09-49 399, 09-49 399

Veteran served active duty Apr 1974–Jan 1976, assigned as Electronic Warfare Systems Specialist at Ellsworth AFB (flight line exposure reported).
Claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus filed; RO decision in Sept 2008; appeal to BVA with remands and a withdrawn videoconference hearing request.
VA provided notice and assistance, obtained records, attempted private records, and completed a November 2014 VA audiological exam.
Audiometry (Nov 2014): thresholds well below VA disability levels (no hearing loss for VA purposes); speech recognition 98% right, 96% left.
Veteran consistently reports tinnitus onset shortly after discharge and in-service noise exposure; VA examiner found tinnitus less likely related to service based on lack of threshold shift.
Board found in-service noise exposure competent and credible, tinnitus credible, and medical nexus evidence in equipoise; tinnitus granted, bilateral hearing loss denied.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Service connection for bilateral hearing loss	Veteran asserts hearing loss from in-service noise exposure	VA points to audiometry showing thresholds below VA disability criteria and good speech scores	Denied — no current VA-level hearing loss established
Service connection for tinnitus	Veteran reports onset shortly after service and attributes tinnitus to noise exposure on flight line	VA examiner opines tinnitus less likely related to service due to no significant threshold shift between entry and separation exams	Granted — evidence (lay reports of exposure, onset, and records) creates relative equipoise; doubt resolved for veteran

Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir.) (elements required for service connection)
Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir.) (limits of lay testimony for medical etiology)
Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (Vet. App.) (benefit-of-the-doubt rule)
Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370 (Vet. App.) (competence of lay testimony to report tinnitus)