RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        3 August 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060001445


      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. Margaret K. Patterson         |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Michael J. Flynn              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Gerald J. Purcell             |     |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 disability for tinnitus be approved for Combat-Related Special
Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant asks that his tinnitus be presumptively recognized based
on his three tours in Vietnam.  He states that his hearing was good before
he went to Vietnam and was bad after he came back from Vietnam.  He adds
that his hearing was tested in 1965 because he was experiencing ringing in
his ears from machine gun fire and explosives.  In 1966 he had to get a
waiver for his hearing profile to be appointed as a warrant officer.  The
applicant then describes events which he believes aggravated his tinnitus,
and asks the question where did he lose his hearing if not in Vietnam?

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application, military medical records showing that he was given physical
profile limitations because of hearing loss, and VA rating decisions.

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 29 December 2004, 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.

4.  Tinnitus is the medical term for "hearing" noises in your ears when
there is no outside source of the sounds.  The noises you hear can be soft
or loud.  They may sound like ringing, blowing, roaring, buzzing, hissing,
humming, whistling, or sizzling.  You may even think you are hearing air
escaping, water running, the inside of a seashell, or musical notes.
Tinnitus is common.  Almost everyone experiences a mild form of tinnitus
once in awhile that only lasts a few minutes.  However, constant or
recurring tinnitus is stressful and can interfere with your ability to
concentrate or sleep.  It is not known exactly what causes a person to
"hear" sounds with no outside source of the noise.  However, tinnitus can
be a symptom of almost any ear problem, including ear infections, foreign
objects or wax in the ear, and injury from loud noises.  Alcohol, caffeine,
antibiotics, aspirin, or other drugs can also cause ear noises.  Tinnitus
may occur with hearing loss.  Occasionally, it is a sign of high blood
pressure, an allergy, or anemia.  Rarely, tinnitus is a sign of a serious
problem like a tumor or aneurysm  (MEDLINE PLUS).

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 describes incidents which he believes aggravated
his hearing loss, he has not stated that a particular injury caused his VA
rated disability for tinnitus.  As stated above, the fact that a disability
was incurred in a theater of operations or during a training exercise is
insufficient, in and of itself, to warrant approval of CRSC.


3.  Tinnitus can be caused by numerous things.  Many of the things that
cause tinnitus are not related to loud noises.  Without evidence that the
applicant’s tinnitus was caused by machinegun fire and/or explosives, there
is insufficient evidence to grant his request.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___mjf__  ____mkp_  ___gjp___  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.





                                  ______Margaret K. Patterson____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060001445                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060803                                |
|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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