dutymosnoise2.xls

dutymosnoise.xls

• When evaluating hearing loss and tinnitus claims, the VA must review the veteran’s military occupational specialty (MOS) or Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) in the Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing to determine the probability of exposure to hazardous noise during the veteran’s service. See VA Adjudication Manual, M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart iv, Chapter 4, Section B, Subsection 4(e) (September 29, 2017). If the duty position is shown to have a high, moderate, or low probability of hazardous noise exposure, concede exposure to hazardous noise for the purposes of establishing an event in service. Id.
• The Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing is not an exclusive means of establishing a veteran’s in-service noise exposure. Id. A veteran is competent to identify and establish a diagnosis tinnitus through lay evidence. See VA Adjudication Manual, M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart iv, Chapter 4, Section B, Subsection 4(h) (September 29, 2017).

Claims for SC of hearing loss and/or tinnitus due to service in the National Guard or Reserves should be considered under the same criteria as any claim for SC of hearing loss and/or tinnitus.  The condition must be causally related to service.

• First, consider SC on the basis of a potential relationship to periods of active duty or active duty for training (ADT).
• When SC for hearing loss and/or tinnitus may not be directly related to a period of active duty or extended ADT, entitlement to SC may still be established if there has been a decrease in auditory acuity due to military duties as a member of the National Guard or Reserves.
• SC for hearing loss and/or tinnitus can be established for inactive duty for training (IADT) if the condition can be linked to an injury during IADT as shown by the nature of service, MOS, lay evidence, or other competent evidence.

Follow the procedures in the table below when developing for evidence of a decrease in auditory acuity due to National Guard or Reserve duty service and deciding whether an examination and/or medical opinion is warranted.

Note:  For purposes of hearing loss or tinnitus during IADT, the MOS or other evidence establishing noise exposure serves as the injury during IADT required for SC eligibility, per M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, 2.B.1.m. | | 3 | Review the entire evidentiary record for noise exposure to ascertain both in-service and post-service exposure to hazardous noise. |

Note:  Although the National Guard or Reserve service records should show auditory threshold shifts during National Guard or Reserve service, the auditory thresholds shown in service records do not need to meet the criteria in 38 CFR 3.385 to warrant an examination and/or medical opinion if all other requirements for ordering examinations and medical opinions in M21-1, Part I, 1.C.3 are satisfied.

References:  For more information on

• when evidence of decreased hearing on in-service audiometry testing, not constituting a disability as defined in 38 CFR 3.385, can support direct SC for hearing loss, see Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155 (1993)
• requesting records, see M21-1, Part I, 1.C
• updating Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) systems for active service based on multiple periods of ADT or IADT, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 3.C.7.e
• duty status and eligibility of members of the Reserves, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 6.A.3
• duty status and eligibility of personnel in the National Guard service, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 6.A.4