BOARD DATE:	  17 July 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130020297 


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).

2.  The applicant states the documents he provides with his request for reconsideration were not previously considered by the Army during his multiple  requests for CRSC.

3.  The applicant provides 13 pages of progress notes from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

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 AR20130003531, on 8 October 2013.

2.  The applicant provides new evidence that was not previously considered.

3.  The applicant was serving as a Retention Operations Noncommissioned Officer in the rank of master sergeant at Fort Bragg, North Carolina when he deployed to Southwest Asia during the period 18 August 1990 through 2 April 1991, a period of 7 months and 15 days.

4.  On 31 December 1994, he was honorably retired by reason of length of service.  He had served 24 years and 20 days of active service and was transferred to the Retired List effective 1 January 1995.

5.  On 15 October 2012, the applicant applied to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) for CRSC for irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety disorder (Gulf War), degenerative joint disease of lumbar spine and residuals, status post bilateral bunionectomy. 

6.  On 13 November 2012, HRC approved his claim for irritable bowel syndrome and denied the remainder of his claim because there was no documentation to show a combat-related event caused his anxiety disorder, no documentation to show an accident or incident to connect degenerative joint disease to a combat-related event, and residuals condition did not meet the criteria for CRSC.

7.  He appealed the HRC decision twice and in both cases his appeals were denied because he failed to submit new evidence to link his conditions to a combat-related event.

8.  On 6 October 2013, the Board denied his request for CRSC because he failed to show his physical conditions were combat-related and without evidence to establish a direct causal relationship of his VA rated disabilities to war or the simulation to war, there was insufficient basis for granting relief in his case.

9.  The progress notes provided by the applicant consist primarily of information provided by him.  The attending clinical psychologist opines that “It is at least likely as not that his experiences during the Gulf War contributed to the symptoms of anxiety disorder NOS.  It is not possible to specify the proportion of that contribution without resort to mere speculation.”  A review of the documents provided by the applicant failed to identify a specific combat-related event that contributed to his conditions.

10.  The Under Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy provided policy guidance on the processing of CRSC appeals.  In the 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.

11.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1413a (CRSC) provides that eligible members are those retirees who have 20 years of service for retired pay computation or are medical retirees 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% disabling.  

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  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 are not, in and of themselves, sufficient to grant CRSC.  In order to qualify for CRSC, a military retiree must show 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.

2.  The applicant contends his medical conditions were sustained while deployed during the Gulf War was carefully considered.  However, without sufficient evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the applicant’s disability to war or simulation of war, there is insufficient basis in which to grant his request.

3.  The applicant has failed to show through sufficient evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application that his conditions were the result of an incident relating to war or simulation of war.

4.  Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to support his claim that his condition was caused by an instrumentality of war or war/simulation of war there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant’s requested relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___X_____  __X______  _X____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1. 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 AR20130003531, dated 8 October 2013.
2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Gulf War.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.




      _______ _   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)                                         AR20130020297



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130020297



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