IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 15 July 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090021178
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests, in effect, that he be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states the following:
a. all of his service connected issues meet the criteria for CRSC, they were
incurred during military service, and they were caused by a combat related situation;
b. as an instructor, he incurred disabilities while conducting hazardous
military training exercises, simulating war to troop mobilization activities in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq; and
c. his injuries occurred during a night convoy under hazardous conditions
while simulating war.
3. The applicant provides the following documents in support of his application:
* Memorandum dated 4 June 2008
* Self authored statement
* six DA Forms 2173 (Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status)
* DA Form 3349 (Physical Profile)
* DA Form 199 (Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) Proceeding)
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Combat-Related Special Compensation, as established by Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1413a, 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 were not 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-percent 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-percent disabled or who are rated at least 60-percent 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. Records show the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, CRSC Branch denied the applicants request for reconsideration of his previous CRSC request.
3. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) also determined the following conditions did not meet the criteria for award of CRSC benefits:
* Intervertebral Disc Syndrome L Spine
* Degenerative Arthritis of the Spine/C-Spine
* Panic Disorder and/or Agoraphobia
* Shoulder Condition-Right Shoulder
4. There is no evidence in the available record which shows the above medical conditions were sustained as a direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war.
5. The Under Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy has provided policy guidance on the processing of CRSC appeals. In that guidance it was stated 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 applicant contends that all of his service connected issues meet the criteria for CRSC.
2. The CRSC criteria is specifically for those military retirees who have combat- related disabilities. Disabilities that were incurred 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.
3. Although the applicant contends his service connected disabilities were combat related and/or a result of simulation of war activities thereby meeting the criteria for CRSC, he has not provided sufficient evidence to support this claim. 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.
4. Without evidence to establish a direct causal relationship of the applicants disabilities to war or the simulation of war there is insufficient basis in which to grant his request.
5. In view of the above, the applicants request should be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___X____ ____X___ ____X___ 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.
___________X_____________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090021178
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090021178
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