RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           19 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050003070


      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:

|     |Ms. Barbara J. Ellis              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Hubert O. Fry Jr.             |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |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 tinnitus and post-operative post-traumatic arthritis
of his right wrist be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation
(CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that during his first enlistment he was in a fire
fight in Vietnam which resulted in a hearing injury.  He was receiving a VA
disability for his hearing and required a waiver of his hearing loss to
reenlist.  As for his post-operative post-traumatic arthritis of his right
wrist, his wrist was also injured in Vietnam and was not properly treated
at that time resulting in subsequent surgical repair.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application, his DD Forms 214 and VA medical records.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 15 January 1968, was
awarded the military occupational specialty of wheel vehicle repairman,
served in Vietnam from 7 June 1968 to 26 August 1970, and was promoted to
pay grade E-5.  He was honorably released from active duty on 26 August
1970.

2.  The applicant had a break in service until his reenlistment in the
Regular Army on 16 June 1980.  He served continuously from that date until
his release from active duty on 31 January 1999 for years of service.  He
was placed on the Retired List in pay grade E-8 the following day.

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.  On 10 February 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s spinal disc condition was combat related and awarded him 40
percent CRSC for that condition.  However, the USAPDA CRSC Branch
determined that the applicant’s VA ratings for limited motion of ankle,
limited motion of wrist (post-operative post-traumatic arthritis of his
right wrist), hiatal hernia, residuals of foot injury, and osteomalacia
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.  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
post-operative post-traumatic arthritis of his right wrist or his hearing
loss are combat related.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___hof___  ___rr ___  ___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.





            _________Barbara J. Ellis__________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003070                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051019                                |
|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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