RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           1 November 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050003561


      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. James E. Anderholm            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas D. Howard Jr.          |     |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 limited motion of his lumbar spine be approved for
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he injured his back when he was chalking the
load underneath a helicopter in Vietnam when the blades of the helicopter
struck a tower which resulted in the helicopter going down.  He ran from
underneath the helicopter but when the helicopter blade struck the ground,
it broke off and hit him in the back, which threw him several feet.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application along with associated correspondence; documentation showing
that he was treated for abrasions and contusions to his chest, abdomen and
both arms he sustained as a result of jumping out of the way of a
helicopter in Vietnam; and his separation document.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), as established by Section
1413a, Title 10, United States Code, as amended, provides for the payment
of the amount of money a military retiree would receive from the VA for
combat related disabilities if it wasn’t for the statutory prohibition for
a military retiree to receive a VA disability pension.  Payment is made by
the Military Department, not the VA, and is tax free.  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.  Military retirees who are approved
for CRSC must have waived a portion of their military retired pay since
CRSC consists of the Military Department returned a portion of the waived
retired pay to the military retiree.

2.  On 14 December 2004, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for reconsideration of its denial of his CRSC request.

3.  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 did not state he was injured in combat and there is no
indication that he was in combat when he was injured.  As stated above, the
fact that a disability was incurred in a theater of operations is
insufficient, in and of itself, to warrant approval of CRSC.

3.  In addition, the medical records submitted by the applicant do not show
that the applicant injured his back while in Vietnam.  As such, there is
insufficient evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the
limited motion of the applicant’s lumbar spine to war or the simulation of
war, the criteria for award of CRSC.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__jea____  ___teo__  ___cak___  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.





            _________James E. Anderholm_______
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003561                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |200501101                               |
|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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