  This matter is before the Board of
Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 20, 1992 rating
decision by the Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Office (RO) of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL

The veteran contends that his nervous condition (schizophrenia)
had its inception in service.  He claims that he had problems in
service and continued with complaints and treatment in 1983 and
1984.

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 a preponderance of the evidence supports the claim of
service connection for paranoid schizophrenia.

FINDING OF FACT

An active psychosis (schizophrenia) was manifested within one
year following the veteran's release from active duty.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The veteran's schizophrenia is presumed to have been incurred in
peacetime service.  38 U.S.C.A. § § 1101, 1112 1113, 1131, 1137,
5107, 7104 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (1993).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

Background.  The veteran's service medical records are negative
for psychoactive abnormality while on active duty.  In April
1991, the veteran filed a claim for service connection for a
nerve condition.  Submitted medical records show that the veteran
was admitted to a State hospital on court order on July 1, 1983
for mental confusion with paranoid delusions and inappropriate
behavior.  The diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia.  The veteran
was hospitalized for paranoid schizophrenia on several subsequent
occasions from September 1984 through January 1988.

A VA examination was conducted for compensation reasons in May
1991.  The diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia.

Analysis.  The Board finds that the claim for service connection
for schizophrenia is well grounded within the meaning of 38
U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991) in that it is a "plausible claim,
one which is meritorious on its own or capable of
substantiation."  Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990).

The law provides that service connection may be granted for
disability which was incurred in or aggravated by active military
service.  38 U.S.C.A. § 1110, 1131 (West 1991).  Where a veteran
who served for ninety days or more during a period of war or
during peacetime on or after January 1, 1947, manifest
schizophrenia to a degree to 10 percent or more within one year
from date of separation from such service, such disease may be
presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is
no evidence of such disease during the period of service.
38 U.S.C.A. §§  1112, 1113 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § § 3.307,
3.309 (1993).

A careful review of the veteran's service medical records
discloses no complaints or findings referable to mental illness.
However, he was admitted to a hospital in July 1983, for a mental
disorder which was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia.  This
diagnosis satisfies the statutory presumption of service
incurrence, in that schizophrenia being active was manifested to
a degree of 10 percent within one year from date of separation
from service.  The diagnosis of schizophrenia is uncontradicted
in the record and has been confirmed by the VA.  Therefore, an
unequivocal basis for granting service connection for
schizophrenia has been presented.  38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(b) (1991).

ORDER

Service connection for schizophrenia is granted.

          STEPHEN L. WILKINS
          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.

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.