Shorter wait for combat benefits

Soldiers Magazine, June, 2005 by Beth Reece

RETIREES applying for combat-related service compensation will now have their applications processed within 30 days of receipt.

The faster pace is made possible by increased staffing, said COL John Sackett, chief of the CRSC division of Army Human Resources Command's Physical Disabilities Agency. The staff has grown from 10 to 70 since its inception in June 2004.

"Now we're making a concerted effort to notify everyone who might be eligible for the benefit," he said.

The CRSC benefit is for active and reserve-component military retirees who have 20 years or more of service and a Department of Veteran's Affairs disability rating of 10 percent or more. Applicants must be entitled to retired pay offset by VA disability payments, or they must have a VA waiver.

The disability must be combat related, although the injuries don't necessarily need to have occurred in combat.

"The key word is 'related.' We're more interested in how you were injured," Sackett said. "If you were training to go to combat, that's related to combat. I've had applicants bring in stacks of paper showing me what their disabilities are, but what I need to know is how the individual became disabled."

The lifetime monthly benefit is retroactive to the program's inception.

"We've issued checks for $45,000 and $50,000 to some retirees," Sackett said.--Army News Service