RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           13 December 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050007804


      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:

|     |Ms. Shirley L. Powell             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Melvin H. Meyer               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Allen L. Raub                 |     |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.  In effect, the applicant requests that his Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) rated disability for hearing loss and tinnitus be approved for
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that while he was in Vietnam, he was constantly
exposed to artillery fire and loud generators.  VA physicians believe that
these noises caused his tinnitus.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his CRSC application, a physical
profile for his hearing dated 26 July 1979, and medical records pertaining
to his hearing.  One medical record from Hearing Solutions, Incorporated,
dated 6 April 2005, stated that “The sensorineural hearing loss and
tinnitus are more likely than not a result of noise exposure while in
combat service.”

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 returning a portion of the waived
retired pay to the military retiree.




2.  On 24 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the
applicant’s impaired hearing, limited flexion of his knee, and his gout are
not combat related.  However, the USAPDA CRSC Branch approved the
applicant’s VA rated disability for diabetes mellitus (20%) for CRSC.

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 OUSD advisory opinions indicate that CRSC is generally intended for
military retirees who can show that their disabilities were caused by a
specific incident which has been made a matter of record.  In the
applicant’s case, there is no evidence or indication that any specific
event caused his hearing loss or tinnitus.  Without evidence of a specific
event which caused the applicant’s hearing loss or tinnitus, there is no
basis for approving this condition for CRSC.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__alr____  ___mhm_  ___slp___  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.





            ________Shirley L. Powell______________
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050007804                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051213                                |
|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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