RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           1 September 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050003543


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

2.  The applicant states that all of his VA rated disabilities are due to
Agent Orange exposure.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request for reconsideration of
his initial CRSC denial; a VA disability rating decision which lists six
disabilities under the service connected section (none of which mention
Agent Orange), and which lists six disabilities under the non-service
connected section (three which are listed as due to exposure to Agent
Orange); an Agent Orange examination which states the applicant has a
history of Agent Orange exposure but had an essentially normal Agent Orange
examination except for severe furunculosis of his face, neck and back for
which chloracne could not be ruled out; a letter dated 2 March 1990 which
stated that the applicant was eligible for participation in the Agent
Orange Payment Program as 100 percent disabled; and military medical
records which show that the applicant was treated for cystic acne while he
was on active duty.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  On 3 January 2005, the US Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) CRSC
Branch denied the applicant’s request for reconsideration of the denial of
CRSC for his spinal disc condition, eye condition, dermatitis or eczema,
and tinnitus.

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.    In accordance with the VA, current conditions considered presumptive
to exposure to Agent Orange are:

 - Chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne (a skin
eruption resembling acne and resulting from exposure to chlorine or its
compounds).

 - Hodgkin's disease.(a neoplastic disease that is characterized by
progressive enlargement of lymph nodes, spleen, and liver and by
progressive anemia).

 - Multiple myeloma. (a disease of bone marrow that is characterized by the
presence of numerous myelomas in various bones of the body).

 - Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (any of the numerous malignant lymphomas [as
Burkitt's lymphoma] that are not classified as Hodgkin's disease and that
usually have malignant cells derived from B cells or T cells).

 - Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy. (a disease or degenerative
state [as polyneuropathy] of the peripheral nerves in which motor, sensory,
or vasomotor nerve fibers may be affected and which is marked by muscle
weakness and atrophy, pain, and numbness).

 - Porphyria cutanea tarda. (a common porphyria that is marked by an excess
of uroporphyrin caused by an enzyme deficiency chiefly of the liver and
that is characterized especially by skin lesions produced by exposure to
light, scarring, hyperpigmentation, and hypertrichosis).

 - Prostate cancer.

 - Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea).

 - Soft-tissue sarcoma (a malignant neoplasm arising in tissue of
mesodermal origin [as connective tissue, bone, cartilage, or striated
muscle] that spreads by extension into neighboring tissue or by way of the
bloodstream).

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.  CRSC was passed into law as the first stage of an ongoing legislative
initiative to eliminate the prohibition of military retirees from receiving
VA disability benefits.  Due to cost constraints, while all military
retirees will eventually receive concurrent receipt of VA disability
compensation, only those military retirees who have disabilities incurred
in combat, or in conditions simulating combat (which includes hazardous
duties), are eligible for CRSC.

2.  As stated above, 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.

3.  The applicant’s VA disability rating decision listed three disabilities
under the non-service connected section which were said to be due to
exposure to Agent Orange.  Since disabilities which are due to exposure to
Agent Orange would certainly be considered service connected, the Board
would require the original or a certified copy of the original before this
document would be accepted as evidence.

4.  The applicant’s Agent Orange examination stated the applicant has a
history of Agent Orange exposure but had an essentially normal Agent Orange
examination except for severe furunculosis of his face, neck and back for
which chloracne could not be ruled out.  While furunculosis is not a
presumptive Agent Orange condition, chloracne is a presumptive condition.
Unfortunately, the applicant has not submitted any evidence to show that he
was diagnosed with chloracne.

5.  Also noted is the fact that the applicant’s military medical records
show that he was treated for cystic acne which he was on active duty, not
chloracne.

6.  In view of the preceding conclusions, there is insufficient
documentation to grant the applicant’s request to approve his spinal disc
condition, eye condition, dermatitis or eczema, and tinnitus as combat
related.


7.  The denial of the applicant’s request does not mean he will not be
compensated for his service related disabilities.  The denial means that he
will not be compensated for his disabilities in the first group of military
retirees being given this compensation.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___sk ___  ___rtd___  ____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                 |AR20050003543                           |
|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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