RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 3 July 2997 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060012623 I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual. The Board considered the following evidence: Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records. Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion, if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests that all of his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rated disabilities that were caused by his burns be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC). 2. The applicant states that he was badly burned when he was working with gasoline in Vietnam. He sustained 1st and 2nd degree burns which were determined to have been incurred in line of duty. 3. The applicant provides the denial of his request for CRSC, his separation document, and military medical records which show that on 15 April 1967 while in Vietnam, the applicant spilled gasoline and caught fire while burning trash. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), as established by Section 1413a, Title 10, United States 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. 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% 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. On 14 December 2005, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) CRSC Branch denied the applicant’s request for CRSC. 3. 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 appears to confuse line of duty determinations, and service connection for VA purposes, with CRSC eligibility. These are not necessarily the same. If they were the same, CRSC would be automatic for those military retirees with favorable line of duty investigations or VA disability pensions. Service connection for VA purposes means the VA has determined that the disability was incurred or aggravated during military service. CRSC determinations require evidence of a direct, causal relationship of the military retiree’s VA rated disabilities to war or the simulation of war. 3. As stated above, 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. 4. Without evidence to establish a direct, causal relationship to the applicant’s 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 ___ena__ ___eif___ ___swf___ 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. __________Eric N. Andersen_______ CHAIRPERSON INDEX CASE ID AR20060012623 SUFFIX RECON YYYYMMDD DATE BOARDED 20070703 TYPE OF DISCHARGE (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) DATE OF DISCHARGE YYYYMMDD DISCHARGE AUTHORITY AR . . . . . DISCHARGE REASON BOARD DECISION DENY REVIEW AUTHORITY ISSUES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.