ADDENDUM TO 

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-04418 

 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

Her deceased husband’s military records be corrected to show 
that he was entitled to Combat-Related Special Compensation 
(CRSC) at a rate of 100 percent, instead of 80 percent. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

RESUME OF CASE: 

 

On 3 Aug 11, the Board considered and denied applicant’s 
original request to increase her deceased husband’s CRSC rating 
from 80 percent to 100 percent. In the initial case, she 
contended the Air Force should have rated her deceased husband 
at 100 percent for his combat related disabilities and the 
failure to do so, combined with her deceased husband’s dementia 
induced confusion over the difference between CRSC and CRDP, 
resulted in a $595.00 reduction in his monthly retired pay. The 
Board determined the evidence presented was not sufficient to 
demonstrate the Air Force erred when denying the decedent’s CRSC 
appeal. For an accounting of the facts and circumstances 
surrounding the applicant’s original request and the rationale 
of the earlier decision by the Board, see the Record of 
Proceedings (ROP) at Exhibit E. 

 

By virtue of a 31 Oct 11 letter with attachments and 
correspondence provided through her congressional representative 
on 14 Mar 12, the applicant requests reconsideration of her 
request, contending that her deceased husband’s hearing loss, 
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cysts should 
have been determined to be combat-related and compensable under 
CRSC. Her husband fought long and hard for his 100 percent 
disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), 
only for the Air Force to erroneously rate him at 80 percent, 
resulting in his retired pay being illegally decreased by 
$595.00 per month from Apr 09 until his death in Oct 10. In 
support of her request, the applicant provides a variety of 
expanded statements and copies of excerpts from her deceased 
husband’s military personnel and medical records, and 
correspondence related to his CRSC determination and appeal, as 


well as correspondence related to the DVA’s determinations in 
this case. 

 

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit F. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

On 31 Jul 71, the deceased former member was relieved from 
active duty and retired for length of service (non-disability), 
effective 1 Aug 71; he was credited with 24 years of total 
active service. 

 

According to documentation provided by the applicant, the DVA 
later determined the deceased former member was unemployable due 
to his service connected disabilities and determined he was 
therefore entitled to an individual unemployability (IU) 
determination, effective 18 Feb 05. Because of this IU 
determination, DVA paid the deceased former member as if he were 
100 percent disabled even though his actual disability rating 
remained at 80 percent. 

 

Law requires that whenever an individual receives VA disability 
compensation there be a dollar for dollar reduction (offset) in 
any military retired pay. However, there are two programs that 
partially make up for this offset. The programs are the 
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payment (CRDP) program and 
the Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program. 

 

The CRDP program provides a restoration of military retired pay 
that is offset by DVA compensation. Qualified individuals are 
those who are retired active or reserve members who are 
currently entitled to retired pay and who also have a combined 
VA disability rating of at least 50 percent. 

 

The CRSC program provides a special monthly payment equivalent 
to the portion of the offset to military retired pay of DVA 
disability compensation attributable to combat-related 
disabilities. Qualified individuals include any military 
retired members with an offset to retired pay due to VA 
compensation determined to be combat-related. CRSC is not a 
restoration of offset retired pay, but a form of additional 
special compensation. 

 

Military retirees cannot receive benefits under CRDP and CRSC 
simultaneously. 

 

On 19 Dec 08, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) 
notified the deceased former member of his rights under the 
CRSC/CRDP Annual Open Season Election, that he was entitled to 
benefits under either program in the amount of $2,238.00, and of 
his right to elect to participate in either program, noting that 


his failure to respond would constitute an election to continue 
to receive CRSC. 

 

On 4 Mar 09, the DVA notified the deceased former member of 
their decision to increase his combined compensable disability 
rating to 100 percent, effective 3 Nov 08, indicating that his 
DVA disability compensation would not change as he was already 
receiving compensation at the 100 percent rate due to their 
previous IU determination. As a result of the increase to the 
deceased former member’s DVA rating, the off-set to his retired 
pay increased, thereby reducing his overall compensation. 

 

On 30 Jul 09, AFPC/DPSDC notified the deceased former member of 
their decision to partially approve his request for an increase 
to his CRSC rating, resulting in an overall CRSC rating of 
80 percent. 

 

On 6 October 2010, the late former member passed away. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSDC recommends denial of the applicant’s request for an 
increase in her deceased husband’s CRSC rating to 100 percent, 
indicating there is no evidence of an error or injustice. The 
CRSC program was established to provide compensation to certain 
retirees with combat-related disabilities that qualify under the 
criteria set forth in Title 10 USC, Section 1413a. While the 
DVA awards service connection based on their standards and can 
resolve doubt in the interest of the veteran, an affirmative 
CRSC determination requires documentation to support a 
qualifying combat-related event was the direct cause of the 
disability. The deceased former member’s COPD was rated as not 
service connected by the DVA; thus rendering him ineligible for 
CRSC for this condition. As for his impaired hearing diagnosis, 
the CRSC Board considers the veteran’s occupation and the 
continual or direct exposure to combat-related noise hazards 
he/she was subjected to during his/her career. Many specialties 
have occasional or indirect exposure to flight line noise due to 
the proximity of their duty sections to the flight line or 
requirements to periodically spend time on the flight line 
itself. Based on input from functional experts, the CRSC Board 
determined the deceased former member’s career fields (clerk 
typist, military training instructor, and first sergeant) have 
only occasional or indirect exposure to qualifying combat-
related noise; therefore, to award CRSC, there must be clear 
documentation of an acoustic trauma occurring due to a combat-
related event; however, no such documentation was provided as 
part of the deceased former member’s CRSC appeal. 

 

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSDC evaluation is at Exhibit G. 

 


Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) indicates the 
deceased former member was entitled to both CRSC and CRDP prior 
to the matter under review. He was receiving IU from the DVA, 
meaning that he was rated at 80 percent by the DVA, but was paid 
at the 100 percent rate. He was also rated at 80 percent for 
the purposes of CRSC. As such, both his CRSC and CRDP 
entitlements were the same. As CRSC is tax-free, DFAS switched 
him to CRSC and he received his first payment in Nov 08. 
However, the DVA subsequently rated him at 100 percent [thereby 
increasing the offset to his military retired pay], resulting in 
a reduction to his overall compensation as of Apr 09 because his 
CRSC rating was only 80 percent. Each year, DFAS sends an open 
election form which allows members such as the deceased former 
member to keep their entitlement or switch to the other program 
for the upcoming calendar year if he/she so chooses. Since the 
deceased former member was receiving CRSC in 2008 and did not 
return the open season election form to DFAS, he was kept in the 
CRSC program for 2009 when the DVA subsequently increased his 
disability rating resulting in the decrease to his overall 
compensation. Once the cutoff date for the open season (31 Jan) 
passes, the member is locked into that program for the rest of 
the year until the following open season, regardless of any 
changes that are made to their pay. The deceased former member 
was sent another open season election form for 2010 showing CRSC 
at the lower amount; however, he never returned the form, so he 
remained in the CRSC program. The deceased former member 
passively elected to remain in CRSC for both 2009 and 2010, 
rather than elect CRDP when he had an opportunity to do so. 

 

A complete copy of the DFAS evaluation is at Exhibit H. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATIONS: 

 

The applicant reiterates that her husband had dementia; he was a 
proud man and wanted to take care of his military business 
himself, but she doubts that he even understood the difference 
between CRSC and CRDP or that he even “passively elected” to 
neglect sending in the paperwork for 2009 and 2010. His Air 
Force Pension was $2238.00, but dropped to $1643.00 and she does 
not believe anyone had the right to reduce his hard earned Air 
Force pension by $595.00 under any circumstances, regardless of 
his CRSC or CRDP election. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

1. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice with respect 
to the applicant’s request for an increase of her deceased 
husband’s combat-related special compensation (CRSC) rating to 
include his hearing loss, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 


and cysts. 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 AFPC/DPSDC and adopt 
their rationale as the basis for our conclusion the deceased 
former member’s hearing loss and COPD should not have been rated 
under CRSC. As for her request related to his cysts, we also do 
not find the evidence she has presented sufficient to conclude 
that his CRSC rating should be increased based on this 
condition. In this respect, we note that a CRSC determination 
is predicated on a finding by the DVA that a particular 
condition is service related; however, the documentation 
provided by the applicant does not reflect such a finding by the 
DVA. Therefore, absent said finding, this condition is not 
eligible for CRSC consideration. In view of the above and in 
the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to 
recommend granting the relief sought related to CRSC. 

 

2. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has 
been presented to demonstrate the existence of an injustice with 
respect to the dramatic reduction in the deceased former 
member’s retired pay during the last several months of his life. 
We note the comments of DFAS indicating that all appropriate 
procedures were followed in notifying the former member of his 
rights and obligations under the CRSC/CRDP annual open 
enrollment period; however, we are not persuaded the steps taken 
were sufficient to allow him to make a well-reasoned decision 
regarding the impact of the DVA’s decision to increase his 
disability rating on his overall compensation. In this respect, 
we do not believe it reasonable to assume the deceased former 
member would have knowingly elected to remain in CRSC had he 
been made aware that the DVA’s decision to increase his 
disability rating to 100 percent, thereby increasing the off-set 
to his retired pay, would have actually resulted in the noted 
reduction to his overall compensation. While there is some 
question regarding the Air Force’s role in this action, after 
considering the total circumstances of this case, we find the 
evidence sufficient to find it in the interest of justice to 
provide a measure of relief. Therefore, we recommend the 
deceased former member’s record be corrected to reflect that he 
elected to participate in CRDP, rather than CRSC, during the 
2008 open enrollment period. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 

 

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air 
Force related to the DECEASED FORMER MEMBER be corrected to show 
that on 20 December 2008, he elected Concurrent Retirement and 
Disability Pay (CRDP), in lieu of Combat Related Special 
Compensation (CRSC), during the CRDP/CRSC Annual Open Season 
Election. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 


The following members of the Board considered the applicant’s 
request for reconsideration of AFBCMR Docket Number 
BC-2010-04418 in Executive Session on 26 Mar 13, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 , Panel Chair 

 , Member 

 , Member 

 

The following additional documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit E. Record of Proceedings, dated 25 Aug 11, 

 w/atchs. 

 Exhibit F. Letter, Applicant, dated 31 Oct 11, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit G. Letter, AFPC/DPSDC, dated 17 Dec 12. 

 Exhibit H. Letter, DFAS, dated 26 Dec 12, w/atch. 

 Exhibit I. Letter, AFBCMR, dated 2 Jan 13. 

 Exhibit J. Letter, Applicant, dated 25 Jan 13, w/atch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair