RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           18 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050003954


      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. Linda D. Simmons              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Kenneth W. Lapin              |     |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 dysthymic disorder be approved for Combat-Related
Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that in January 1947 he was treated for
psychological problems related to his Marine Corps service performed
between December 1941 and January 1946.  When he returned from Vietnam he
was treated for a sickness which was classified as disease unknown.  He was
again treated for emotional problems and the suggestion was made to retire
by his superiors.

3.  As a civilian, his departure from his job in 1985 was not his decision,
but due to problems with his attitude and a “small drinking problem.”  He
has remained unemployed since that time and has moved twice.  He has been
treated for mental problems by the VA since 1995.

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

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 30 September
1969 in the rank of lieutenant colonel and placed on the retired list the
following day.  He was a medical service corps officer.

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.  On 19 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s impaired hearing and tinnitus were combat related and awarded
him a total combat related disability of 50 percent.  However, the USAPDA
CRSC Branch disapproved the applicant’s request to classify his dysthymic
disorder and degenerative arthritis as combat related.

4.  Dysthymic disorder is a chronic form of depression, characterized by
moods that are consistently low, but not as extreme as other types of
depression.  The exact cause of dysthymia is unknown.  Although the
symptoms are not as severe as those of other forms of depression, affected
people struggle nearly every day with low self-esteem, despair, and
hopelessness.  Like all forms of depression, dysthymia occurs more
frequently in women than in men and affects up to 5% of the general
population.  Dysthymia can occur alone or in conjunction with more severe
depression or other mood or psychiatric disorders.  (MEDLINE PLUS).

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.  While no evidence has been submitted to substantiate the applicant’s
contentions, even if he did receive the mental health and psychiatric
treatment he describes, it would not establish combat relationship for his
dysthymic disorder, a depressive disorder of unknown cause.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jns___  ___kwl__  ___lds___  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                 |AR20050003954                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051018                                |
|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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