RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        9 January 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060008335


      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. James E. Anderholm            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Jerome L. Pionk               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Scott W. Faught               |     |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 hypertension with anginal chest pain be approved for
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that his hypertension began when he was in
Vietnam.  While in Vietnam he was imprisoned while he was investigated for
manslaughter.  When he was released from imprisonment, he was sent back to
the jungle.  He states he was also on alert for deployment to Central
America.

3.  The applicant provides the partial denial of his request to reconsider
his CRSC application, a letter from his former commander, and a letter from
the applicant’s wife.

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 14 October 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA)
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch denied the applicant’s
request for CRSC for hypertension (20 percent).  However, the USAPDA CRSC
Branch approved the applicant for his knee condition (10 percent) and his
prostate gland condition (10 percent).
3.  In the letter submitted by the applicant’s former commander, the
commander outlined the unit’s mission and training and stated that the
applicant was hospitalized with “crushing pain in his chest and some
lightheadedness” when the unit was preparing for deployment.  The applicant
was diagnosed with severe hypertension at that time.

4.  In the letter from the applicant’s wife, she stated that the applicant
did not have hypertension before he went into the Army and opines that his
hypertension is due to his experiences in Vietnam.

5.  Hypertension means high blood pressure.  Blood pressure is determined
by the amount of blood pumped by the heart, and the size and condition of
the arteries.  Many other factors can affect blood pressure, including
volume of water in the body; salt content of the body; condition of the
kidneys, nervous system, or blood vessels; and levels of various hormones
in the body.  Essential hypertension has no identifiable cause.  It may be
caused by genetics, environmental factors, or even diet, such as how much
salt you use.  "Secondary" hypertension is high blood pressure caused by
another disorder. This may include: adrenal gland tumors, Cushing's
syndrome, kidney disorders, glomerulonephritis (inflammation of kidneys),
renal vascular obstruction or narrowing, renal failure, use of medications,
drugs, or other chemicals, oral contraceptives, hemolytic-uremic syndrome,
Henoch-Schonlein purpura, periarteritis nodosa, radiation enteritis,
retroperitoneal fibrosis, and Wilms' tumor.  (MEDLINE PLUS)

5.  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 believes that his hypertension was caused by the stress
of being incarcerated in Vietnam and being returned to the jungle.  In this
regard, being imprisoned while being investigated would not be considered
combat related.  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.  As for the applicant’s former commander’s statement, there is a
distinct difference between being hospitalized for exhibiting symptoms of a
condition during a training exercise and the training exercise causing the
condition.

4.  Both the applicant and his former commander have stated that stress led
to the applicant’s hypertension.  MEDLINE PLUS does not list stress as a
cause for hypertension.

5.  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

____jea__  ____jlp__  ___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.





            ______James E. Anderholm___________
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060008335                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070109                                |
|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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