RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           26 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050003651


      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. Vick                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Conrad V. Meyer               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Linda M. Baker                |     |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 he didn’t have sinus problems or asthma prior
to his service in the Persian Gulf.  He participated in the Department of
Defense Gulf War Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program and was
diagnosed with sinus problems and asthma, which were said to be “as a
result of my involvement in the Gulf War.”

3.  He states that his shoulder disability was caused by his loading cases
of ammunition and explosives on a helicopter after completing a combat
mission during Operation Enduring Freedom.

4.  He states that his tinnitus was caused by his exposure to the noise of
the airfield while in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

5.  The applicant provides the partial denial of his request to reconsider
his CRSC application and excerpts from his military and VA medical records.

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.  On 17 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was combat related and
awarded him 50 percent CRSC.  However, the USAPDA CRSC Branch denied his
request for CRSC for nasal swelling, asthma, degenerative arthritis, and
tinnitus.

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 has stated that he incurred his nasal condition and
asthma as a result of him being in the Persian Gulf.  This is not in and of
itself sufficient to approve these two conditions for CRSC.  He has stated
that he injured his shoulder while loading ammunition after completing a
combat mission.  That scenario would appear to show that the applicant was
performing his normal duties and was not actually in combat at the time of
injury.  Therefore, the shoulder injury would not be considered combat
related.  As for the applicant’s tinnitus, absent any evidence of noise
trauma, what caused the condition is speculation.  Since this does not
establish a direct, causal relationship to war, there is no basis for
approving this condition for CRSC.

3.  It is noted that the applicant has already been approved for 50 percent
CRSC.  This denial simply means he will not receive any additional CRSC
benefits.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jev __  ___cvm _  ____lmb_  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. Vick________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003651                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051026                                |
|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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