RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 5 December 2006
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060005349
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. Linda D. Simmons | |Chairperson |
| |Mr. Patrick H. McGann Jr. | |Member |
| |Mr. Donald W. Steenfott | |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 herniated disc and heart attack be
approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states that these disabilities were incurred under combat
training conditions.
3. The applicant provides a Standard Form 600, Chronological Record of
Medical Care, which shows that on 8 October 1991, he was treated for lower
back pain and a loss of feeling in his left leg. The applicant reported at
that time that he had this pain since he had been hospitalized for the same
condition 7 months earlier. The Standard Form 600 also records that the
applicant had been in the field for 2 weeks prior to him seeking medical
treatment.
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. 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 SF 600 submitted by the applicant merely shows that he was treated
for lower back pain and a loss of feeling in his left leg, which he had
experienced for the 7 months after his hospitalized for the same condition.
While the applicant may have just returned from field duty when he sought
medical treatment, there is no evidence or indication that an injury while
simulating war during his field duty caused either of his medical
conditions. To the contrary, the applicant’s reported 7 month history of
the same pain clearly establishes that it existed prior to his field duty.
3. 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
___lds___ ____phm_ ___dws__ 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.
_________Linda D. Simmons_______
CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
|CASE ID |AR20060005349 |
|SUFFIX | |
|RECON |YYYYMMDD |
|DATE BOARDED |20061205 |
|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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