Injury benefits available to Soldiers

By Sharilyn Wells
Paraglide

Dating back hundreds of years, when a servicemember retired with disabilities, they had to waive their regular retirement pay to receive Veterans Administration disability compensation. Now, thanks to a program enacted by Congress in December of 2002, disabled veterans can receive both full regular retirement and disability compensation.

Combat-related special compensation is a form of concurrent receipt, which is paid monthly to military retirees who have some sort of disability due to their military service. It restores military retirement pay that is offset when a retiree accepts VA disability, allowing the retirees to concurrently receive an amount equal to, or less than, their length of service retirement pay and their VA disability compensation, if the injury is combat-related, according to CRSC web site.

To be eligible for CRSC you must be a retired veteran with at least 20 years of creditable service or a permanent medical retiree. The veteran must be receiving military retirement pay and have a 10 percent or greater VA rated injury. The veteran’s retirement pay is reduced by VA disability payments with a waiver and must be able to provide documented evidence that the injury was a result of training that simulates war, hazardous duty, an instrumentality of war, or armed conflict. For more information about what constitutes an injury and eligibility, visit www.crsc.army.mil.

Another great benefit available to Soldiers and their Families is the Army Traumatic Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance. The TSGLI was established in 2005 and that provides financial relief to traumatically injured Soldiers and their Families with a tax-free payment between $25,000 and $100,000 per traumatic event. According to the TSGLI website, the TSGLI will allow a Soldier’s Family to be present during recovery, help with unforeseen expenses, or help the Soldier and his or her Family get a head start in life after recovery. Any Soldier who elected any amount of the regular Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, which covers a Soldier after death, is automatically eligible for the TSGLI, which covers the Soldier after an injury.

To qualify for payment of the TSGLI, the traumatic injury must have been caused by external, physical force or violence, including traumatic brain injury, but not post traumatic stress disorder. Some of the commonly covered injuries include loss of eyesight, hearing, speech or limbs, facial reconstruction and severe burns.

The unique eligibility of the TSGLI is that the injury doesn’t have to be overseas and the Soldier doesn’t have to be on orders, it can occur under any circumstances. It’s considered an anytime and anywhere coverage. For example, a motorcycle accident that causes an amputation of a leg is covered by the TSGLI. Any attempt of self-inflicted injury or attempt of suicide is not covered. For more information about TSGLI, visit www.tsgli.army.mil.

Even though the CRSC and TSGLI programs have been around for over five years, not many service members know about it.

“When I ask a command sergeant major if he knows about (one of these programs) and he doesn’t know, we have a problem,” said Staff Sgt. James Davis, CRSC/TSGLI advocate. “We need to get the programs out to the commands’ hands so the Soldiers know what they’re eligible for and deserve.”

For more information on the TSGLI or CRSC, contact Davis at 643-6650 or by e-mail at james.davisjr7@us.army.mil. The Human Resources Command is located at the Soldier Support Center, 5th Floor.

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