RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:    
	   

	BOARD DATE:           21 July 2005                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20050001733


	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.  


Mr. Carl W. S. Chun

Director

Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti

Analyst


The following members, a quorum, were present:


Mr. John Infante

Chairperson

Mr. Robert J. Osborn

Member

Ms. Brenda K. Koch

Member

	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.  In effect, the applicant requests that all of his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rated disabilities be approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).

2.  The applicant states that he links all of his disabilities to the wounds he received in combat in Germany in 1945.

3.  The applicant provides the denial of his CRSC application and his separation document.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 

1.  Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), as established by Section 1413a, Title 10, United States Code, as amended, states that 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.  CRSC benefits are equal to the amount of VA disability compensation offset from retired pay based on those disabilities determined to be combat-related.

2.  On 22 December 2004, the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA) Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Branch determined that the applicant’s thigh muscle injury, forearm muscle injury, migraine headaches, and flat foot condition were not combat related and denied his request for CRSC.

3.  In the processing of similar cases, advisory opinions were obtained from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD), Military Personnel Policy.  The OUSD has maintained in these opinions 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 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.  While the applicant argues that he sustained his disabilities while in combat in Germany in 1945, he has not submitted any evidence that any of his VA rated disabilities were incurred while he was engaged in combat.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___bkk __  ___ji____  ____rjo__  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.





		_________John Infante_____________
		        CHAIRPERSON





INDEX

CASE ID
AR20050001733
SUFFIX

RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20050721
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.