Important Veterans Issues

San Joaquin Valley National Cemetary

http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/sanjoaquinvalley.asp

Special Benefits Allowances

A wide range of Special Services and Benefits are available for disabled veterans. These may include prosthetic devices, medical accessories and similar appliances, or monetary grants for alteration and/or adaptation of a home or automobile" to accommodate the particular disability. The qualifying disability does not necessarily need to be service-connected, although eligibility requirements may be different for service-connected disabilities than for non-service-connected ones.

Appliances and devices available include, but are not limited to, artificial limbs, braces, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, orthopedic shoes, eyeglasses, and hearing aids. These may all be furnished as a necessary part of any medical care, whether inpatient or outpatient, which the veteran is eligible to receive and is receiving. Once issued, such appliances or devices may be repaired or replaced by the VA as necessary

Clothing Allowance - The Veterans Administration provides certain monetary benefits to qualified disabled veterans if a veteran has a service-connected condition which requires the wearing or use of an orthopedic or prosthetic appliance (including a wheelchair) that tends to tear or wear out clothing, or has a service-connected skin condition and uses medication for it that tends to stain or otherwise damage the clothing, the an annual clothing allowance is payable upon application to the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service at the VA Medical Center of jurisdiction.

Automotive and Special Adaptive Equipment - If a veteran is entitled to compensation because of anatomical loss or loss of use of one or both hands, or one or both feet, or because of defective vision in both eyes, with best vision in the better eye no better than 20/200, VA will pay up to $11,000 towards the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance plus any necessary special adaptive equipment which will allow the veteran to safely and effectively operate the automobile or other conveyance. "This is a one time" allowance only. The prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service at the VA Medical Center nearest the veteran may also authorize special adaptive equipment for veterans who are entitled to compensation for complete ankylosis of on or both hips or one or both knees, as well as authorizing adaptive equipment for subsequent vehicles for any veteran who has any of the above disabilities. The special adaptive equipment may be repaired, reinstalled, or replaced as necessary; however, a veteran may not be authorized adaptive equipment for more than two vehicles at a time or during any four-year period except for unusual circumstances beyond the veteran's control.

Special Adaptive Assistance - Beginning 15 June 2006 a veteran may qualify for up to three (3) special adapted housing grants not to exceed $50,000 in aggregate, under Public Law 109-233, if he/she is entitled to compensation and rated permanently totally disabled based on any of the following disabilities or combinations:

• Anatomical loss or loss of use of both lower extremities, such as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, canes, crutches, or a wheelchair.
• Blindness of both eyes, having only light perception, plus anatomical loss or loss of use of one lower extremity.
• Anatomical loss of use of one lower extremity plus residuals of organic disease or injury which so affect the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, canes, crutches, or a wheelchair.
• Anatomical loss or loss of use of one lower extremity plus anatomical loss or loss of use of one upper extremity which so affects the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, canes, crutches, or a wheelchair.
• Anatomical loss or loss of use of both upper extremities such as to preclude use of the arms at or above the elbows.

The grants may be used to buy, build, or alter and adapt a home for the purpose of making it wheelchair-accessible under applicable guidelines. If the veteran has Loan Guaranty entitlement available and meets creditworthiness and other criteria, VA may also authorize and additional direct loan of up to $33,000 to help defray the cost of buying, building, or modifying the home.

For further information click on the following link: 38Code of Federal Regulations

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program

The Department of Veterans Affairs )VA) Vocational Rehabilitation Program is designed to help a service-disabled veteran overcome employment handicaps imposed by such disability, so that the veteran is able to find and keep suitable employment as well as achieve maximum independence in daily living. The primary goal of the program is to train disabled veterans for appropriate employment; although education benefits for school attendance may be authorized if that is determined to be the best way to prepare a particular veteran for entry or re-entry into the labor force, Vocational Rehabilitation benefits are not a supplement to or a substitute or replacement for VA education assistance benefits available under other programs, and must not be viewed as such.

Basic eligibility for and entitlement to Vocational Rehabilitation requires that a veteran have a service-connected disability or disabilities ratable at 20% or more, and have an employment handicap resulting primarily from such disability. A veteran with a 10% service-connected disability rating may also qualify on a showing that such disability produces a "serious" employment handicap.

SC Disability Compensation

The term "Disability Compensation" denotes the Veterans Administration monetary benefits paid on account of a veteran's disability or death. When we say compensation, we are talking about compensation for "Service-Connected" disabilities.

Service Connection is the relationship of a particular disabling condition to the veteran's Military Service. This is accomplished by showing that a condition began during the military service, or that a pre-existing condition was made permanently worse than it would have otherwise been, or by the application of certain statutory presumptions.

Formal application for Service-Connected Disability Compensation is made by submitting a completed VA Form 28-1900 Disabled Veterans Application for Vocational Rehabilitation.

The Kings County Veterans Service Office has trained and accredited Veterans Services Representatives accredited by the Veterans Administration to process any and all Pension claims on behalf of veterans.

Each veteran is treated in a respectful and professional manner.

For further information click on the following Line: Deparartment of Veterans Affairs

Other Veterans Services and Programs

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides many more benefits and are too numerous to provide. Some of just a few are:

• Benefits for PTSD and Sexual Trauma
• Benefits for Former Prisoners of War
• Benefits for Filipino Veterans
• Naturalization Preference
• Homeless Veterans
• Benefits for Gulf War Veterans
• Appeals Process
• State Benefits
• Correction of Records by Military Corrections Boards
• Discharge Reviews and Upgrades
• Decorations, Ribbons & Medals
• Penal & Forfeiture Provisions
• Military Pay Rates
• Small Business Administration applications
• Retired Veterans SBP submissions and questions

The Kings County Veterans Service Office can obtain any and all of your benefits that you are entitled to. The Staff is fully accredited by the Veterans Administration and can answer any and all of your veterans questions.

Veterans Clinic Fresno

History of the Fresno Veterans Center

Readjustment Counseling Service, or as it was commonly known as the “Outreach Program” was established  by Congress under Public Law 96-22 on June 13, 1979.  In doing so the U.S. Congress recognized the overwhelming need to help Vietnam Combat Veterans readjust after their war experience.  In the ensuing years Congress gradually expanded the eligibility criteria for veterans to receive services at the Center.  Under Public Laws 97-22, 98-160, 102-25, 104-262 and 104-275 the Center is now authorized to serve war zone veterans of all eras including; Vietnam and Vietnam era veterans, WW-II, Korea, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Persian Gulf, Somalia and Bosnia as well as veterans from the Gulf Wars.

The Fresno Veterans Center opened its doors in August 1981 as a Community based consumer friendly, store front operation on 1340 Van Ness Avenue.  The Center’s mission was to provide a broad range of counseling, outreach, education and referral services.  The Center then moved to is current location in 1994 to be closer to the VAMC Medical Center, to provide ample parking and security for our veterans.

In the past 19 years, the Fresno Veteran’s Center’s small but dedicated personnel comprising of a Team Leader, Two counselors, and Office Manager, and faithful volunteers, have addressed the impact and after math of war for our veterans in the counties of Fresno, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, Tulare, and Kings.
Through the years the Center has provided direct services to over 6,670 veterans and their families.  Subsequent satisfaction surveys indicate a 99% satisfaction rating by veterans who have accessed services at the Center through is contract program.

Eligibility Requirements

Legislation passed by Congress and signedInto law by the President, changes eligibility for the Veterans Center services (Public Law 104-262), and extends the definition of the Vietnam era for war zone veterans (P.O. 104-275).  Veterans Centers serve the following veterans:

• War Zone Veterans include any of the following------Vietnam War  –-  28 Feb 1961 to 7 May 1975 -- Korean War --  27 June 1950 to 27 Jul 1954 -- WW-II --European-African-Middle Easter Campaign Medal 7 Dec 1941 to 8 Nov 1945 --Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal 7 Dec 1941 to 2 Mar 1946 --or American Campaign Medal 7 Dec 1941 to 2 Mar 1946).
• Lebanon  --  25 Aug 1982 to 26 Feb 1984
• Grenada  --  23 Oct 1983 to 21 Nov 1983
• Panama  --  20 Dec 1989 to 31 Jan 1990
• Persian Gulf War  --  2 Aug 1990 to Present
• Somalia  --  17 Sept 1992 to Present
• Kosovo / Bosnia  --  20 Nov 1995 to Present
• Afghanistan  -  Jan 2002 to Present
• Iraq – January 2002 to Present

Sexual Trauma and Harassment Counseling - Veterans of both sexes all eras  (See VHA Directive 97-002, 9 January 1997 for eligibility details

PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a NORMAL set of reactions to a trauma such as War, which could be experienced by almost anyone.  Sometimes, it becomes a Disorder with the passage of time, when feelings or issues related to the trauma are not dealt with, but is suppressed by the individual.  The can result in problems readjusting to community life following the trauma.  A delayed stress reaction may surface after many years and include some or all of the following problems:

• Feeling constantly nervous
• Depression
• Difficulty trusting others
• Feeling guilty over acts committed or witnessed, merely surviving while others did not
• Hyper alertness and startled reactions
• Feelings of grief or sadness
• Having thoughts or memories that will not go away
• Isolation and alienation from others
• Loss of interest in pleasurable activities
• Low tolerance to stress
• Problems with authority
• Problems feeling good about one self
• Nightmares
• Substance abuse
• Trouble sleeping
• Anxiety
• Paranoia

Counseling Services Available to Veterans

• Individual, Group, Marital and Family  counseling
• Medical referrals
• Sexual trauma
• Assistance in applying for VA benefits

Veterans and Serviceman's Group Life Insurance Programs

Veterans Life Insurance Programs

The veterans Life insurance programs are designed to provide insurance benefits to veterans and service members that are not available from the commercial insurance industry due to lost or impaired insurability resulting from military service. Benefits and services will be provided in an accurate, timely and courteous manner and at the lowest achievable administrative cost. Insurance coverage will be provided in reasonable amounts at competitive premium rates. A competitive, secure rate of return will be ensured on investments held on behalf of the insureds.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Insurance Center in Philadelphia manages the Government Life Insurance Programs. The Veterans Administration's Insurance Center is directly responsible for the following six (6) programs, the Insurance Center also has responsiblity for 5 Supervised Insurance programs. Those programs are as follows:

VA Administered Insurance Programs

• United States Government Life Insurance
• National Service Life Insurance
• Veteran's Special Life Insurance
• Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance
• Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance

VA Supervised Programs

• Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance
• Family Life Insurance
• Traumatic Injury Protection
• Veterans Group Life Insurance

United States Government Life Insurance (USGLI - Policies prefixed by the letter K)

The United States Government LIfe Insurance program was the governments first venture into life insurance. During WWI, the U.S. provided marine Insurance to protect the interest of ship owners and merchants who were providing supplies to the allies in Europe. USGLI was the natural outgrowth of this Marine Insurance. The program was established to meet the needs of World War I veterans, but remained open to service members and veterans with service before 8 October 1940. The government became a self-insurer since private insurance companie were unwilling to assume the unpredictable risks associated with a war. By establishing this program, Congress intended to avoid the financial burden imposed on the government by the pension programs that were established after previous wars. The government became the largest life insurer in the U.S. with the coverage provided by this program. Premiums are not longer paid. Because of the strong financial position of this program, ALL USGLI policies were declared paid-up as of 1 January 1983.

National Service Life Insurance (NSLI - Policies prefixed by the letters V or H)

Most of the policy holders who have insurance under this program served thuring World War II. The program opened 8 October 1940, when it becae clear that large-scale military inductions were imminent. Over 22 million policies were issued under the NSLI program. The majority of policies VA administers directly are NSLI policies. This program remained open until 25 April 1951, when two new programs were established for Korean War service members and veterans. In 1984, the Insurance Acturial Staff developed a partial solution to the problem by "capping" premium rates at the afe of 70. This means that a term policyhgolder's premium will never increase over the age of 70.

Veterans' Special Life Insurance (VSLI - Policies prefixed by the letters RS or W)

This insurance program was established in 1951 to meet the insurance needs of veterans who served during the Korean Conflict, and the post Korean period through 1 January 1957. During this period, all service members on active duty were covered to $10,000, at no cost, under a program known as Servicemen's Indemnityu. They remained covered for 120 days after their discharge. The VSLI program allowed these newly discharged service members to apply for $10,000 of contract term insurance. Application had to be made during the 120-day period during which they remained covered by Servicemen's Indemnity. It was during this period that representatives of the commercial insurance industry began a major lobbying effort to get the government out of the insurance business because the programs were viewed as dcompetition. As a result, the VSLI program was closed to new issues at the end of 1956, and coverage for indivieduals in the services was terminated. Approximately 800,000 VSLI policies were issued between 1951 and 1957. Effective 11 Septembere 2000 "capped" VSLI term policies receive a termination divident if a policy lapses, or if the policyholder voluntarily cancels their policy.

Veterans' Reopened Insurance (VRI -Policies prefixed by the letters J, JR, and JS)

In 1964, Congress enacted legislation providing for a limited reopening of NSLI and VSLI policies. Beginning 1 May 1965, veterans who had been eligible to obtain insurance between 8 October, 1940 and 1 January 1957, could one again apply for government life insurance. They had one year to apply for this "re-opened" insurance that was available only to disabled veterans. Approximately 228,000 VRI policies were issued. No term insurance policies ere issued in this program. The VRI program began pay dividends in 1980 in order to more equitably distribute the susrplus earnings of the program.

Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI - Policies prefixed by the letters RH or ARH)

In addition to Veterans' Special Life Insurance, which was provided to healthy veterans, the Insurance Act of 1951 also established the Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) program for veterans with service-connected disabililties. S-DVI is open to veterans separated from the military on or after 25 April 1951, who received a service-connected disability rating of 0% or greater. New policies are still be issued under this program. During fiscal year 2005, 14,642 new S-DVI policies were issued.

Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)

The Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) program began in 1971, and is designed to provide financial protection to cover eligible veteran's home mortgages in the event of his or her death. In the strict sense of the word, this is actually mortgage insurance. VMLI is issued to those severely disabled veterans who have received grants for Specially-Adapted Housing from the Veterans Administration. The grants are issued to veterans whose movement is substantially impaired because of their service disabilities. The maximum amount of VMLI allowed an eligible veteran is $90,000. The insurance is payable if the veteran dies before the mortgage is paid off. The Veterans Administration will pay the amount of money still owed on the mortgage up to $90,000. The insurance is payable only to the mortgage lender.

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

The Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Program was established in 1965, for Vietnam Era service members. SGLI is superevised by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is adminisstered by the Office of Servicemenbers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) under terms of a group insurance contract. This program provides low-cost term insurance protection to service members. SGLI is an insurance which is selected upon entry to the military service and will continue throughout a member's military service and for120 days following separation. Upon release from active service the military member may elect to convert their current SGLI coverage to the Veterans Group Life Insurance or to an individual commercial life insurance policy.

Servicemember's Group Life Insurance Family Coverage (FSGLI)

The Veterans' Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001 extended life insurance coverage for spouses and children of members insured under the SGLI program. Effective 1 November 2001. Family coverage is available for the spouses and dependent children of Active duty service memberss and members of the Ready Reserve of a uniformed service. Note: Family coverage is available only for members insured under the SGLI program. Family coverage is NOT available for those insured under the VGLI program.

Traumatic Injury Protection Program (TSGLI)

The Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI) Program became effective 1 December 2005. TSGLI is automatic coverage for SGLI policyholders that provides for insurance payments to members who suffer a serious traumatic injury in service. The purose of the program is to provide immediate financial assistance to traumatically-injured service members so their families can travel to be with them during an often extensive recovery and rehabilitation program.

Veterans Group LIfe Insurance (VGLI)

In 1974, the Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) program became available. VGLI, like SGLI is supervised by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but is administerred by the Office of Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (OSGLI). VGLI provides for the conversio of SGLI insurance to a renewable term policy of insurance protection after a service member's separation from the service.

For further information click on the following link: www.insurance.va.gov

Agent Orange Decision on Guam

Citation Nr: 0527748
Decision Date: 10/13/05 Archive Date: 10/25/05
DOCKET NO. 02-11 819

On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts

THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus secondary to herbicide exposure.

REPRESENTATION
Veteran represented by: Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services

WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL
The veteran and his brother

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
L. J. N. Driever, Counsel

INTRODUCTION
The veteran had active service from December 1966 to December 1970, including in Guam from December 1966 to October 1968.
This claim comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2002 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Boston, Massachusetts. 
The veteran and his brother testified in support of this claim at a hearing held at the RO before the undersigned in  May 2004. In September 2004, the Board remanded this claim to the RO via the Appeals Management Center in Washington, D.C.

FINDINGS OF FACT
1. VA provided the veteran adequate notice and assistance with regard to his claim. 
2. Diabetes mellitus is related to the veteran's active service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW
Diabetes mellitus was incurred in service. 38 U.S.C.A. 1110, 5102, 5103, 5103A (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. ?? 3.159, 3.303 (2004).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

VA's Duties to Notify and Assist

On November 9, 2000, the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA), codified at 38 U.S.C.A. ?? 5100, 5102, 5103, 5103A, 5106, 5107, 5126 (West 2002), became law. Regulations implementing the VCAA were published at 66 Fed. Reg. 45,620, 45,630-32 (August 29, 2001) and codified at 38 C.F.R. ?? 3.102, 3.156(a), 3.159 and 3.326 (2004). The VCAA and its implementing regulations are applicable to this appeal.
The VCAA and its implementing regulations provide that VA will assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate a claim but is not required to provide assistance to a claimant if there is no reasonable possibility that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. They also require VA to notify the claimant and the claimant's representative, if any, of the information and medical or lay evidence not previously provided to the Secretary that is necessary to substantiate the claim. As part of the notice, VA is to specifically inform the claimant and the claimant's representative, if any, of which portion of the evidence is to be provided by the claimant and which portion of the evidence VA will attempt to obtain on behalf of the claimant.

The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) has mandated that VA ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the VCAA. See Quartuccio v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 183 (2002). In this case, VA has strictly complied with the VCAA by providing the veteran adequate notice and assistance with regard to his claim. Regardless, given that the decision explained below represents a full grant of the benefit being sought on appeal, the Board's decision to proceed in adjudicating this claim does not prejudice the veteran in the disposition thereof. See Bernard v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 384, 392-94 (1993).
Analysis of Claim

In multiple written statements submitted during the course of this appeal and during his personal hearing, the veteran alleged that he developed diabetes mellitus as a result of his exposure to herbicide agents while serving on active duty in Guam. His military occupational duties as an aircraft maintenance specialist allegedly required him to work in an air field, the perimeter of which was continuously brown due to herbicide spraying every three months. The veteran also alleges that he recalls seeing storage barrels at the edge of the base, which he now knows housed herbicides. Following discharge, Anderson Air Force base in Guam, where the veteran was stationed, underwent an environmental study, which showed a significant amount of dioxin contamination in the soil and prompted the federal government to order a clean up of the site.

Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C.A. ? 1110 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. ? 3.303 (2004). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. ? 3.303(d).

Subsequent manifestations of a chronic disease in service, however remote, are to be service connected, unless clearly attributable to intercurrent causes. For the showing of chronic disease in service there is required a combination of manifestations sufficient to identify the disease entity, and sufficient observation to establish chronicity at the time, as distinguished from merely isolated findings or diagnosis including the word "chronic." Continuity of symptomatology is required only where the condition noted during service is
not, in fact, shown to be chronic or when the diagnosis of chronicity may be legitimately questioned. When the fact of chronicity in service is not adequately supported, then a showing of continuity after discharge is required to support the claim. 38 C.F.R. ? 3.303(b). 

In some circumstances, a disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents will be presumed to have been incurred in service even though there is no evidence of that disease during the period of service at issue. 38 U.S.C.A. ? 1116(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. ?? 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e) (2004). In this regard, a veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to a herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. 38 U.S.C.A. ? 1116(a)(3).

Diseases associated with such exposure include: chloracne or other acneform diseases consistent with chloracne; Type 2 diabetes (also known as Type II diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes); Hodgkin's disease; multiple myeloma; non- Hodgkin's lymphoma; acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy; porphyria cutanea tarda; prostate cancer; respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea); and soft- tissue sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma). 38 C.F.R. ? 3.309(e) (2004); see also 38 U.S.C.A. ? 1116(f), as added by ? 201(c) of the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-103, 115 Stat. 976 (2001).
These diseases shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more at any time after service, except that chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service. 38 C.F.R. ? 3.307(a)(6)(ii). The last date on which such a veteran shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent shall be the last date on which he or she served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era. "Service in the Republic of Vietnam" includes service in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam. 38 C.F.R. ? 3.307(a)(6)(iii).

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has determined that there is no positive association between exposure to herbicides and any other condition for which the Secretary has not specifically determined that a presumption of service connection is warranted. See Notice, 59 Fed. Reg. 341, 346 (1994); see also 61 Fed. Reg. 41,442, 41,449 and 57,586, 57,589 (1996); 67 Fed. Reg. 42,600, 42,608 (2002).
Notwithstanding the aforementioned provisions relating to presumptive service connection, which arose out of the Veteran's Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act, Pub. L. No. 98-542, ? 5, 98 Stat. 2,725, 2,727-29 (1984), and the Agent Orange Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-4, ? 2, 105 Stat. 11 (1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined that a claimant is not precluded from establishing service connection with proof of direct causation. Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1042 (Fed. Cir. 1994); see also 38 C.F.R. ? 3.303(d).

In order to prevail with regard to the issue of service connection on the merits, "there must be medical evidence of a current disability, see Rabideau v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 141, 143 (1992); medical or, in certain
circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disease or injury. See Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995), aff'd, 78 F.3d 604 (Fed. Cir. 1996). 

Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. The Secretary shall consider all information and lay and medical evidence of record in a case before the Secretary with respect to benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C.A. ? 5107 (West 2002); see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). 
The veteran's service medical records reflect that, during service, the veteran did not report herbicide exposure. In addition, he did not receive treatment for and was not diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. His DD Form 214, DD Form 7 and Airmen Performance Reports dated in March 1968 and October 1968, however, confirm that he had active service from December 1966 to December 1970, including at Anderson Air Force base in Guam from December 1966 to October 1968. He has submitted copies of articles indicating that Agent Orange may have been stored and/or used on Guam from 1955 to the late 1960s, which is the time period during which the veteran served there. These articles also reflect that in the 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency listed Anderson Air Force base as a toxic site with dioxin contaminated soil and ordered clean up of the site. Given this evidence, particularly, the articles reflecting the latter information, and the veteran's testimony, which is credible, the Board accepts that the veteran was exposed to herbicides during his active service in Guam. 

The veteran did not serve in Vietnam; therefore, he is not entitled to a presumption of service connection for his diabetes mellitus under the aforementioned law and regulations governing claims for service connection for disabilities resulting from herbicide exposure. As previously indicated, however, the veteran may be entitled to service connection for this disease on a direct basis if the evidence establishes that his diabetes mellitus is related to the herbicide exposure.

Post-service medical evidence indicates that, since 1993, the veteran has received treatment for, and been diagnosed with, diabetes mellitus. One medical professional has addressed the question of whether this disease is related to such exposure. In June 2005, a VA examiner noted that the veteran had had the disease for 12 years, had no parental history of such a disease, and had served in Guam, primarily in an air
field, which was often sprayed with chemicals. She diagnosed diabetes type 2 and opined that this disease was 50 to 100 percent more likely than not due to the veteran's exposure to herbicides between January 1968 and April 1970, when he served as a crew chief for the 99th bomb wing on the ground and tarmac. She explained that such exposure, rather than hereditary factors, better explained the cause of the disease given that the veteran's parents did not have diabetes.
 
As the record stands, there is no competent medical evidence of record disassociating the veteran's diabetes mellitus from his in-service herbicide exposure or otherwise from his active service. Relying primarily on the VA examiner's opinion, the Board thus finds that diabetes mellitus is related to the veteran's service. Based on this finding, the Board concludes that diabetes mellitus was incurred in service. Inasmuch as the evidence supports the veteran's claim, that claim must be granted.

ORDER
Service connection for diabetes mellitus secondary to herbicide exposure is granted. 
____________________________________________
ROBERT E. SULLIVAN
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Department of Veterans Affairs

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