Antonio Pacheco v. Sloan D. Gibson

We fully concur with the per curiam opinion in its holding that deference is warranted to the Secretary’s interpretation of § 3.157(b), and that § 3.157(b) is not applicable to the effective date of Mr. Pacheco’s award of disability compensation. On the other hand, we dissent from the Maggitt remand regarding § 3.156(c). As there have been no newly discovered service records since the last final decision on the merits of Mr. Pacheco’s claim in March 1978, we do not believe § 3.156(c) is for application. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1) (pertaining to service records that “had not been associated…