RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 6 October 2005
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20050001536
I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.
Mr. Carl W. S. Chun
Director
Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti
Analyst
The following members, a quorum, were present:
Mr. Curtis L. Greenway
Chairperson
Mr. Richard T. Dunbar
Member
Ms. Laverne V. Berry
Member
The Board considered the following evidence:
Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.
Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion, if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests that all of his two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rated disabilities be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states that he sustained all of his injuries while lifting heavy equipment in Vietnam, Korea, Panama and Germany. He contends that he was performing combat duty or was simulating combat when he sustained these injuries. He concludes that he spent his military career either in combat or simulating combat.
3. The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC application, his VA rating decision and excerpts from his military records.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant was honorably released from active duty for length of service on 28 February 1990 and placed on the Retired List the following day. The applicant was a master sergeant who held the military occupational specialties of administrative specialist and medical supply specialist.
2. Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), as established by Section 1413a, Title 10, United States Code, as amended, states that eligible members are those retirees who have 20 years of service for retired pay computation (or 20 years of service creditable for reserve retirement at age 60) and who have disabilities that are the direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous military duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. Such disabilities must be compensated by the VA and rated at least 10% disabling. For periods before 1 January 2004 (the date this statute was amended), members had to have disabilities for which they have been awarded the Purple Heart and are rated at least 10% disabled or who are rated at least 60% disabled as a direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. CRSC benefits are equal to the amount of VA disability compensation offset from retired pay based on those disabilities determined to be combat-related.
3. Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payment (CRDP), as established by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), provides a 10-year phase-out of the offset to military retired pay due to receipt of VA disability compensation for members whose combined disability rating is 50% or greater.
4. On 3 March 2004, the US Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) CRSC Branch approved the applicant for CRSC for diabetes mellitus, and disapproved the applicant for CRSC for shoulder condition (two ratings), limited motion of wrist (two ratings), degenerative joint disease for his knees and ankles (four ratings), limited motion of cervical spine, headaches, and flat foot condition.
5. In the processing of similar cases, advisory opinions were obtained from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD), Military Personnel Policy. The OUSD has maintained in these opinions that in order for a condition to be considered combat related, there must be evidence of the condition having a direct, causal relationship to war or the simulation of war.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. CRSC was passed into law as the first stage of an ongoing legislative initiative to eliminate the prohibition of military retirees from receiving VA disability benefits. Due to cost constraints, while all military retirees will eventually receive concurrent receipt of VA disability compensation, only those military retirees who have disabilities incurred in combat, or in conditions simulating combat (which includes hazardous duties), are eligible for CRSC.
2. As stated above, the CRSC criteria is specifically for those military retirees who have combat related disabilities. Incurring disabilities while in a theater of operations or while on a training exercise is not, in and of itself, sufficient to grant a military retiree CRSC. The military retiree must show that the disability was incurred while engaged in combat, while performing duties simulating combat conditions, or while performing specially hazardous duties such as parachuting or scuba diving.
3. The applicant has not submitted any evidence which would show that his VA rated disabilities are combat related.
4. The denial of the applicants request does not mean he will not be compensated for his service related disabilities. The denial means that he will not be compensated for his disabilities in the first group of military retirees being given this compensation.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___rtd___ ___lvb___ ____clg__ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
_________Curtis L. Greenway_______
CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
CASE ID
AR20050001536
SUFFIX
RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20051006
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE
YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION
DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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