I have trying to figure this out and I could use some help. All hypothetical talk; if I was to get out 100% VA and maxed the DOD combat related as a E8 with 18 years of service what would my pay look like. I tried to use the calculator that I found on here but can't get it to work. I know that the max V isA is around $2800, but add that with DOD, CRSC, and early SS may pay should what. I really help the help.
Respectfully,
G
So lets try and get close and figure it on some basic numbers. One, lets say 100% VA is $3000. Two, an E8 with 18 years is $4700 and month. Three, 100% CRSC would be $3000 (baseline, see later)
The first number you need to figure is what your DOD retired pay is going to be. The first thing you need to know about that is DOD is going to be the higher of either your disability rating (unfit conditions), or length of service (LOS) and is maxed at 75%. So for you, LOS would be 18 X 2.5 = 45%. Disability retirement will be up to 75%.
So in your case, lets just say you are awarded 60% DOD.
4700 X .60 = $2820 per month Army retired pay.
Now the next consideration is your VA compensation. You said 100% and I will stick to that. We are going to use the $3000 number.The first thing to understand is by law, you can not be paid for the same thing twice, and won't be able to collect VA and Army retirement. What happens is they get offset dollar for dollar. VA pay is tax free so collecting that is usually the best.
So going back to the above listed numbers, it would play out like this:
Army Retirement- $2820
VA Compensation- $3000
Difference- $180
Total Pay After Offset- $3000
As you see the VA pay is more than Army pay and erases all your Army pay. Where you have the chance to get this back is CRSC. The way CRSC works is any of your VA rated disabilities (not just Army conditions) that you can prove are combat related via the DD 2860 and your documentation are combined to get a CRSC percent. Your CRSC conditions are added just like the VA condition's, and combine. It would work like this:
VA combat condition 1-PTSD =50%
VA combat condition 2-Back =40%
VA combat condition 3-Right Ankle =20%
Combined Rating = 80%
The CRSC rating follows the VA compensation chart, so 100% would be $3000 dollars just like the VA chartfor you used in the first paragraph.
The next thing you have to understand about CRSC is it can only be calculated against LOS retirement. What that means is it can not exceed what you would have received had you been retired for LOS. In your case that we made above it would be 45% (18x2.5 = 45%). You take the retirement LOS percent and bounce that against what your retirement pay would be based on that percentage. In your case, that would be $2115 ($4700x45% = $2115). This dollar figure represents the max CRSC you could be paid.
So now you can come up with a final number that would be close if you were awarded 100% VA and 100% CRSC. Your pay after the Army would look like this.
Army Retirement - $2820 before offset, $0 after offset.
VA Compensation - $3000 based on 100%
CRSC Compensation - $2115 based on LOS retirement of 18 years
Total Pay = $5115
Clear as mud?
I hope this helped.
Joe