If you're a military retiree who also gets VA disability compensation, there's a good chance you're being shortchanged and don't realize it, or you're already being made whole and don't know which program is doing it. This is the part of the system that confuses almost everyone: the VA waiver, and the two programs (CRDP and CRSC) that exist to undo it.
The problem: the VA waiver
By law, you generally can't receive your full military retired pay AND full VA disability compensation at the same time. To get VA disability, you must waive an equal dollar amount of your retired pay. This is the "VA waiver" or "VA offset."
Why would anyone waive retired pay for an equal amount of VA comp? Because VA disability compensation is tax-free and retired pay is taxable. So even a straight dollar-for-dollar swap usually comes out ahead. But you're still losing the retired pay you earned with 20 years of service, which feels wrong, because it is.
Concurrent receipt is the umbrella term for getting both. Two programs deliver it: CRDP and CRSC. You can qualify for one, the other, both, or neither. If you qualify for both, you don't get both at once, DFAS pays whichever is larger.
CRDP, Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay
CRDP restores the retired pay you waived, phasing it back in so you receive both your retired pay and your VA compensation.
You qualify for CRDP if you are a military retiree who:
- Has a VA disability rating of 50% or higher, AND
- Is otherwise eligible for retired pay, which generally means a 20-year (or more) length-of-service retirement (this includes Reserve/Guard retirees at age 60, and TERA early retirees; Chapter 61 medical retirees qualify only if they have 20+ years of service).
Key features:
- Automatic. You don't apply. If you're eligible, DFAS adds it to your retired pay.
- Taxable, because it's restored retired pay.
- Covers all your rated disabilities, combat-related or not. The only thing that matters is the 50% threshold.
- Fully phased in since 2014, so eligible retirees now get the full restoration.
The hard line: below a 50% combined VA rating, or fewer than 20 years of service, you don't get CRDP. That gap is exactly what the other program, and a pending bill, are about.
CRSC, Combat-Related Special Compensation
CRSC is a separate, tax-free monthly payment that reimburses the retired pay you waived, but only for disabilities that are combat-related.
A disability is combat-related if it came from:
- Armed conflict
- Hazardous service
- Conditions simulating war (training exercises, etc.)
- An instrumentality of war (e.g., injury from a weapon, military vehicle, Agent Orange)
- Or you have a Purple Heart for it
You qualify for CRSC if you are a retiree (including some Chapter 61 medical retirees with fewer than 20 years) who has a combat-related service-connected disability. Unlike CRDP, there is no 50% threshold and no strict 20-year requirement for the basic combat-related entitlement, though medical retirees with under 20 years have their CRSC amount capped by a special computation.
Key features:
- You must apply. File DD Form 2860 with your branch of service (not DFAS, and not the VA). Your branch decides which disabilities count as combat-related.
- Tax-free.
- Only covers combat-related disabilities, not your non-combat conditions.
- Retroactive payments are possible (often up to six years).
Which one pays you?
If you qualify for both, you can't stack them. DFAS automatically pays the higher of the two, and you get an annual "open season" each December to switch if your situation changes.
The rough rule of thumb:
- CRDP tends to win when you have a 50%+ rating and many of your disabilities are NOT combat-related, because CRDP covers everything.
- CRSC tends to win when most of your disability comes from combat-related conditions, because it's tax-free and a tax-free dollar is worth more than a taxable one.
You don't have to model this perfectly. Apply for CRSC if you have any combat-related disabilities (so DFAS has both numbers to compare), and let DFAS pay you the larger one.
The two-step move
- If your VA rating is 50%+ with 20 years of service, CRDP is automatic, check that it's on your Retiree Account Statement.
- If ANY of your disabilities are combat-related, file DD Form 2860 for CRSC anyway. DFAS will then pay whichever program gives you more.
The gap, and the Major Richard Star Act
There's a long-standing gap: combat-injured Veterans who were medically retired (Chapter 61) with fewer than 20 years of service don't get full concurrent receipt. They can get CRSC for the combat-related portion, but it's capped by their short length of service.
The Major Richard Star Act would close this gap by extending concurrent receipt to these combat-disabled medical retirees. As of 2026 it is not law, it has broad bipartisan support (over 300 House cosponsors) but has not passed. Don't count on it yet; plan around the rules as they stand today, and watch for updates.
How this interacts with the rest of your benefits
- SMC (Special Monthly Compensation) is paid on top of your VA disability and is not reduced by retired pay or the waiver. See the SMC guide.
- Your VA combined rating drives both your VA comp and your CRDP eligibility (the 50% threshold). Run yours in the disability calculator.
- CRSC determinations are about whether each disability is combat-related, a different question from your VA rating percentage.
What to do next
- Pull your latest Retiree Account Statement from DFAS myPay and look for a CRDP line if you're 50%+ with 20 years.
- If any condition is combat-related, file DD Form 2860 for CRSC with your branch.
- Confirm DFAS is paying you the larger of the two.
- If you're a combat-injured medical retiree under 20 years, you're in the gap the Star Act targets. CRSC may cover part of what you can get now, and the legislation is worth tracking.
A VA-accredited VSO can help you assemble a CRSC packet at no cost. This is earned money sitting in a bureaucratic blind spot, claim it.