Military retirees who have combat-related disabilities and 20 or more years of active duty will begin receiving a new special compensation, effective 1 June 2003, under a "concurrent receipt" deal brokered by Senator John Warner (R-VA) with the Bush administration in the final days of the 107th Congress.
Up to 33,000 retirees, by one estimate, could be eligible for combat-related special compensation (CRSC), which, in effect, will replace some or all of the retired pay these disabled veterans forfeit to draw tax-free disability compensation. Monthly CRSC payments will range from $103 to more than $2,100, depending on the severity of disability tied to combat, hazardous duty, or combat training.
Senator Warner, who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee, salvaged the compromise on concurrent receipt after President George W. Bush, through staff, threatened to veto the defense authorization bill if it would ease the century-old ban on retirees drawing both full retired pay and disability compensation.
Military retired pay still must be offset, dollar for dollar, by amounts retirees draw in tax-free disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs. President Bush's veto threat scuttled more comprehensive and costly concurrent receipt initiatives approved earlier by the House and Senate.
Senator Warner described the final deal, which he worked with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and which was signed into law on 2 December, as a "beachhead" on this issue, "creating a very special class of deserving veterans." Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), who was committee chairman at the time, said Senator Warner's leadership saved the defense bill and moved concurrent receipt about "20 yards" down the field.
For some retirees with war wounds or severe combat-related disabilities, CRSC pay will be equivalent to full restoration of retired pay under earlier House and Senate initiatives. Annual military incomes for some will jump by more than $25,000. Because the White House officially still opposes "double payments for the same period of service," Congress agreed not to call its solution "concurrent receipt"
Two categories of retirees are in line for CRCS:
Those wounded in combat and, therefore, awarded the Purple Heart. They will receive some special pay if disabilities from the wounds are rated 10%Io or higher. Amounts will match retired pay being forfeited under the concurrent receipt law for disability compensation tied to their war wounds.
Those who have other "combat-related disabilities" severe enough for disability ratings of 60% or higher. Such qualifying disabilities might result from: direct combat; flight duty, demolition duty, or other hazardous duties; combat-related training such as airborne operations or war games; and "an instrumentality of war," such as accidental gunfire or exposure to poisons on a battlefield. Still to be determined is whether illnesses tied to the defoliant Agent Orange or retirees diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome will be eligible.
Members of Congress could only guess at the number of retirees who will be eligible for the new pay. Cost estimates were shaky as well, ranging from $200 million to $1 billion annually. Actual cost will depend on how tough the Secretary of Defense and his staff are in interpreting "combat-related" eligibility.
Retirees will have to apply for payments once regulations are written and procedures announced, perhaps by March. Defense officials, when processing applications, likely will have to pull service records and perhaps medical files to conduct the required screenings.
Retiree and veterans groups reacted with mixed emotions to the compromise, vowing that the fight to restore lost retired pay for up to a half-million retirees with disabilities is not over.
"We're disappointed that, with 90% of Congress supporting something much broader, the administration drove the legislative train so we couldn't get what either chamber passed," said Steve Strobridge, director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America. But as Congress neared adjournment, Strobridge said, there was a real danger of no defense bill and no gain at all on concurrent receipt.
For people who qualify, he said, "it's a huge victory. Our concern is that a lot of deserving retirees won't be eligible."