BVA9507959 DOCKET NO. 93-14 855 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Cleveland, Ohio THE ISSUE Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Nancy R. Kegerreis, Associate Counsel REMAND The veteran had active service from September l959 to February l969. Because of difficulty in corroborating the veteran's stressors as reported in the claims file, the Board requires further development of this case. The veteran relates three stressors which he contends were events outside the range of the usual human experience which contributed to the onset of PTSD. The first event occurred in October 1962, on board the USS Forrestal, when he loaded live nuclear weapons onto aircraft during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The second incident allegedly occurred in July 1966 on the USS Hancock when he witnessed a man killed by walking into a moving propeller. The veteran claims that the third incident occurred in July 1967 on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, when he saw another person walk into a moving propeller. The veteran reports that he was assigned to the USS Hancock from May 1965 to February 1967 and to the USS Bonhomme Richard from February 1967 to February 1969. He did not provide specific dates in which he was engaged in sea duty. To assist in verifying the veteran's claimed stressors, the Board requires the inclusive Naval Record of Assignments for the veteran, to include the dates of his sea duty and the ships to which he was assigned. Additionally, although the Environmental Support Group (ESG) has researched incidents which occurred on the USS Hancock in 1967, the veteran claims that his second stressor occurred on the Hancock in July 1966, when he reports assignment to that ship. The Board thus requires evidence relative to any incident from January 1966 through July 1966 on board the Hancock. The July 1967 incident reportedly occurred on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, which is noted to have returned to the United States in late July. Therefore, any available records of accidents or injuries to military personnel on board the Bonhomme Richard from January 1967 through July 1967 would be of assistance. Relative to the veteran's claim of loading live nuclear missiles on board the USS Forrestal in October 1962, any information which might help corroborate this statement would assist the Board in making its determination. The veteran should be contacted as to any additional information he might be able to provide as to the his participation in this incident. At his hearing, the veteran stated that he first received a diagnosis of PTSD in March 1989 from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. The Board finds no evidence in the claims file of this diagnosis until April 1992, when a private psychiatrist provided dual Axis I diagnoses of PTSD and manic depressive disorder. Since the veteran has not had a recent VA mental status examination, the Board finds that he should be afforded one to clarify the diagnoses and to determine whether the criteria for PTSD have been satisfied. With reference to the above, this case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. The RO should contact the veteran to determine whether he can provide additional details to assist in corroborating his stressors, including the names of individuals killed or injured by coming into contact with propellers, specific dates, and the names of any witnesses to these incidents. 2. The RO should obtain from the National Personnel Records Center the Record of Assignments for the veteran in the United States Navy during his periods of service or at least between the dates of January 1962 to August 1967. 3. The RO should then request from the United States Army and Joint Services Environmental Support Group (ESG), 7798 Cissna Road, Springfield, Virginia 22150, information pertaining to incidents involving accidents or injuries to personnel on the USS Hancock from January 1966 to August 1966, on the USS Bonhomme Richard from January 1967 to August 1967 and on the USS Forrestal in October 1962, relative to the Cuban Missile Crisis. 4. After the above development has been completed, the veteran should be afforded a comprehensive VA psychiatric examination to determine the nature and severity of his psychiatric disorder(s). The examination must be conducted in conformity with Chapters 14 and 20 of the Physician's Guide for Disability Evaluation Examinations (1985), and the examiner should provide a multiaxial evaluation pursuant to the DSM- III-R. The examiner is specifically requested to provide the complete rationale for any diagnosis rendered (to include, in the event of a diagnosis of PTSD, identification of the stressor(s) deemed to be underlying the diagnosis), along with symptomatology attributable to each disorder diagnosed. The examiner is requested to provide an opinion as to the extent to which the veteran's alcoholism and substance abuse has contributed to his psychiatric impairment, and whether such addictions are secondary to the psychiatric disorders. The veteran's claims file must be made available to the examiner for a complete study of the case prior to, and during, the evaluation. When the requested development has been completed, the case should again be reviewed by the RO. If the determination remains adverse to the veteran, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with the provisions for processing appeals, including the issuance of a supplemental statement of the case. WARREN W. RICE, JR. 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) (1994).