RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        5 December 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060006012


      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 all of his Department of Veterans Affairs
rated disabilities be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation
(CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that the medical records he submits with his
application will verify that his disabilities are combat related.  He adds
that he served as an infantryman for 22 years, and was a mountaineer in
Alaska.  While he was a mountaineer, he hit his left inner leg against a
jagged edge of a mountain.  This accident bruised his main artery which
caused the artery to become blocked.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC
application, his separation document, statements from his former first
sergeant and company commander, and military medical records.  The medical
records show that the applicant was treated for painful calluses on both
feet, pain in his right shoulder 6 days after climbing a rope on an
obstacle course, and calf pain in conjunction with running.

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 Veterans
Administration (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, especially 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 1 March 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for CRSC for circulatory condition and foot condition (two
ratings).

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 especially hazardous
duties such as parachuting or scuba diving.

2.  The applicant has not submitted any documentation to show that any of
his VA rated disabilities were caused by an accident which occurred while
mountain climbing, or while doing anything else which would be considered
combat related.

3.  While the applicant was treated for calluses and ankle pain which
inhibited his ability to perform physically demanding activities, this
treatment does not show that these conditions were incurred in combat
related incidents.

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

____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                 |AR20060006012                           |
|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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