RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           15 September 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050002717


      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 N. Slone                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Eric N. Andersen              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Carol A. Kornhoff             |     |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 chronic lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc
disease be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he injured his back in February 1976 while
training for combat.  He adds that “it took 17 years and a US Senator to
get disability on my back, but it was rated at the time at forty percent.”

3.  The applicant provides the VA rating decision which grated him a 40
percent disability rating for chronic lumbosacral strain with degenerative
disc disease effective 27 October 2000.  In the VA rating decision it was
stated that the applicant served on active duty from 17 January 1961 to 9
November 1984.  The applicant also submits a statement from an individual
who stated that he “observed and herd (sic) [the applicant] give a yell
when he fell” in a fox hole when the applicant was going from the firing
pit to the launcher on a night fire mission which required lights out.

4.  Also provided by the applicant is selected excerpts from his military
medical records.  The first entry concerning the applicant’s back is dated
14 January 1976.  In that entry it was stated that the applicant “had
‘strained’ his back while on leave prior to coming to Korea when lifting
heavy objects while moving his family.”  None of the other medical records
provided by the applicant indicate that his back problems were due to
anything other than what he reported on 14 January 1976.

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.  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 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.

2.  While the applicant has submitted a statement from an individual who
states that he saw and heard the applicant fall into a fox hole, the
medical documentation submitted by the applicant shows that fall was not
the cause of his back problems.  He injured his back on leave while lifting
heavy objects.  An injury incurred in such a manner is not combat related.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___cak__  ___ena __  ___jns___  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 N. Slone__________
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050002717                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050915                                |
|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]