IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 22 May 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130016489
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, reversal of the decision to deny him Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
2. The applicant states he believes the CRSC Branch made an erroneous or unjust decision concerning his PTSD. He was first diagnosed with PTSD in 2007 at Fort McPherson, GA. In 2010, he was diagnosed with PTSD due to his war time service in Iraq and awarded a 70 percent disability rating by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
3. The applicant provides copies of two Progress Notes, a letter from the VA, statements from his doctors, CRSC Reconsideration Request, and a VA Rating Decision.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant, as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, entered active duty on 12 June 1984. He served in Kuwait from 25 August 2008 through 24 August 2009 and in Iraq from 21 March through 2 July 2003.
2. He served continuously on active duty in the military occupational specialties of cannon crewmember and chaplain assistant. He was honorably retired on
31 May 2010 for sufficient service for retirement.
3. He provided copies of the following:
* two Progress Notes, dated 8 July and 19 August 2011, which stated he experienced trauma while in combat and was assessed with PTSD
* letter, dated 21 September 2011, wherein the VA provided the applicant a "copy of locked notes"
* letter, dated 12 October 2011, wherein a VA psychiatrist stated the applicant had been diagnosed with PTSD and was receiving treatment
* letter, dated 11 November 2011, wherein his doctor stated he had been diagnosed with PTSD and depression from the Iraq war since 2007 and receiving treatment
* CRSC Reconsideration Request, dated 12 December 2011
* VA Rating Decision, dated 22 May 2012, which shows he was awarded a 50 percent service-connected disability rating for PTSD on 1 June 2010 with an increase to 70 percent on 23 August 2011
4. His record contains a letter, dated 6 January 2013, wherein the U.S. Army Human Resources Command advised him of the denial to overturn the previous adjudication of his CRSC claim for several medical conditions to include PTSD.
5. CRSC, as established by Title 10, USC, 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, especially 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% disability. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contentions and the documentation he submitted were carefully considered. However, there is no evidence of record and he did not provide sufficient evidence to show he met all of the requirements for CRSC for PTSD.
2. As stated above, the CRSC criteria are specifically for those military retirees who have combat-related disabilities. The military retiree must show that the disability incurred while engaged in combat, while performing duties simulating combat conditions, or while performing especially hazardous duties.
3. CRSC determinations required evidence of a direct causal relationship to the military retiree's VA-rated disabilities to war or the simulation of war. Without evidence to establish a direct, casual relationship of his PTSD to war or the simulation of war, not just by being deployed during a period of war, there is insufficient evidence to support the reversal of the decision to deny him CRSC benefits.
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) AR20130016489
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130016489
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