MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           16 December 1998                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11425

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr.	Ernest M. Willcher		Chairperson	
	Ms.	Lana E. McGlynn		Member	
	Ms.	Carol Jo Suiter		Member	

	Also present, without vote, were:

	Mr.	Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. 	Ed Clark		Analyst	

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  In effect, physical disability retirement or separation.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was discharged from the USAR because of 
non-attendance, but that he should have been medically discharged because he was unable to attend drills because of treatment for cancer.  In support of the application, he submitted documents signed by physicians relating to his cancer condition.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He served on active duty from March 1964 to March 1967 as a combat engineer and attained pay grade E-3.  He then served in the USAR until 28 February 1970 and, following a lengthy break in service, he was enlisted in the USAR on 
7 September 1977.  He served in military occupational specialties 76Y, supply, and 11B, infantryman, and attained pay grade E-6.

An NCO Evaluation Report covering the period October 1991 through November 1992 shows that he was serving as an instructor in the Noncommissioned Officer Education System course in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during that period of time. Other documents indicate that he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, shortly thereafter.  There is no indication of further military service in the available records.

Documents related to his non-attendance at drills are not in the available records; however, Orders D-12-509897, USAR Personnel Center, show that he was honorably discharged effective 12 December 1995.

The documents submitted by the applicant and signed by four different physicians are dated from 1994 through 1997 and are addressed to the Office of Personnel Management Retirement Programs and to the VA Adjudication Office. They show that the applicant was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 1992; that he underwent 34 radiation treatments followed by 6 cycles of chemotherapy and subsequent lung surgery; that the condition was causally related to his history of smoking; that his major problem in 1997 was poor pulmonary reserve; and that, in the opinion of the four physicians, he was permanently and totally disabled.  (A statement in one of those documents indicates that the applicant returned to Louisiana in 1996).

Army Regulation 635-40, Physical Evaluation for Retention, Retirement, or Separation, Chapter 8, Reserve Components, provides that in order for soldiers of the Reserve Components to be compensated for a disability, the disability must be determined to have been the proximate result of performing military duty.  Proximate result establishes a causal relationship between the disability and the required military duty.
DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations it is concluded:

1.  In order for soldiers of the Reserve Components, such as the applicant, to be compensated by the Department of the Army for a disability, the disability must be determined to have been the proximate result of performing military duty.

2.  The evidence of record establishes that there is no causal relationship between the applicant’s lung cancer disability and his Reserve Component military duty.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

EMW_        _LEM__     CJS__       DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

CASE ID	AC	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	YYYYMMDD	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.