RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  28 June 2007
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060011015 


	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.  


Ms. Catherine C. Mitrano

Director

Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti

Analyst


The following members, a quorum, were present:


Mr. John T. Meixell

Chairperson

Mr. William F. Crain

Member

Mr. Dean A. Camarella

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 disabilities for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), tinnitus, and impaired hearing be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he was awarded a 30 percent disability rating for PTSD by the VA for an incident which occurred in Vietnam.  As for his disability ratings for tinnitus and hearing loss, he began his career as an artilleryman and participated in many field training exercises.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC application, his physical profile records showing he was given physical profile restrictions for his hearing, assignment orders showing that he was assigned to artillery units, his separation document for the period ending 28 February 1995, and an order showing that he changed military occupational specialties on 1 April 1979. 

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 20 June 2006, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) CRSC Branch denied the applicant’s request for CRSC.
3.  PTSD is a psychiatric illness that can occur following a traumatic event in which there was threat of injury or death to you or someone else.  PTSD may occur soon after a major trauma, or can be delayed for more than six months after the event.  When it occurs soon after the trauma it usually resolves after three months, but some people experience a longer-term form of the condition, which can last for many years.  PTSD can occur at any age and can follow a natural disaster such as flood or fire, or events such as war or imprisonment, assault, domestic abuse, or rape.  The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in the U.S. may have caused PTSD in some people who were involved, in people who witnessed the disaster, and in people who lost relatives and friends.  These kinds of events produce stress in anyone, but not everyone develops PTSD.  We do not know what causes PTSD, but psychological, genetic, physical, and social factors are involved.  PTSD alters the body’s response to stress by affecting stress hormones and neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit information between our nerves).  Previous exposure to trauma may increase the risk, which suggests that this kind of a reaction may be a learned response.  Having good social support helps to protect against developing PTSD.  In studies of Vietnam veterans, those with strong support systems were less likely to develop PTSD than those without social support.  People with PTSD re-experience the event again and again in at least one of several ways.  They may have recurrent distressing dreams and recollections of the event, a sense of reliving the experience (referred to as flashbacks), and/or become very distressed around the time of events that symbolize the event (such as anniversaries).  (MEDLINE PLUS)

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.  

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 is currently diagnosed as suffering from PTSD, he has not submitted any evidence to show that condition resulted from traumatic experiences while in Vietnam.  
3.  The applicant has not stated that there is a specific injury that caused his hearing loss or tinnitus.  He is essentially requesting CRSC based on the cumulative wear and tear of performing duties as an artilleryman.  In this regard, as stated above, a military retiree must establish a direct, causal relationship of the requested VA rated disabilities to war or the simulation of war to qualify for CRSC.  In other words, to qualify for CRSC an applicant must provide documentation which clearly demonstrates that his or her disability was incurred as a result of combat action, training exercises, or exceptionally hazardous duties.  Normally, medical records showing treatment for an injury or wound or other official records which reflect an injury or wound is required to satisfy this requirement.

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

___jtm___  ____dac_  ___wfc___  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.





_________John T. Meixell______
          CHAIRPERSON


INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060011015
SUFFIX

RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
250070628
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.