RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2007-00144
            INDEX CODE:  100.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

MANDATORY CASE COMPLETION DATE:  22 JUL 08

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

The  effective  date  of  his  Combat-Related  Special  Compensation  (CRSC)
payments be changed to coincide with  the  Department  of  Veterans  Affairs
(VA) effective date.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He has had his disability and CRSC dates delayed due to  Hurricane  Katrina.
His disability request of July 2005 awarded 1 August 2005  would  have  been
approved much earlier than it was if Hurricane Katrina did not  occur.   The
disability for Type II Diabetes was recognized in February 2005, but he  did
not apply until July 2005 because he was not informed  by  the  VA  that  he
could apply at that date.

In support of his request, the applicant provided a personal  statement  and
documentation associated with his CRSC application.

Applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant entered active duty in the Regular Air Force  on  16 August  1956.
He was progressively promoted to the  grade  of  technical  sergeant  having
assumed that grade effective and with a date of rank  of  1  November  1970.
He served as a Weather Forecaster Technician.  He retired 1 September  1976,
having served 20 years and 15 days on active duty.



Available Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) records  reflect  a  combined
compensable rating of 40% for his unfitting conditions.

His CRSC application was approved on 1  November  2006.   The  diagnosis  of
diabetes mellitus and inflammation of sciatic nerve -  right  and  left  was
determined to be combat-related with a compensable rating of 40%.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPD recommends  denial.   DPPD  states  according  to  the  VA  Rating
Decision dated 2  October  2006,  the  VA  received  applicant’s  claim  for
service-connected  compensation  on  28  July  2005.   As  stated  in  their
decision letter, public law prevents  veterans  from  receiving  their  full
military retired pay and full VA compensation at the same  time;  therefore,
the VA withheld applicant’s compensation until 1  October  2006  to  prevent
double payments.  However,  the  VA  established  their  effective  date  of
disability as August 2005 for his diabetes mellitus,  and  August  2006  for
the inflammation of the sciatic nerves.

It is common practice for the VA to  establish  an  effective  date  earlier
than the payment start date.  The date is usually  established  to  coincide
with the date  of  application  or  date  of  diagnosis.   This  retroactive
effective date allows the veteran to submit a corrected tax return  to  seek
relief from the tax burden during that processing period since  the  veteran
missed out on receiving VA compensation at the tax-free rate.

With regard to the payment effective date for  CRSC,  the  purpose  of  this
program is to restore military retirement that has been offset (reduced)  by
VA compensation; therefore, the Board must make CRSC effective the date  the
particular rating impacted the veteran’s military retirement pay.   The  law
governing CRSC is very clear on the establishment  of  CRSC  payment  dates.
10 U.S.C. 1413a limits the monthly  amount  of  compensation  to  what  “the
retiree would be entitled solely for  the  combat-related  disability,”  and
the amount paid cannot exceed “the amount of the reduction of  retired  pay”
for that month.  As such, according to the Defense  Finance  and  Accounting
Service (DFAS) files and the VA Rating Decision, dated 2 October  2006,  the
VA offset did not affect the applicant’s military  retirement  pay  until  1
October 2006.  Therefore, that is the appropriate CRSC  effective  date  for
his conditions.

DPPD can not speculate on why it took over 14 months for the VA to  finalize
his case and further information on this issue must be obtained  from  their
office.  It has been our experience that VA claims do take  several  months,
even years, to complete.



The VA has recognized the impact a delay in processing a VA claim can  cause
CRSC eligible personnel and, in September 2006, they began a review  process
to determine if retroactive pay could be made through their organization  to
make up for the potential loss of CRSC payments.  To aid  in  this  process,
DPPD  began  to  notify  CRSC-approved  veterans  to  contact  the  VA   for
information on  possible  retroactive  pay.   The  applicant  received  this
notification in the CRSC approval letter, dated 1 November 2006.

The DPPD complete evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

On 23 March 2007, the evaluation was forwarded to the applicant  for  review
and comment within 30 days (Exhibit D).  As of this date,  this  office  has
received no response.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided  by  existing  law  or
regulations.

2.  The application was timely filed.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of an error or injustice.   We  took  notice  of  the  applicant's
complete submission in judging the merits of the  case;  however,  we  agree
with the  opinion  and  recommendation  of  the  Air  Force  and  adopt  its
rationale as the basis for our conclusion that the applicant  has  not  been
the victim of an error or injustice.  Therefore, in the absence of  evidence
to the contrary, we find no  compelling  basis  to  recommend  granting  the
relief sought.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of an error or injustice; the application was  denied  without
a personal appearance; and the application will only  be  reconsidered  upon
the submission of newly discovered relevant  evidence  not  considered  with
this application.

_________________________________________________________________




The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number  BC-2007-
00144 in Executive Session on 25 April 2007, under the provisions of AFI 36-
2603:

      Ms. Charlene M. Bradley, Panel Chair
      Mr. Wallace F. Beard Jr., Member
      Ms. Karen A. Holloman, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 9 Jan 07, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPD, dated 13 Mar 07.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 23 Mar 07.




                                   CHARLENE M. BRADLEY
                                   Panel Chair


                                 DOREEN HARRIS
                                 Examiner
                                 Air Force Board for Correction
                                 of Military Records