Citation Nr: 18160492 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/26/18 DOCKET NO. 15-05 771 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to non-service connected pension is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is not shown to have had any active service during a period of war. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for basic eligibility for VA nonservice-connected pension benefits have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101, 1521, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2, 3.3, 3.314 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from June 1979 to January 1980. The Veteran was scheduled for a video conference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge in October 2018. He failed to appear for the hearing and has not provided an explanation for his failure to appear. The question before the Board is whether the Veteran has established threshold eligibility for VA non-service connected pension benefits. The law authorizes the payment of non-service connected disability pension to a Veteran of a war who has the requisite service and who is permanently and totally disabled. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1502, 1521. A veteran has met the necessary service requirements if he served in active military, naval, or air service under one of the following conditions: (1) for 90 days or more during a period of war; (2) during a period of war and was discharged or released from service for a service connected disability; (3) for a period of 90 consecutive days or more and such period began or ended during a period of war; or (4) for an aggregate of 90 days or more in two or more separate periods of service during more than one period of war. 38 U.S.C. § 1521(j); 38 C.F.R. § 3.3(a). The Veteran served during peacetime era. Thus, he did not serve 90 days or more during a period of war. As the Veteran did not have any qualifying wartime service, he does not meet the basic eligibility requirements for VA non-service connected pension benefits. In this case, the law is dispositive. Accordingly, his claim must be denied as a matter of law. Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). K. Parakkal Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. S. Kelly, Counsel
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