BVA9500335 
DOCKET NO.  93-10 307     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg,
Florida

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disability,
including post-traumatic stress disorder.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Robert P. Regan, Counsel

REMAND

The appellant served on active duty from December 1967 to
December 1970.

A review of the record reflects that a VA staff psychiatrist in
an April 1992 statement rendered psychiatric diagnoses which
included partial post-traumatic stress disorder.  The appellant's
service administrative records reflect that he was awarded the
Air Medal for Valor.  The Board is of the opinion that a thorough
and contemporaneous VA psychiatric evaluation would be of
assistance to the Board in rendering a determination in this
case.

In accordance with the statutory duty to assist the appellant in
the development of evidence pertinent to his case, the case is
REMANDED for the following actions:

1.  The regional office should request the
National Personnel Records Center in
St. Louis, Missouri, to furnish a copy of
any citation which was issued in
conjunction with the appellant's award of
the Air Medal with Valor device.

2.  The regional office should obtain
copies of the medical records from the VA
medical facility located in Miami, Florida,
covering the period of 1991 up to the
present and from the Fort Lauderdale Vet
Center covering the period from 1991 up to
the present.

3.  A VA examination should be conducted by
a board of two VA psychiatrists in order to
determine the nature and severity of the
appellant's psychiatric illness, to include
post-traumatic stress disorder.  All
testing deemed necessary should be
performed.  It is requested that the
examiners correlate their findings and
render a determination as to whether the
appellant does, in fact, have post-
traumatic stress disorder.  If post-
traumatic stress disorder is diagnosed, it
is requested that the examiners specify the
stressor or stressors relied upon in
rendering that diagnosis.  The claims
folder is to be made available to the
examiners prior to the examination.

4.  If the VA psychiatric examination
results in a diagnosis of post-traumatic
stress disorder, the regional office should
take any necessary action to verify the
stressor and/or stressors on which the
diagnosis was predicated, to include
contacting the United States Army and Joint
Service Environmental Support Group,
located at 7798 Cissna Road, Springfield,
Virginia  22150.

Thereafter, the case should be reviewed by the regional office.
If the benefit sought is not granted, the appellant and his
representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of
the case and an opportunity to respond.  The case should then be
returned to the Board for further appellate consideration.

          H. N. SCHWARTZ
          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 action has been taken in
accordance with the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994,
Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 303, 108 Stat. 4645, ___ (1994), and 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).