RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           22 November 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050006303


      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. Thomas A. Pagan               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Eric N. Andersen              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Joe R. Schroeder              |     |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 disabilities for tinnitus and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he was diagnosed with these conditions when
he was in a combat zone.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application, his separation documents, a VA rating decision, and the
following records pertaining to his VA rated disabilities:

      a.  a Standard Form 513, Consultation Sheet, dated 30 April 1998,
which shows that the applicant was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with
depressed mood.  The psychiatrist stated that the applicant reported that
his deployment to Bosnia included a lock-down which was stressful, and that
he had chronic sleep difficulty and on-going irritability.  The
psychiatrist concluded that there was no evidence of thought disorders or
psychotic features, that the applicant’s overall health was alright, but
his health had deteriorated with age.  The psychiatrist recommended that
the applicant be tested for age related cognitive decline;

      b.  a DA Form 2173, Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status,
which shows that the applicant was treated for disequilibrium, tinnitus and
hearing loss after an upper respiratory infection while in Bosnia; and

      c.  a VA psychiatrist statement which attests that the applicant has
PTSD, and has ongoing symptoms of anxiety, depression, isolation, intrusive
thoughts, guilt, and insomnia due to trauma-based nightmares.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant, serving as a Reservist in pay grade E-4, served on
active duty from 6 December 1990 to 6 April 1991 in support of Operation
Desert Storm.

2.  The applicant was promoted to pay grade E-6 after he was returned to
his Reserve unit.

3.  On 11 September 1997, the applicant was ordered to active duty in
support of Operation Joint Endeavor/Guard, served in Hungary and Bosnia,
and was honorably released from active duty on 13 May 1998.
4.  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.

5.  On 23 December 2004, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for CRSC.

6.  PTSD is a psychiatric illness that can occur following a traumatic
event in which there was threat of injury or death to you or someone else.
PTSD may occur soon after a major trauma, or can be delayed for more than
six months after the event.  When it occurs soon after the trauma it
usually resolves after three months, but some people experience a longer-
term form of the condition, which can last for many years.  PTSD can occur
at any age and can follow a natural disaster such as flood or fire, or
events such as war or imprisonment, assault, domestic abuse, or rape.  The
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in the U.S. may have caused PTSD in
some people who were involved, in people who witnessed the disaster, and in
people who lost relatives and friends.  These kinds of events produce
stress in anyone, but not everyone develops PTSD.  We do not know what
causes PTSD, but psychological, genetic, physical, and social factors are
involved.  PTSD alters the body’s response to stress by affecting stress
hormones and neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit information between
our nerves).  Previous exposure to trauma may increase the risk, which
suggests that this kind of a reaction may be a learned response.  Having
good social support helps to protect against developing PTSD.  In studies
of Vietnam veterans, those with strong support systems were less likely to
develop PTSD than those without social support.  People with PTSD re-
experience the event again and again in at least one of several ways.  They
may have recurrent distressing dreams and recollections of the event, a
sense of reliving the experience (referred to as flashbacks), and/or become
very distressed around the time of events that symbolize the event (such as
anniversaries).  (MEDLINE PLUS)

7.  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 the applicant is currently diagnosed as suffering from PTSD, he
has not submitted any evidence to show that condition resulted from
traumatic experiences while deployed.  To the contrary, during the
applicant’s examination in Bosnia, he was diagnosed with adjustment
disorder with depressed mood.  While he did report that being locked down
while deployed was stressful, he did not mention any traumatic experience
whatsoever.

3.  As for the applicant’s tinnitus, the records show that he developed
tinnitus from an upper respiratory infection.  The infection itself is not
combat related and, 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.

4.  Without evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the
applicant’s VA rated disabilities to war or the simulation of war, there is
insufficient basis in which to grant his request.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jrs ___  ___ena__  ___tap__  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.





            ________Thomas A. Pagan__________
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050006303                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051122                                |
|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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