RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 6 October 2005
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20050002039
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 both of his Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) rated disabilities be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation
(CRSC).
2. The applicant states that the Veterans Administration Schedule for
Rating Disabilities (VASRD) code assigned for his disability is incorrect.
He was injured during parachute training which is documented in the
evidence he submits in support of his application.
3. The applicant lists the documents he provides in support of his
request. One of these documents is a Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA)
decisional document dated 11 April 1983. In that decisional document it
was recorded that the applicant had claimed that he had an existing prior
to service (EPTS) knee condition that was substantially aggravated when he
jumped off a platform during airborne training in September 1967. Military
medical records showed that on 28 September 1967, the applicant was seen
for complaints including pain, swelling and grating of the right knee,
since entering airborne training. In October 1967 the applicant reported
that two weeks previously, while running, his knee had become swollen and
painful.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. 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.
2. On 25 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s traumatic arthritis was not combat related and denied his
request for CRSC.
3. 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. The CRSC criteria is specifically for those military retirees who have
combat related disabilities. Incurring a disability while in a theater of
operations or during 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.
2. The BVA decisional document shows that the applicant re-injured his
knee while running, not when he jumped off a platform. Injuries incurred
during strength and endurance training would not be considered combat
related.
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 |AR20050002039 |
|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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