Military Retirement - Military Times

Combat Related Special Compensation

Under the separate CRSC program, retirees with any VA-rated disabilities, regardless of the percentage, that are the result of combat or combat-related training are eligible for a monthly payment that replaces their retirement pay offset and, in effect, gives them full “concurrent receipt” of both payments.

The CRSC program became effective May 31, 2003, for certain retirees with combat-related disabilities. Eligibility criteria expanded Jan. 1, 2004, to include members with any combat-related disability who are compensated by VA.

To be eligible, retirees must have 20 years of service for retired pay purposes and have disabilities that are the direct result of armed conflict, hazardous military duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. Such disabilities must be compensated by VA and rated at least 10 percent disabling.

CRSC payments, which are tax-exempt, are equal to the amount of VA disability compensation offset from retired pay.

Applicants must provide adequate, detailed documentation showing that their disabilities are combat-related rather than service-related. Members must apply to their own branch of service. A new, simplified claim form was made available in January.

Retirees who are eligible for both CRDP and CRSC — mainly those whose disability ratings result from a combination of service- and nonservice-connected conditions — are allowed to choose which program to participate in, based on which one will pay them more. The fact that CRDP is taxable, while CRSC is not, is one consideration in such decisions.

Contact: Army, http://www.crsc.army.mil; Navy and Marine Corps, http://www.hq.navy.mil/ncpb/CRSCB/combatrelated.htm; Air Force, http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/library/combat.asp.

Did you know?

A comprehensive Defense Department information paper on the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payment and Combat Related Special Compensation programs is online at http://www.dod.gov/prhome/docs/concurrent_retire_07a.pdf.