RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           13 December 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050008797


      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.  The applicant requests, in effect, that his Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) rated disability for rheumatic heart disease with articular
fibrillation and mitral insufficiency be approved for Combat-Related
Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that in April 1966, while supporting a search and
destroy mission in Vietnam, he had severe chest pain which resulted in his
being hospitalized for 10 days.  While he had a heart condition before he
went into combat, it was not considered serious enough to keep him from
being assigned to Vietnam.  He believes that the extreme heat and humidity
of Vietnam, the stress of a combat operation, and Agent Orange triggered
his heart malady.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application; a letter notifying him that regulations pertaining to service
connection for herbicide exposure were revised due to Agent Orange; and a
letter from a major general who gives a synopsis of the applicant’s
hospitalization for atrial fibrillation while in Vietnam.  The major
general adds that the applicant was allowed to remain with his unit in
Vietnam only because he worked directly for the Division Surgeon who
assumed responsibility for his treatment; his separation documents;
excerpts from his military records which include a consultation sheet dated
11 June 1966 which stated that the applicant “has a history of chronic
atrial fibrillation”; and a VA rating decision.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 23
April 1956.  He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in 1957.  In 1963 he
was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease with mitral stenosis.  In 1965
he was prescribed digitalis for his heart condition.

2.  The applicant, then a sergeant first class, served in Vietnam from 17
August 1965 to 18 June 1966.  He was assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division.  He first served as the
Division’s Chief Clerk and then as the Division’s Chief Medical
Noncommissioned Officer.

3.  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.

4.  On 30 December 2004, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for CRSC.

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.  The applicant has not stated that he was on a search and destroy
mission when he experienced severe chest pain which led to his
hospitalization in Vietnam.  He states that he was supporting a search and
destroy mission.  In view of the fact that the applicant worked directly
for the division surgeon and was assigned to the division headquarters, it
would appear unlikely that the applicant was actually part of the search
and destroy mission.  More than likely he was doing exactly what he stated
he was doing – supporting the mission in some manner.  As such, even if
there wasn’t evidence to show that he was treated for heart problems for 9
years prior to the attack, his heart condition would not be considered
combat related.  The applicant was simply doing his job at the time and was
not actively engaged in combat or the simulation of combat.

3.  Without evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the
applicant’s rheumatic heart disease with articular fibrillation and mitral
insufficiency 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

___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                 |AR20050008797                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |YYYYMMDD                                |
|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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