RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        7 November 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060004445


      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. Patrick H. McGann Jr.         |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Richard G. Sayre              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. David K. Haasenritter         |     |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 essential hypertension be approved for
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that his medical record and physical profile
should link his essential hypertension to parachute duty, which is
hazardous service.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application; a DA Form 3349, Medical Condition – Physical Profile Record,
dated 22 February 1971; and a medical note which shows that the applicant
was diagnosed with essential hypertension and given a physical profile for
that condition, to include a prohibition on parachuting.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular
Army on 23 August 1947, was awarded the military occupational specialty of
cook, and was awarded the Glider Badge.  He continued to serve on active
duty as a cook, was awarded the Senior Parachutist Badge, and was promoted
to pay grade E-7.

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 January 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch approved the applicant’s
20 percent disability rating for diabetes mellitus for CRSC.  However, the
USAPDA CRSC Branch denied the applicant’s request for CRSC for
hypertension.

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.

5.  Essential hypertension refers to high blood pressure with no
identifiable cause.  High blood pressure, also called hypertension, occurs
when the systolic pressure is consistently over 140 mm Hg, or the diastolic
blood pressure is consistently over 90 mm Hg.  Blood pressure is determined
by the amount of blood pumped, by the actions of the heart, and by the size
and condition of the arteries.  Many other factors can affect blood
pressure including the water volume in the body; salt content of the body;
condition of the kidneys, nervous system, or blood vessels; and various
hormone levels in the body.  African-Americans of both sexes and Caucasian
males have a higher rate of significant hypertension.  While essential
hypertension has no correctable cause, some genetic factors have been
identified.  (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.  The applicant has not stated that a particular injury caused his VA
rated disability for essential hypertension.  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.  While the evidence of record conclusively shows that the applicant was
a parachutist and was taken off parachute duty due to essential
hypertension, these facts do not indicate that the hypertension was combat
related.
4.  Without evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the
applicant’s VA rated disabilities 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

___dkh__  ___rgs___  ___phm_  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.




                                  ________Patrick H. McGann Jr._____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060004445                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061107                                |
|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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