IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  12 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110018910 


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 reconsideration of his request for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he has obtained new information that his PTSD is combat-connected.

3.  The applicant provides, in support of his request, a copy of a Goldsboro Psychiatric Clinic letter, dated 18 August 2011.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20110002331, on 28 July 2011.

2.  The applicant was inducted in the Army of the United States on 19 July 1963.

3.  During his military service he held various field artillery military occupational specialties.

4.  He served in a variety of overseas assignments, including:

* Germany:  27 March 1966 - 23 February 1968
* Vietnam:  27 April 1968 - 26 April 1969
* Germany:  28 May 1969 - 11 August 1972
* Greece:  26 January 1975 - 21 February 1976
* Hawaii:  18 November 1977 - 17 November 1979
* Korea:  29 October 1984 - 24 August 1985

5.  The applicant was promoted to master sergeant/pay grade E-8 on 10 July 1981.  He was subsequently laterally appointed to first sergeant (1SG).

6.  The applicant's DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) shows he was honorably retired from active duty on 31 October 1985 and placed on the retired list in the retired rank/grade of 1SG (E-8) on 1 November 1985.  He completed 22 years, 3 months, and 13 days of total active service. 

7.  A review of the applicant's military service records failed to reveal any evidence that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

8.  On 2 June 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded the applicant a rating of 30% service-connected disability for PTSD effective
26 August 2004.

9.  On 29 December 2010, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (USA HRC), Fort Knox, Kentucky, informed the applicant there was insufficient justification to reverse its previous decision denying his CRSC.  The denial letter shows:

* Hypertension:  does not meet CRSC criteria unless it is a secondary condition to diabetes mellitus caused by Agent Orange exposure or secondary to another combat-related condition
* Hearing Loss, Fracture of left toe, and PTSD:  no evidence to show a combat-related event caused any of these conditions
 
10.  In support of his request for reconsideration the applicant provides a letter from Edwin W. H----, Medical Doctor, Goldsboro Psychiatric Clinic, Pennsylvania, dated 18 August 2011, that provides an update on the applicant's chronic PTSD.  It shows the doctor has been treating the applicant psychiatrically since 
30 November 2004.

	a.  His diagnoses of the applicant include chronic PTSD and chronic major depression.

	b.  He notes the VA has currently rated the applicant 30% disabled due to PTSD.

	c.  He concludes, "because of this combat connected PTSD, [the applicant] is moderately compromised in his ability to sustain social relationships and also unable to sustain work relationships.  Therefore, I consider him permanently and totally disabled and unemployable."

11.  CRSC, as established by section 1413a, Title 10, U.S. 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.

   a.  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 a disability that is compensable under the laws administered by the Secretary of VA (i.e., at least 10% disabling) and that:

    	(1)  is attributable to an injury for which the member was awarded the Purple Heart; or

    	(2)  was incurred as a direct result of armed conflict; while engaged in hazardous service; in the performance of duty under conditions simulating war; or through an instrumentality of war. 

   b.  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.  Payment is made by the Military Department, not the VA, and is tax free.

12.  The Under Secretary of Defense, 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.

13.  The Military.com website at: www.military.com/benefits/ shows (in part) that for the purposes of CRSC:

   a.  the disability must have been incurred in the line of duty as a direct result of armed conflict (the fact that a member incurred the disability during a period of war or while participating in combat operations is not sufficient);


   b.  hazardous duty includes aerial flight, parachute duty, demolition duty, experimental stress duty, and diving duty; and
   
   c.  an instrumentality of war includes combat vehicles, weapons, Agent Orange, etc., and there must be a direct causal relationship between instrumentality of war and the disability.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that his request for CRSC should be reconsidered because his doctor recently provided him a letter stating his PTSD is combat-connected.

2.  The applicant's contention was carefully considered.  However, the doctor's conclusion in his letter that the applicant's PTSD is combat-connected is insufficient evidence to support reversal of the previous decision.

3.  On 29 December 2010, the USA HRC denied the applicant's request for CRSC because there was no evidence to show that a combat-related event (emphasis added) caused his PTSD.

4.  There is no evidence the applicant's disability was the direct result of armed conflict, hazardous duty, or as an instrumentality of war (emphasis added).

5.  Thus, the evidence of record fails to support the applicant's claim.  Therefore, in view of the foregoing, the applicant is not entitled to correction of his records.

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20110002331, dated 28 July 2011.




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20110018910



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110018910



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