Background
Karl Ervin Miller, Jr., an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, first sought service-connected disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder in 1987. The Department of Veterans Affairs denied that claim after he failed to attend an examination. It also denied later claims filed in 1990 and 2000 for lack of a confirmed stressor or PTSD diagnosis.
Miller filed a claim to reopen in 2007. During his appeal from the VA’s initial denial of that claim, he submitted newly obtained service department records supporting his claimed stressors. The VA awarded PTSD benefits effective from the 2007 claim, and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals later moved the effective date to April 1990 because Miller had provided enough information with his 1990 claim for the VA to identify and obtain the records. The Board declined to use the 1987 date, finding that his original claim had not supplied sufficient identifying information under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(2). The Veterans Court affirmed.
The Court’s Holding
The Federal Circuit affirmed. Reading § 3.156(c)(1) and (c)(2) together, the court held that the event triggering application of the regulation is the VA’s receipt or association of new and relevant official service department records—not the filing of the veteran’s original claim or, by itself, a claim to reopen.
Because the VA received or associated Miller’s relevant service records in 2008, after the amended regulation took effect in October 2006, applying the amended version was prospective and proper. Although § 3.156(c)(2) required the Board to examine whether Miller had supplied sufficient information in 1987, using antecedent facts did not make the regulation retroactive. The Board therefore could apply the subsection’s limitation and deny reconsideration dating back to the 1987 claim.
Key Takeaways
- The VA’s receipt or association of new and relevant service department records triggers application of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1) and (c)(2).
- A claim to reopen is not independently required to trigger reconsideration because the regulation can operate when the VA obtains qualifying records without a new filing by the veteran.
- Applying the 2006 regulation to records received in 2008 was prospective even though the Board examined information supplied with a 1987 claim.
Why It Matters
The decision identifies the operative date for determining which version of § 3.156(c) governs: the date the VA receives or associates the qualifying service records. For veterans seeking benefits back to an older claim, that rule may permit the VA to apply § 3.156(c)(2)’s information-sufficiency limitation even when the original claim predates the 2006 amendment.