RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           22 December 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050009710


      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. Ted S. Kanamine               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Robert L. Duecaster           |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Jeanette B. McPherson         |     |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 injured his forearm while he was training
as a tank commander.  His hypertension is due to the stress of wartime
service.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application, a VA rating decision, and a medical record narrative summary.
In that summary it was stated that the applicant reported that at age 14 he
threw a baseball and noted a snapping sensation in his right elbow.  Since
then he has avoided throwing a ball and has had difficulty with the elbow
on and off.  However, the applicant believed that his pain was due to a
blow to his elbow received while training two months before.  The applicant
reported that “This occurred inside a tank and was associated with pain and
swelling.”

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 9 May 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) Combat
Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s request
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 only evidence the applicant submits is the one medical record
narrative summary.  In that summary it is stated that the applicant had a
childhood injury to his elbow.  It was also stated that the applicant
reinjured his elbow while in a tank.  However, the summary does not
indicate how the injury occurred or under what circumstances it occurred.

3.  The fact that the applicant injured his elbow in a tank does not in and
of itself establish the resultant disability as combat related for CRSC
purposes.  The applicant has stated that he was a tank commander.  He
performed his normal military duties in a tank.  In order to establish
combat relationship for CRSC purposes, the applicant must provide evidence
to establish a direct, causal relationship to his elbow injury to war or
the simulation of war.

4.  As for the applicant’s hypertension, as stated above, 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.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___tsm__  ___jbm__  ___rld____  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.





            _________Ted S. Kanamine______
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050009710                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051222                                |
|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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