Breeden v. Principi, No. 01-2095 , UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS
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afforded by 38 U.S.C. ' 1154(b) (allowing veterans who engaged in combat to establish service connection through "satisfactory lay or other evidence"), and that his diagnosis of PTSD had been based on unverified stressors. Id. at 3, 10-15. The veteran appealed the July 2000 Board decision, and on January 4, 2001, the parties filed a joint motion for remand. The joint motion called for the veteran to be reexamined by a VA psychiatrist and for any evidence of in-service stressors to be made available to the examiner. The motion also stated that the Board was required to reconsider whether the veteran had engaged in combat.
On January 16, 2001, the Court, by order of the Clerk of the Court, granted the parties' motion, vacated in part the July 2000 Board decision, and remanded the appellant's claim for service connection for PTSD. Breeden v. Gober, U.S. Vet. App. No. 00-1700 (Jan. 16, 2001). On August 27, 2001, the Board remanded the case to a VA regional office (RO). Mark W. Breeden, BVA 93-05991 (Aug. 27, 2001). In its remand, the Board first noted that a remand was required to comply with the notice and duty to assist provisions of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA), Pub. L. No. 106-475, 114 Stat. 2096. See Breeden, BVA 93-05991, at 4. The Board then instructed that on remand the veteran should be examined by a VA psychiatrist to determine whether he suffers from PTSD. Id. at 5. The Board also provided a limited list of stressors to be considered as the basis for a diagnosis of PTSD. Id. The remand instructions did not address the issue of whether the veteran had engaged in combat. See id.
Although it does not bear upon the issue presently before the Court, in the interest of completeness, we note that, on November 12, 2003, the appellant informed the Court that while this appeal has been pending the RO continued to develop the
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