RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 28 June 2007
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060012240
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.
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 impaired hearing and loss of motion of his middle finger be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states that he was in artillery units throughout his military career, and no hearing protection was authorized for his military occupational specialty. As for his loss of motion of his middle finger, he states that he injured his finger during training on a bench grinder.
3. The applicant provides the denial of his request to reconsider his CRSC application and excerpts from his military personnel records.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant, a field artillery surveyor and computer/machine operator serving in pay grade E-7, was honorably released from active duty on 31 July 1981 for years of service and placed on the Retired List the following day.
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 wasnt 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 22 May 2006, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) CRSC Branch denied the applicants request for CRSC.
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. The applicant has not submitted any evidence which shows that his VA rated disability for hearing loss is combat related for CRSC purposes. He has specifically requested CRSC based on the cumulative wear and tear of performing artillery duties. In this regard, as stated above, a military retiree must establish a direct, causal relationship to the requested VA rated disability 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. This usually requires evidence of medical treatment for an injury or other official documentation.
3. As for the applicants request to approve his VA rated disability for loss of motion of his middle finger, an injury incurred on a grinder would not normally be considered combat related. As such, in the absence of evidence which would show that the injury was combat related, there is insufficient evidence in which to approve this condition for CRSC.
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
AR20060012240
SUFFIX
RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20070628
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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