IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  21 December 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100016615 


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, correction of his records to show his schizophrenia was determined to have been incurred as a direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous military duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war and that this disability is eligible for award of Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).  

2.  He states the following:

   a.  He served in combat as an engineer equipment mechanic in Vietnam with the 27th Land Clearing Task Force in 1968 and the 60th Land Clearing Company through April 1969.

   b.  He was evacuated from Vietnam to Japan and subsequently to Letterman Army Hospital in California with a diagnosis of 3030 psychotic reaction, which was from field duty and in the line of duty.
   
   c.  He convinced the doctors he wished to return to duty.
   
   d.  He asked the Veteran Administration (VA) for help seven years later.  The Army National Guard and the VA have kept him working through his psychiatric symptoms since those times to include daily medications.  



3.  He provides the following documents:

* a letter from a VA hospital physician, dated 26 May 2010
* a letter from U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Alexandria, VA (HRC-Alexandria), dated 1 December 2009
* a Standard Form (SF) 502 (Narrative Summary), dated 13 April 1969
* an SF 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care), dated March/April 1969
* a letter addressed to all members of the 27th Land Clearing Team and the 60th Land Clearing Company, dated 25 May 2005
* Vietnam Studies, U.S. Army Engineers (1965-1970) written by an Army major general

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  CRSC, 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% 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.  His SF 502 shows he was diagnosed as having 3030 Acute Psychotic Reaction Paranoid Type.  

3.  In the 25 May 2005 letter from the former commander of the 27th Land Clearing Team and 60th Land Clearing Company, he stated these units were engaged in close, daily confrontation and combat with the hostile forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army extending from September 1968 through March 1969.


4.  On 1 December 2009, HRC-Alexandria, CRSC Branch informed the applicant that his impaired hearing and tinnitus were verified as combat-related.  His condition of schizophrenia was not a qualifying condition because this condition was not awarded as combat-related at the time.  Current research suggested that schizophrenia was caused by a combination of genetic, childhood, and neurobiological factors.  

5.  In the 26 May 2010 letter, a physician at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System indicated the applicant was being treated for major depression and undifferentiated schizophrenia.

6.  Although evidence shows that the applicant was in fact diagnosed with schizophrenia, there is no evidence in the available record that shows his condition was sustained as a direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war.

7.  The Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD), 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 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 stated that his schizophrenia was incurred while he was assigned to the 27th Land Clearing Task Force and the 60th Land Clearing Company in Vietnam.  Notwithstanding his contention, there is no evidence in the available record and he has not provided sufficient evidence which shows his medical condition was sustained during combat action or simulation of war.  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.  Without evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to his 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)                                         AR20100016615



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100016615



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