UNITED STAT ES COURT OF AP P EALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

N O . 02-352
J OHN D. D ES B R OW , S R
. , A PP EL L ANT ,
V
. ANTHONY J. P RI NCI PI , S EC RE T A RY O F V ET ER A N S A FF A I RS , A PPEL L EE
.

Be fore KRAMER, Chief Judge , and STEI NB ERG and GREENE, J ud ge s. O R D E R Th e a p p e l l an t , t h r o u g h c o u n s e l , s e e k s r e v i e w o f a F e b r u ar y 1 9 , 2 0 0 2 , B o ar d

o f V e t e ra ns ' Appea ls (B VA or Boa

rd) decision that denied an eff ective date earlier than Dec ember 16, 1997, for his D epar tment of Veter ans Affa irs (VA) non-ser vice- connec ted pension benef its w i t h s p ecial monthly pension based on the need f or aid a nd attendance, cu rr en t l y rate d at 100%. Rec ord (R .) a t 1- 9. Th e a

pp e lla nt a nd the Se c re tary

have e a c h fil e d a bri e f, and the a pp e lla nt f ile d a re ply brief. Upon furthe r consider ation of t he case, the Court now requires additi onal information fr om the par ties on cer tain matters pertaining to the i mplementation the GI Bill I mprovement Act of 1977, Pub. L . No. 95-202, § 401, 91 Stat. 1433, 1449-50 [hereinaf ter § 401], 32 C.F.R. § 47.5 (2002), a nd 38 U. S.C. § 7 72 2( b) , a s f oll ow s: (1) At what point in time does § 401(a )(1) (B ) re quire the Sec reta ry conce rned, see 38 U. S.C. § 1 0 1 (25), to "issue[] to eac h member of . . . [a recog nized gr oup, see 3 2 C. F

. R. § 47.3 (2002) (def in in g "[r] ecogni z ed grou p",) ] a di sch arge"? (2) In implementing § 401( a)( 1), does the Se cr etary conce rned e ver issue individual discharg es to me mbers of re cog nized gr oups in advanc e of a n individual making a

n application for s u c h a d i s c h ar g e p u r s u an tt o 3 2 C

. F

. R

. § 4 7

. 5 ( c ) ( 2 ) ? (3) In this case, whe n did the Secre tary of the Air Forc e issue a D D For m 214 for the a p p e l l an t ' s s e r

v i c e i nt h e r e c o g n i z e d

g r o u p d e s c r i b e d

i n3 8 C

. F

. R

. § 3

. 7 ( x ) ( 2 5 ) ( 2 0 0 2 ) ? (4) Pursuant to 32 C.F.R. § 47.5(b) (9)( ii), did the S ecretar y of the Air F orce notify

the Secre tary of Ve tera

ns Affa irs of the re cog nition of the g roup descr ibed in 38 C.F .R. § 3.7(x )(25) ? I f so, when?2

(5) Doe s 38 U.S.C. § 7722(b) apply to ve tera ns g iven discharg es pursuant to § 401(a )(1) (B )? I f so, (a) at what point in time is a letter under 38 U.S.C. § 7722(b) sent to such a ve tera n? and (b) wa s such a le tter sent to the appe llant and, if so, when ( the Secr etar y will provide a copy of any such letter) ? (6) I t appea

rs that many rele vant documents ar e missing f rom the re cord on a

ppeal ( ROA). See U. S. V ET
. A PP
. R. 10. Accor dingly , the parties will be direc ted to submit, pursuant to Rule 11(b) of the Cou rt ' s Ru le s o f P ra c tic e and Pr oc e dure (Ru le s) , a

su pp le me nta l RO A c on ta ini ng , at a m i n i m u m , t h e f

o l l o wi n g: ( a ) E v i d e n c e o f

th e a p p e l l an t ' s e mp l o ym e n tw i t h P a nA m e r i c an W o r l d

A i r w a ys (Appe llant's ( Appel.) B rief ( Br .) at 2);

(b) Evide nce of

when John D. Desbrow, Jr., the appellant' s son, g ained dur able powe r of attorne y

reg ardingthe appe llant (R. at 18); (c) The January

7, 1949, Notice of Authorization of Entrance into Education without Sub sis te nc e Al low anc e iss ue d to the a pp e lla nt b y VA(A pp e l. B r. a t 6) ; (d) Me dical evide nce r eg ardingthe appe llant's dia g nosis of org anic br ain sy ndrome, including a

n October 3, 1997, medical r eport by Dr. Moshe F reibe rg that discussed his September 4, 19 97 , e xami natio n a

nd dia g no sis of

the a pp e lla nt ( Ap pe l. B r. a t 13 -1 4) ; (e ) T he Ap ri l 1998 VA re g ion a l off ic e (R O) de c isi on

that de nie d th e a

pp e lla nt' s c la im for pe nsion benefits on the g round that there was " no evidenc e of a ny period of a ctive duty

service " (R. at 85; Appel. B r. at 3);

(f) Any evidenc e that may show that the appellant rec eived copies of his DD For m 25 6A F and

DD F or m 21 4 o n N ov e mbe r 2 4, 19 98 (A pp e l. B r. a t 3) ; (g ) The a ppellant' s DD F orm 256AF (Appe l. Br. a t 3); (h) The Marc h 29, 1999, VARO dec ision refe rre d to in the appellant's April 15, 1999, Notice of Disag ree ment (R. at 35); (i) The unopposed April 2001 mot ion by the Secr etar y to vacate the September

2000 BV A dec is i o n an d rema

nd the matter in c onnection with the Ve tera ns Claims Assi stance Act of 2000, Pub. L . No. 106-475, 114 Stat. 2096 (2000) ( R. at 2); and3 (j) The Court order g ranting that motion and vacating that de cision (R. at 2).
I n acc ordanc e with Rule 11(b), e ach pa rty may seek to a dd to the ROA further "a dditional material that w a s b e fo re the Se c re tary and the B oa

rd [an d] is re le va

nt to an iss ue on

a pp e a l." U. S. V ET
. A PP
. R. 11(b). Up on c on sid e ratio n o f t

he fo re g oin g , it

is
O R D E R E D t h a t , n o t l a t e r t h an 2 0 d ays a f t e r t h e d a t e o f t h i s o r d e r , t h e p art i e s s u b m i tj o i n t l y, in acc ordanc e with Rule 11(b), a supplemental ROA containing documents in response to the a bove list and any

other doc uments that the parties a g ree should be included in the ROA. I t is further ORDERED that , not later than 30 da y s after the date of

this order, the Sec reta

ry file, and serve on the appe llant, (1) a me morandum of law addre ssing the a

bove questions and (2) a

ny motion for suppleme ntation under Rule 11(b) as to documents not jointly ag ree d upon. I t is further ORDERED that, not later tha n 30 day s af

ter the f iling of the Secre tary ' s supplemental memorandum, the appellant f ile, and ser

ve on the Sec reta

ry , (1) a memorandum in re sponse to the Se c re tary ' s me mor and

um a nd (2 ) a ny mot ion fo r sup ple me ntatio n und e r Rule 11 (b ) as to d oc ume nts n o t j o i n t l y

a g r e e d u p o nan d a r e s p o n s e t o an y

m o t i o nf o r s u p p l e m e n t a t i o nf

i l e d b y t h e S e c r e t a r

y . It is further ORDERED that, not later tha n 15 day s afte r any

motion for supplementation is filed by the appellant unde r Rule 11(b), the Secre tary file a r esponse to that motion.
DA TE D: July

24 , 2 00 3 PER CU RI AM

.