Rickenbacker vet CMS Ray Maxwell has passed

Sad word from Tom McVey and the "Buckeye Wing" of the passing of veteran Ray Maxwell. Ray died on Veterans Day, November 11, 2019, and arrangements are uncertain thus far.

Retired USAF C-123 Vets with Agent Orange Illness Eligible for Combat Related Special Compensation

Military.com

Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) provides special compensation to military retirees who have retired pay reduced because of receiving U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation. This means that qualified military retirees with 20 or more years of service that have "combat related" VA-rated disability will no longer have their military retirement pay reduced by the amount of their VA disability compensation. Instead they will receive both their full military retirement pay and their VA disability compensation. The following is a summary of Combat-Related Special Compensation:

• Combat-Related Special Compensation Eligibility
  
• The Value of the CRSC Benefit
• The Application Process

Once a military retiree has been determined to be qualified he/she will receive their regular retirement pay plus an additional sum based on their VA disability rating.

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COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL COMPENSATION ELIGIBILITY

The following CRSC eligibility requirements apply:

In order for members to be eligible for CRSC, they must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Receive military retirement pay for one of the following reasons:
   • Served on Active Duty, the Reserves, or National Guard with 20 years of creditable service;
   • Served on Active Duty, the Reserves, or National Guard and is also a permanent medical retiree (Chapter 61) regardless of years served;
   • Served on Active Duty, the Reserves, or National Guard and is classified as a Temporary Disability Retirement List retiree regardless of years served; or
   • Served on Active Duty, the Reserves, or National Guard and is classified as a Temporary Early Retirement Act retiree with 15-19 years served.
2. Have 10% or greater VA rated injury that is combat-related.
3. Military retirement pay is reduced by VA disability payments (VA Waiver).
4. Must be able to provide documentation that injury was a result of one of the following:
   • Purple Heart
   • Armed Conflict
   • Simulating War
   • Hazardous Service
   • Instrumentality of War
   • Agent Orange
   • Radiation Exposure
   • Gulf War
   • Mustard Gas or Lewisite

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BVA Screws Up Another C-123 Vet's Appeal?

It looks like BVA has trampled over the facts of another veteran's appeal.

In early August 2017, a denied claim was reconsidered by the VA Board of Appeals in West Virginia. The vet claimed service connection for Agent Orange exposure during his assignment to the 327th Tactical Airlift Group at Lockbourne. BVA determined that the vet wasn't exposed to C-123 Agent Orange contamination because the 317th "was nor recorded as having operated or maintained  the ORH (OPERATION RANCHHAND) C-123 aircraft."
EXCEPT: The 317rh did fly assigned C-123 transports!

A two-second Google search showed that the 317th was assigned C-123 transports between 1969-1971,

"Further, the Board's previous remand directed the RO to determine whether the Veteran serviced Operation Ranch Hand (ORH) C-123 aircraft during his military service, which are affected aircraft under the regulation. The RO determined that the Veteran was stationed at one air base, Lockbourne Air Force Base, where ORH C-123 aircraft were stationed while the Veteran was present. However, the Veteran's assigned squadron, the 317th Air Lift Group, was not recorded as having operated or maintained the ORH C-123 aircraft, and he thus was not found to have regularly and repeatedly operated or maintained affected aircraft under the regulation. Therefore, this case turns on whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents as a result of his military service in Thailand."

Stations[edit]
Tachikawa Airfield, Japan, 18 August 1948 - c. 21 September 1948
Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, c. 30 September 1948
Celle RAF Station, Germany (later: West Germany), 9 January – 14 September 1949
Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany, 14 July 1952
Neubiberg Air Base, West Germany, 17 March 1953
Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 17 April 1957 – 25 September 1958; 15 April 1963 – 20 June 1964
Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, 20 June 1964
Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, 31 August 1971 – 20 August 1993
Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 April 1997–present
Aircraft[edit]
C-47 Skytrain, 1942–1948
C-46 Commando, 1948
C-54 Skymaster, 1948–1949
C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1952–1957, 1957–1958
C-130 Hercules, 1957–1958, 1963–1964, 1964–1971, 1971–1993, 1997–2012
C-124 Globemaster II, 1963–1964
C-123 Provider, 1969–1971.
Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, 2010–present

Luckily, this vets' appeal was approved on other justification, but everyone involved let the vet almost get denied. BVA should have checked as should VFW, WHO REPRESENTED THE VETERAN!!