RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

 AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-00241 

 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

He be entitled to benefits under the Combat-Related Special 
Compensation (CRSC) program. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

His back injury which he incurred as a result of participating 
in aerial flight and combat missions in Vietnam entitles him to 
benefits under CRSC. However, his medical record has been lost. 
In addition, he notes that his name has always been “Norwood D. 
Kent” rather than “Kent D. Norwood,” and he wonders if this was 
the reason for the denial of his CRSC application. 

 

In support of his appeal, he provides a personal statement and 
an excerpt from an “Afterburner” article on CRSC. 

 

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

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

The applicant was relieved from active duty, on 30 Sep 71, for 
service retirement. He was credited with 20 years, 1 month, and 
21 days of service for retirement. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSDC recommends denial stating, in part, that his 
degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine does not meet the 
mandatory criteria for compensation under the CRSC program. 

 

The applicant submitted a CRSC claim for his back condition. 
His claim was initially disapproved since he did not meet the 
minimum eligibility criteria and was not receiving disability 
compensation payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs 


(DVA). He provided additional information and was subsequently 
disapproved twice. No evidence was provided to confirm this 
disability was the direct result of armed conflict, hazardous 
service, instrumentality of war, or simulating war. 

 

The applicant contends that his back condition was incurred from 
flying over 3,000 hours and 19 combat missions as a B-52 tail 
gunner. As a gunner, he sat in the rear of the plane and was 
subjected to extreme turbulent conditions and quick turns during 
bombing flights over Vietnam. His condition became acute during 
combat runs/hazardous duty. 

 

While the Board concedes, the applicant did perform hazardous 
duties as an aircrew member during combat, the issue at hand is 
whether a combat-related event is the direct cause of his 
disability. It is evident the applicant had repeated treatment 
for his recurring back pain during military service; however, 
there is no evidence to indicate this condition was directly 
caused by a combat-related event. In order for the disability 
to be approvable for compensation under CRSC, the condition must 
meet the rigorous standards established for combat-related 
disabilities and not merely have a service connection. 
Therefore, there must be documentation that shows the direct 
combat-related cause of each disability. 

 

By law, determinations of whether a disability is combat related 
will be based on the preponderance of available documentary 
information. All relevant documentary information is to be 
weighed in relation to known facts and circumstances, and 
determinations will be made on the basis of credible, objective 
documentary information in the records as distinguished from 
personal opinion, speculation, or conjecture. 

 

Although aircrew duties can be strenuous, when considering 
chronic conditions, such as degenerative disc disease, under the 
CRSC guidelines, it may be difficult to determine that armed 
conflict, hazardous service, instrumentality of war, or 
simulating war was the definitive cause. When making combat-
related determinations the Board looks for documentation from 
the time of the injury confirming not only the injury, but the 
cause of the injury as well. Documentation provided does not 
confirm the applicant's degenerative disc disease was directly 
caused by a combat-related event. While the applicant’s 
condition meets the VA requirements for service connected 
compensation, the evidence does not support additional 
compensation under CRSC. 

 

The Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program, 
established by Public Law (PL) 107-314, provides compensation to 
certain retirees with combat-related disabilities. A retired 
member of the Uniformed Services must meet each of the four 
following conditions to meet the preliminary CRSC criteria: 

 


 a. Has 20 or more years of active service in the Uniformed 
Services for the purpose of computing the amount of retired pay, 
or is entitled to retired pay under section 12731 of Title 10, 
United States Code, unless such retirement is under section 
12731b of that same title or (the member is retired under 
Chapter 61 (disability retired). 

 

 b. Is in retired status. 

 

 c. Is entitled to retired pay, notwithstanding that such 
retired pay may be reduced due to receipt of Department of 
Veterans Affairs (DVA) disability compensation. 

 

 d. Has qualifying disability ratings (percentages) 
[retiree must be entitled to compensation for service-connected 
disabilities under 10 USC 38 by the DVA]. 

 

 Qualifying Combat-Related Disability: Member has 
combat-related disabilities (which include any Purple Heart 
disabilities) that are compensated by the DVA. 

 

The complete AFPC/DPSDC evaluation, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit C. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

The applicant notes that he initially injured his back during 
crew member flights in 1958, several other times from 1959 – 
1967. He re-injured his back while participating in 19 bombing 
mission as a tail gunner. He notes that DPSD advisory 
references a Standard Form (SF) 502, Narrative Summary, dated 
27 Jun 67; however, he expresses that that date is not correct, 
because he returned from his deployment early and was 
subsequently grounded because of his condition. 

 

In support of his appeal, the applicant provides a personal 
statement and extracts from his master personnel record. 

 

The applicant’s complete response, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit E. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

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

 

2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the 
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. 

 


3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of 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 offices of primary responsibility and adopt its 
rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not 
been the victim of an error or injustice. In addition, we note, 
the applicant’s concern over whether his application was given 
“full and complete” consideration due to his name being 
transposed on correspondence he received. However, we do not 
find any evidence that consideration of the applicant’s case has 
been impacted by such an error. . . Therefore, in the absence 
of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend 
granting the relief sought in this application. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered Docket Number BC-
2011-00241 in Executive Session on 24 October 2011, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

The following documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 17 Jan 11, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSDC, dated 23 Mar 11, w/atch. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 8 Apr 11. 

 Exhibit E. Letter, Applicant, dated 14 Apr 11, w/atchs. 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair