RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           1 September 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050002666


      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. Stanley Kelley                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Barbara J. Ellis              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Richard T. Dunbar             |     |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 disabilities for limited motion of arm (20 percent) and bursitis (10
percent) be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he injured his left shoulder during a 1,500
meter surface swim in the Atlantic Ocean in rough seas which he was wearing
a face mask, snorkel and fins.  His injury caused him to be dropped from
Combat Diver’s Course and led to surgical intervention by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) on 26 March 2004.  Be contends that any disability
incurred during the Combat Diver’s Course meets the criteria of law for
CRSC.

3.  The applicant provides the partial denial of his CRSC application, a VA
disability rating decision, orders showing that he attended the Combat
Diver’s Course, a description of the Combat Diver’s Course, and two pages
from his military medical records.  The first page of the medical record is
dated 26 June 1984.  In that record it is recorded that the applicant was
experiencing pain in his left shoulder that began the night before.
Decompression sickness was first suspected and ruled out.  The final
diagnosis was acute bursitis and muscle strain due to constant extension of
left arm during surface swim.  The second page of the medical record is
dated 1 August 1984.  During that examination the applicant reported that
he hit his left shoulder while scuba diving a month before.  The physician
conducting the examination sent the applicant for x-rays to rule out an
injury, degenerative joint disease and joint separation.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  On 13 January 2005, the US Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
CRSC Branch partially denied the applicant’s request for reconsideration of
the denial of CRSC for his bursitis and limited motion of arm.  The
applicant did not challenge the denial of his dermatitis or eczema (rated
10 percent).

2.  However, the USAPDA CRSC branch approved the applicant for CRSC for
lumbosacral or cervical strain (20 percent); tendon inflammation (20
percent); limited motion of ankle (10 percent) (two separate awards under
this code); condition of the skeletal system (10 percent); limited motion
of wrist (10 percent); knee condition (10 percent) (two separate awards
under this code); and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (10 percent).  This
resulted in a combined CRSC rating of 70 percent.

3.  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.

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 Board has held that incurring a disability while in a theater of
operations is not, in and of itself, sufficient to grant a military retiree
CRSC.  Likewise, incurring a disability while on a training exercise is
not, in of itself, sufficient to grant a military retiree CRSC.

2.  There is no evidence or indication that the applicant reported being
injured the day after he developed pain in his shoulder.  The physician who
examined him at that time diagnosed him as having acute bursitis and muscle
strain due to constant extension of left arm during a surface swim.

3.  During the examination a month later, the applicant reported that he
hit his left shoulder while scuba diving a month before.  However, it would
appear that the treating physician believed that the applicant’s shoulder
pain was due to reasons other than trauma, based on the physician’s
statement that he had to rule out an injury, degenerative joint disease and
joint separation prior to making a diagnosis.

4. In the absence of additional medical records to prove otherwise, the
preponderance of evidence indicates that the applicant did not injure his
shoulder.  He simply developed bursitis which resulted in limited use of
his arm.

6.  The manifestation of bursitis while swimming, even during a Combat
Diver’s Course, is not considered combat related for the purpose of CRSC.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___rtd___  ___sk___  ____bje__  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.





            _________Stanley Kelley__________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050002666                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050901                                |
|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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