CRSC denial and reapplication

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bryanthompson1984

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Registered Member
Hello to all. I recently applied for CRSC compensation and received a partial approval for something I didn’t even apply for while everything I did apply for was denied. The big one they denied was my PTSD claim and I am not sure how to go about submitting a rebuttal since I did send as much documentation as possible regarding the event.

My symptoms began not long after that event and I did not seek treatment until about 4 years later after a friend recommended me to a therapist. Fast forward several years and my symptoms were aggravated by an event that happened off duty. Does any one have any advice on what I should send back with my rebuttal? I sent my records indicating when I started treatment, records of the original event, DD214 from that deployment, and an ARCOM dated for that deployment. I’ve also sent in a request for historical documents of attacks that occurred while I was deployed to the historians at CENTCOM. I don’t know what else to do outside of these items. Recommendations are always welcomed.

I appreciate any help and/or advice and I hope I can get my rating increased even a little more then 10%. I’m shocked some of the things were rejected because I have records of performing aircrew duties in locations and being seen by deployed medical for those injuries. I thought if you were performing aircrew duties in a combat area and were injured, that would qualify you for CRSC?
 
PTSD is hard to get approved. PTSD claims should generally be about a discrete combat event, not cumulative stress. If you have a Purple Heart from the event that is helpful.

What documents did you submit?


As for approval of things you didn’t submit, those are usually on the VA presumptive list.
 
I don’t have a Purple Heart. Close, but not close enough. As for paperwork submitted, I sent medical documentation from when I was seen in theater and medical documents of treatment years after. Probably like most people, I was afraid of the stigma of mental health and was afraid they would discharge me. So the field doc didn’t have a really good assessment of me and medical documents didn’t show the extent of my problems until 4-5 years later.
I also sent in my 214 and ARCOM citation from when I was there too. In the letter that the AF CRSC group sent me, they recommended contacting the CENTCOM historians to get some record of the IDF attack which I did. Hopefully they can get some useful documentation of my event so I can send back for a rebuttal.
For everything else, several of the things I claimed were caused by performing aircrew duties in combat and I thought those counted when it came to CRSC. The CRSC group seemed to think that the injuries happened while I wasn’t performing those duties. One of the injuries was aggravated by flight duties while deployed but was rejected. I sent all the medical documents related to those injuries but should I send my aircrew orders, flight records or anything else?
Thank you for the advice and hopefully I can get some of these things approved.
 
bryanthompson1984 said:
I don’t have a Purple Heart. Close, but not close enough. As for paperwork submitted, I sent medical documentation from when I was seen in theater and medical documents of treatment years after. Probably like most people, I was afraid of the stigma of mental health and was afraid they would discharge me. So the field doc didn’t have a really good assessment of me and medical documents didn’t show the extent of my problems until 4-5 years later.
I also sent in my 214 and ARCOM citation from when I was there too. In the letter that the AF CRSC group sent me, they recommended contacting the CENTCOM historians to get some record of the IDF attack which I did. Hopefully they can get some useful documentation of my event so I can send back for a rebuttal.
For everything else, several of the things I claimed were caused by performing aircrew duties in combat and I thought those counted when it came to CRSC. The CRSC group seemed to think that the injuries happened while I wasn’t performing those duties. One of the injuries was aggravated by flight duties while deployed but was rejected. I sent all the medical documents related to those injuries but should I send my aircrew orders, flight records or anything else?
Thank you for the advice and hopefully I can get some of these things approved.
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I would say "yes" as long as they line up with your treatment record dates. Don't know until you try tbh, AF does things a lot better re: AF historians, but they can be testy on some items as you said. What I've found on the Army side is that they don't do for "wear and tear" conditions which, in your case, the AF is prob thinking those were.
 
RetiredColonel-MikeT said:
I would say "yes" as long as they line up with your treatment record dates. Don't know until you try tbh, AF does things a lot better re: AF historians, but they can be testy on some items as you said. What I've found on the Army side is that they don't do for "wear and tear" conditions which, in your case, the AF is prob thinking those were.
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Fair enough. Surprisingly the historians contacted me fairly quickly and I think I’ve been added to the queue. So we’ll see how long that takes. Thank you for the advice and I’ll keep piling on the records until I get a yes somewhere.
 
@chaplaincharlie and @RetiredColonel-MikeT are correct.

What most Service members don't know - and it's not printed anywhere - is that a discrete event is the key. Exposure issues don't fall within this rubric, however. All other conditions, sadly, do. Moreover, be careful not to mistake deployment for combat. In the eyes of all the CRSC boards, "armed conflict" functionally means something to the tune of 'armed conflict while directly engaged with a kinetic actor.' This is why so many denial letters - from the USAF and UAS in particular - state: although the VA or PEB may have found your petitioned condition(s) to be combat related, our standards are more rigorous . . . .

Read Appendix A of the DD-2860 VERY carefully.

I hope this helps.

S/F,

Joel
 
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