RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 11 August 2005
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20050003530
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 |
| |Ms. Deborah Jacobs | |Member |
| |Mr. Michael J. Flynn | |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 hearing loss be approved for Combat-Related Special
Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states that during the last 3 months of WWII, he earned 3
battle stars. He explains that battle stars are awarded for 30 days of
service in a combat area. He continues that he was around a terrific
amount of artillery fire during those 3 months.
3. When he was discharged he did not realize that he had a hearing loss.
Over time his hearing slowly got worse. In 1992 he was diagnosed as having
a scar on his ear drum.
4. The applicant does not provide anything in support of his request.
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.
3. Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a
bronze service star (sometimes improperly referred to as battle stars),
based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this
regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on
the appropriate service medal. The length of a campaign varies from
campaign to campaign, ranging from months to years.
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 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 to show that he sustained
his hearing loss while engaged in combat. As such, there is insufficient
evidence in which to grant his request for CRSC.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___dj ___ ___jns___ ___mjf___ 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 |AR20050003530 |
|SUFFIX | |
|RECON |YYYYMMDD |
|DATE BOARDED |YYYYMMDD |
|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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