RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           21 July 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050002623


      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. John Infante                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Robert J. Osborn              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Brenda K. Koch                |     |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.  In effect, the applicant requests that his Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) rated disability for hearing loss be approved for Combat-
Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he lost his hearing during the Korean War on
Heart Break Ridge while serving as an artillery sergeant.  He lost more of
his hearing during two tours of Vietnam.  He was awarded a 100 percent
disability rating by the VA for his hearing loss.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his CRSC application, an enlisted
evaluation report, and VA ratings.  His enlisted evaluation report stated
that the applicant’s “physical condition is excellent in all areas except
hearing.  He is sometimes impaired by his poor hearing.”

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was placed on the Retired List on 1 July 1975 after
serving 24 years, 4 months and 1 day of active duty.  His separation
document shows that he was a field artillery senior sergeant and served two
tours in Vietnam.  He retired in the rank of master sergeant.

2.  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 21 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s prostate gland condition was combat related and awarded his 10
percent CRSC.  The USAPDA CRSC Branch determined that the applicant’s
impaired hearing, traumatic arthritis and hypertension were not combat
related and denied his request for CRSC for those conditions.

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 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.  While the applicant has submitted evidence that he had hearing loss
while he was on active duty, he has not submitted any evidence that it was
due to a combat related event.  Evidence must be submitted to show that the
applicant’s hearing loss was due to a specific event which was combat
related for that condition to be approved for CRSC.



4.  The denial of the applicant’s 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

___bkk__  ___ji ____  ____rjo__  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.





            _________John Infante___________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050002623                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050721                                |
|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.                      |                                        |




-----------------------
[pic]