RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 20 September 2005
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20050002584
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. James C. Hise | |Chairperson |
| |Mr. Thomas E. O'Shaughnessy | |Member |
| |Mr. Patrick H. McGann Jr. | |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 his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
rated disability for blindness in one eye and disfigurement of head, neck
and face be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states an enemy bullet hit a 2.75 MM rocket while he was
flying a mission in Vietnam. The bullet fragmented the rocket head and
pieces of it hit him in the eye, which caused blindness in that eye, and in
his face.
3. The applicant provides the denial of his CRSC application, orders for
his 14th award of the Air Medal, orders for the Purple Heart for wounds on
25 May 1966, a physical profile for the loss of his eye dated 31 August
1972, and his separation document.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant was honorably released from active duty in pay grade E-6
and placed on the Retired List for physical unfitness with 22 years, 5
months and 20 days of active service on 17 January 1973.
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. On 17 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
CRSC Branch determined that the applicant’s blindness in one eye and
disfigurement of head, neck and face were not combat related.
4. 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 disabilities while in a theater of
operations 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 applicant has not submitted any documentation to show that his
blindness or disfigurement are combat related. While he was awarded the
Purple Heart, the orders do not specify what type of wound that the
applicant incurred. Also, the applicant was given a physical profile for
his eye over 6 years after he was awarded the Purple Heart. While the
applicant has shown that he lost his eye while on active duty, he does not
submit any documentation to show what caused the loss of his eye.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___jch___ ___teo__ ____lhm _ 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.
__________James C. Hise__________
CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
|CASE ID |AR20050002584 |
|SUFFIX | |
|RECON |YYYYMMDD |
|DATE BOARDED |20050920 |
|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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