After 20 years of military service an individual can retire and draw a percentage of their military pay. Until recently they were excluded from drawing both DOD payments and VA compensation. This has been changed by a series of updates to the law, the most recent taking affect on January 1, 2004.
In questions of payments and eligibility the best source of information is the Defense Finance Accounting Service:
Cleveland Center Retired Pay Department (Code FRCCBB),
PO BX 99191
Cleveland, OH 44199-1126
1 800 321 1080
Types of Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments, CRDP
CR stands for Concurrent Receipt
CRSC stands for Combat Related Special Pay
There is a difference between the two. CR is taxable. It will be paid on a formula that will implemented and increased over the next ten years (starting in 2004 concluding in 2014).
CRSC is different. It is based on those service connections that are considered combat related (see below). It is tax free. It is potentially higher in the long run.
CRSC must be applied for. There is an open season at the beginning of every calendar year. When a veteran applies for CRSC it is supposed to be computed and compared to CR. The veteran is supposed to be able to elect the one that is higher.
The veteran will always receive the amount that is higher between CR and CRSC if they are a combat injured veteran. However, CRSC must be applied for. The details on this are given below.
As originally projected this was going to be a 10 step incremental increase for retirees to receive their full VA and DoD payments. There have been many changes and updates to Concurrent Pay over the last few years. It is best to get with the Cleveland Center Retired Pay Department to discuss your individual case.
NOTE: DoD has an excellent website on CR and CRSC located at:
http://www.dod.mil/prhome/mppcrsc.html
Under the current existing law the following individuals are entitled to Concurrent Pay, CR or CRSC.
· Individuals who retired from the military after 20 years
· Individuals who were boarded out medically, but served 20 years of active duty
· Certain individuals who served 15 or more years, but exited the military on an early out program
· Reservist with more than 7,200 points
To draw CR they must have the following service connections
· 50% or higher for any condition
To draw CRSC they must have the following service connections
· 10% or higher for any injury associated with a Purple Heart
· 10% or higher battlefield related condition that can be linked by evidence to the battlefield, these will be decided upon by DOD based on evidence
Who is not eligible for CR payments?
Retirees who have non-battlefield related service connected disabilities that are rated 40% or lower.
Editor’s Note: There are many terms being tossed around so let us go slowly here.
Below are three cases, all are military retirees, one is not eligible for CRSC under current law:
· Purple Heart battlefield injury: A gunshot wound in Vietnam (for example).
· A non-Purple Heart battlefield injury: Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.
· A non-battlefield injury: A veteran stationed in California breaks their ankle in a basketball game and ends up with a 10% service connected disability.
As public law is currently written the last veteran (the broken ankle in California example) drawing military retirement cannot draw compensation on top of the retirement pay. Their percentage is not high enough to invoke CR pay, and the cause does not make them eligible for CRSC pay. The individual may choose to take their full retiree payment from DOD, or waive a portion of the military pay in favor of (VA) compensation. Waiving retired pay for compensation is appealing because Compensation is tax-free. In this case a retiree who is 10% Service Connected would waive roughly 100 dollars of their retirement pay and draw this 100 dollars tax free from the VA.
It is possible that a person receiving compensation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, can claim it is battlefield related. They must submit evidence that shows that the stressors causing PTSD are battlefield related.
To file for CRSC a veteran must apply through the branch of service that they saw duty. The following are the contact numbers:
Army 1-866-281-3254
Navy and USMC 1-877-366-2772
Air Force 1-866-229-7074
At the time of revision of this booklet the request was filled out on a DD 2860. This form can be found at the following website:
www.dior.whs.mil/forms/dd2860.pdf
One final note on CRDP: An individual with a combined VA compensation and Civil Service retirement is subject to different eligibility and should check with their service branch on eligibility.
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