The Army, with almost 100 employees on a double shift operation,  just opened their contractor designed Web Site .  We're continually impressed with the Army leadership on the CRSC issue and their processing and approval statistics show that the Army truly takes care of their own.  Faced with twice the applicants and a diverse group of hard to reach older retirees, the Army made a bold decision to contract for this enormous job and they are now the envy of the other Services.  The Air Force desires to pool resources and leverage the existing Army contract, but has not been able to obtain Army leadership consent because of perceived risk issues.  The Navy is reportedly looking for 3,600 sq ft of office space in the Crystal City complex and is under direction to "keep the contracting in house."

The statistics below, speak volumes of the management by each service.

The CRSC approval rates in the USAF statistics are higher, because many old CRSC applications, previously disapproved, were in the Air Force database and now meet the new 2004 CRSC criteria.

The IU/SMCissue, which caused thousands of CRSC approvals to be withheld by DFAS, will be resolved by the end of this month, according to OSD.  According to OSD's action officer, staff concerns, including legal and financial issues, were still not resolved.

The redesigned application form is also expected to be completed later this month. We will have the new form on this web site the day it is released.

The Services are frustrated with the inability of OSD to adopt or approve policy and the Veterans organizations have also registered their disapproval.  Ironically, the Armed Services Committee staff wrote the bill language believing DOD would implement the policy without further determinations.

It's our guess that this review was ordered further up the OSD policy chain, at the Under Secretary level, because all earlier indications were for a DFAS implementation without another required review. At the same time Concurrent Receipt payments were renamed "Concurrent Disability Payments (CDP)".

We do not report the Coast Guard approval rates but wish to emphasize that their size does not reflect their attention to CRSC. Said another way, we are most impressed with the Coast Guard CRSC processing procedures.

These payments will accrue beginning on January 1, 2004 for those rated 50-100% disabled and DFAS will pay these individuals automatically during a six month transition period. DFAS is doubling its staff in anticipation of this increase.

For those with 60% or greater ratings, DFAS will automatically convert Special Compensation for the Severely Disabled (SCSD) which provides veterans' benefits for those with disabilities rated 60% or greater. About 37,000 SCSD recipients will be the first to see increases to their retired pay effective January 1st. 

For those with a 50% disability, or those with 60% to 100% disability who are not currently receiving SCSD, expect delays through next June, as VA records are reviewed.

The enormity of the Enhanced CRSC program will require significant assets, with a DFAS estimate of 185,000 applicants. Resources for Service processing will require significantly higher numbers of skilled professionals to make decisions on the allocation of billions of dollars in compensation over the next few years.

Expect the Enhanced CRSC program implementation to be delayed about six months with payments retroactive to January 2004. The new application, which has not been released, will be almost identical to the current form but the Services and OSD request applicants wait for instructions before applying .

If we learned anything this past year, it's that a hastily prepared or poorly documented application is a recipe for disapproval. Credibility also is a key issue, so don't claim normal duty related items in hope that they will slip through for a hasty approval. .

SOURCE: www.crlegislation.com