IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 22 July 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100001026
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 that his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-rated disabilities for his right knee and right femur be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
2. The applicant states he believes his consideration for CRSC should have been based on his right knee and right femur instead of his dysthymic disorder. He further states that his right knee and right femur conditions are combat related because he first injured his right knee at Fort Benning, Georgia, simulating war and the second time he injured it was in Germany simulating war.
3. The applicant provides:
* CRSC Final Reconsideration Request - Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA) letter
* Advanced Individual Training Diploma
* DD Form 2860 (Claim for CRSC)
* DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty)
* Standard Form 502 (Clinical Record - Narrative Summary)
* two Standard Forms 513 (Clinical Record - Consultation Sheet)
* Standard Form 600 (Health Record - Chronological Record of Medical Care)
* Standard Form 519 (Clinical Record - Radiographic Reports)
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant's military records show he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve for 3 years on 30 June 1975. On 21 September 1976, he enlisted in the Regular Army. He completed initial entry training, was awarded the military occupational specialty of infantryman, and was promoted to pay grade E-4. He was honorably released from active duty on 21 February 1980 and placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List the following day. On 31 December 1981, he was permanently retired.
2. A Standard Form 502 contained in the applicant's medical records shows he was evaluated in January 1979 for symptoms of chondromalacia (abnormal softness of cartilage) of the right side. The form states he was treated conservatively and the symptoms in his knee regressed.
3. A Standard Form 519-B (Radiological Consultation Request/Report), dated 4 October 1990, contained in his records shows that he had a well-healed fracture regarding his right femur and his right knee had no fracture or dislocation. It shows his right knee was negative for trauma.
4. CRSC, as established by Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1413a, as amended, states that eligible members are retired veterans with combat-related injuries who meet all of the following criteria:
* Active, Reserve, or National Guard with 20 years of creditable service, or permanent medical retiree, or Temporary Early Retirement Authority retiree
* receiving military retired pay
* have 10 percent or greater VA-rated injury
* military retired pay is reduced by VA disability payments (VA Waiver)
and who are able to provide documentary evidence that their injury was a result of one of the following:
* training that simulates war (e.g., exercises, field training)
* hazardous duty (e.g., flight, diving, parachute duty)
* an instrumentality of war (e.g., combat vehicles, weapons, Agent Orange)
* armed conflict (e.g., gunshot wounds (Purple Heart), punji stick injuries)
5. On 1 December 2009, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency CRSC Branch determined that the applicant's degenerative arthritis (left knee), dysthymic disorder, impairment of femur (right knee and leg), and scars (right thigh) were not combat related and denied his request for CRSC.
6. The Under Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy 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 has submitted documentation showing that he was treated for disabilities that he contends are combat related. The documents submitted by the applicant show that he has service connected conditions. He states he injured his right knee on two separate occasions while simulating war. However, there is no evidence or indication that these medical conditions were the result of a particular injury or trauma.
2. As stated above, the CRSC criteria are 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. The applicant has failed to provide documentation to show he meets this requirement.
3. 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
____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) AR20100001026
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
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