RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        24 August 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060000881


      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. Jeanette R. McCants           |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Scott W. Faught               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Rowland C. Heflin             |     |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 hearing loss and tinnitus be approved for Combat-
Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that his hearing loss and tinnitus began when he
was assigned to artillery units at Fort Carson, Colorado, from June 1958 to
January 1960.  During that assignment, he was exposed to heavy artillery
weapons firing during field exercises under conditions simulating war.
However, he did not seek treatment for his hearing loss and tinnitus at
that time.  Therefore, there are no medical records that document his
hearing loss was the result of exposure to artillery fire.

3.  Shortly after his assignment to the artillery units, he began to have
physical profile limitations imposed for his hearing.  However, these
records were lost in Vietnam.

4.  The applicant provides seven exhibits, which he lists in his
application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The only military medical record submitted by the applicant that shows
hearing loss is his separation physical examination dated 6 April 1972.  In
that examination it was stated that the applicant had some decrease in high
frequency auditory acuity.

2.  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.

3.  On 21 July 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for CRSC.

4.  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 stated that he did not seek treatment for his hearing
loss and tinnitus when he was assigned to the artillery units, and there
are no medical records that document the physical profiles imposed for his
hearing loss after his assignment to the artillery units.

3.  A military retiree must establish a direct, causal relationship to the
requested VA rated disabilities to war or the simulation of war to qualify
for CRSC.  In other words, to qualify for CRSC an applicant must provide
documentation which clearly demonstrates that his or her disability was
incurred as a result of combat, training exercises, or exceptionally
hazardous duties.

4.  Since the applicant does not have any documentation  to  show  that  his
hearing loss and tinnitus was the result of his exposure to artillery  fire,
there is insufficient evidence in which to grant his request.


BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____jrm__  ___rch__  ____swf _  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.





                                  ______Jeanette R. McCants_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060000881                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060824                                |
|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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