RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-03786 

 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

His service connected disabilities be re-evaluated under the 
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program. 

 

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

Traditionally, federal law prohibits concurrent receipt of both 
Veteran’s Affairs (VA) disability and military retirement. He 
had to waive military retirement for VA disability while on the 
Temporary Disability Retirement List (TDRL). Retiring as an E6 
with 15 years of service, he had to waive his military 
retirement with an 80 percent disability which was approved by 
the Air Force Physical Evaluation Board (PEB). 

 

It is understood a 15 year E6 would be adjusted to E6 with 
20 years honorable service. This was proposed for medical 
retirement conditions beyond the member’s control. All honors 
should be vested to that veteran in that situation. There are 
no retirement benefits for the roughly 83 percent of troops who 
leave service before reaching 20 years whether or not retirement 
was advocated for. 

 

In support of his request, the applicant provides a copy of his 
DD Form 214, Certificate of Release of Discharge from Active 
Duty. 

 

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

 

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STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

The applicant was medically retired effective 15 July 2002 in 
the grade of technical sergeant/E6. 

 

A DVA Rating decision dated 25 May 2001 listed the applicant’s 
service connected disabilities as: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with 
fatigue, dizziness, right lower/left lower/right upper/left 


upper extremities impairment with abnormal gait and positive 
Romberg’s, urinary frequency and urgency due to MS; loss of 
sense and taste, loss of smell, post-traumatic headaches due to 
head injuries. His overall combined evaluation rating was 
90 percent. 

 

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are 
contained in the letter prepared by the appropriate office of 
the Air Force which is at Exhibit B. 

 

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSDC recommends denial. The applicant submitted a claim 
for CRSC which was disapproved on 17 June 2008. He requested 
reconsideration of the Board’s disapproval. That request was 
denied on 18 July 2011. There was no evidence the applicant’s 
disabilities were a direct result of an armed conflict, 
hazardous service, and instrumentality of war or simulating war. 

 

The CRSC program was established to provide compensation to 
certain retirees with combat-related disabilities under Title 10 
U.S.C, Section 1413a. If the veteran does not satisfy the 
preliminary CRSC criteria, no further consideration is required 
and the claim is denied. 

 

The VA awards service connected disabilities based on their 
standards. While service connected disability is required for 
initial eligibility for CRSC consideration, CRSC criteria is 
more stringent and requires documentation to support a 
qualifying combat-related event as the direct cause of the 
disability. 

 

In his original claim, the applicant states his face was injured 
during mandatory strength training (weight training). He claims 
he dropped a bar bell on his face while lifting weights. The VA 
found his injuries to be service connected and rated his loss of 
sense of taste and smell, post-traumatic headaches and fractures 
of nasal and orbital bones as related to the head injury. 
Injuries sustained from dropping a bar bell on one’s face are 
not approvable for CRSC. 

 

The applicant does not state why he feels his MS conditions meet 
CRSC criteria. The DVA rating decision awards his MS with 
fatigue, dizziness, numbness of torso and head, right lower 
extremity impairment with abnormal gait and positive Romberg’s, 
right upper/left upper/left lower extremity impairment and 
urinary infrequency. By law, determination of whether a 
disability is combat related will be based on the preponderance 
of available documentary evidence. The documentation provided 
does not reflect the applicant’s MS condition was caused by a 
combat-related event, rather his particular physical make-up. 

 


The applicant’s conditions do not meet the mandatory criteria 
for compensation under the CRSC program as outlined under the 
provisions of Title 10 U.S.C, Section 1413a. While the 
conditions meet the VA criteria for service-connection, they 
were not caused by combat-related events. 

 

The complete DPSDC evaluation is at Exhibit B. 

 

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the 
applicant on 13 January 2012, for review and comment within 
30 days (Exhibit C). As of this date, this office has not 
received a response. 

 

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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. The applicant 
has requested that his service medical records be re-evaluated 
under the CRSC program. However, we do not find the applicant’s 
service-connected medical conditions were the direct result of 
armed conflict, while engaged in hazardous service, in the 
performance of duty under conditions simulating war, or through 
an instrumentality of war. As such, we agree with the opinion 
and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary 
responsibility and adopt its rationale as the basis for our 
conclusion that the applicant’s condition does not meet the 
mandatory criteria for compensation under the CRSC program. 
Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find 
no basis to recommend granting the relief sought in this 
application. 

 

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THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: 

 

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not 
demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; that 
the application was denied without a personal appearance; and 


that 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-2011-03786 in Executive Session on 5 March 2012, under 
the provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 , Panel Chair 

 , Member 

 , Member 

 

The following documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 19 Sep 11, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant’s Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSDC, dated 3 Jan 12, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 13 Jan 12. 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair