RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           6 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050002743


      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 his two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
rated disabilities for traumatic arthritis be approved for Combat-Related
Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he has been led to believe that his request
for CRSC was disapproved because he could not cite a single event which
caused his disabilities.  However, traumatic arthritis can be caused by
repeated minor injuries such as walking, running and jumping.  He contends
that the numerous parachute jumps he made carrying heavy loads and carrying
those heavy loads long distances over every conceivable type of terrain
during the 11 years he served on a Special Forces Team caused his traumatic
arthritis.  Since those activities were simulating war, his traumatic
arthritis should be approved for CRSC.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his CRSC application, his
individual jump record, his DD Form 214, and VA medical records.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  On 31 July 1994, the applicant, a Regular Army Soldier in pay grade E-
8, was honorably released from active duty and placed on the Retired List
for years of service the following day.  He held the military occupational
specialties of special forces senior noncommissioned officer and signals
intelligence/electronic warfare chief.

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 28 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.

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 or in training exercises 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 evidence which would show that his
traumatic arthritis is combat related.

3.  The applicant’s traumatic arthritis could have been caused by any
number of things which were not combat related.  This precludes the award
of CRSC to him based solely on his military duties.

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                 |AR20050002743                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051003                                |
|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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