To calculate your CRSC pay, work out two dollar figures and take the smaller one: the VA disability compensation you would receive if you were rated only for your combat-related conditions, and the amount your retired pay is currently being waived to offset VA compensation. Whichever number is lower is your monthly Combat-Related Special Compensation, paid tax-free and separate from your retired pay. Medical retirees under Chapter 61 with fewer than 20 years of service face an additional cap that often reduces the result further.
The Two Numbers That Drive the Calculation
Federal law defines CRSC as the lesser of two amounts, so every calculation reduces to finding both and comparing them.
The first number is your combat-related VA compensation. This is the monthly VA rate that would apply if the VA had rated you only for your combat-related disabilities and ignored every non-combat condition. If all your rated conditions are combat-related, this equals your full VA compensation. If some are not, you have to recombine only the combat-related ratings and look up the rate for that lower combined percentage.
The second number is your retired pay waiver. When you accept VA disability compensation, your retired pay is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the VA amount under concurrent receipt rules. That reduction is the waiver. You can find it on your Retiree Account Statement in myPay as the “VA Waiver” line.
CRSC pays whichever of those two is smaller. It cannot exceed the retired pay you actually gave up, and it cannot exceed the value of the combat-related portion of your VA rating.
Combining Multiple Combat-Related Ratings
If your branch determines that more than one of your disabilities is combat-related, you cannot simply add the percentages together. The VA uses a combined ratings method that accounts for the functional capacity you have left after each disability is applied in turn.
The steps:
- Subtract each combat-related percentage from 100 percent to get the remaining efficiency for that condition.
- Multiply the efficiencies together.
- Subtract the product from 100 percent.
- Round to the nearest 10 (round up at 5 or above).
Example: a 40 percent combat-related condition and a 30 percent combat-related condition. Remaining efficiencies are 60 percent and 70 percent. Multiply: 60% × 70% = 42%. Subtract from 100%: 58%. Round to 60 percent combined combat-related rating.
That rounded combined percentage is what you take to the VA rate table.
2026 VA Compensation Rates
These are the monthly VA disability compensation rates effective December 1, 2025, for a single veteran with no dependents:
- 10%: $180.42
- 20%: $356.66
- 30%: $552.47
- 40%: $795.84
- 50%: $1,132.90
- 60%: $1,435.02
- 70%: $1,808.45
- 80%: $2,102.15
- 90%: $2,362.30
- 100%: $3,938.58
Dependent additions increase the rate at 30 percent and above. At 100 percent with a spouse, the rate rises from $3,938.58 to $4,158.17. At 30 percent with a spouse, it goes from $552.47 to $617.47. No dependent additions apply at 10 or 20 percent. When you run your own calculation, use the rate matching both your combat-related combined percentage and your actual family status.
A Full Worked Example
Take a retiree with $2,800 in gross monthly retired pay, three service-connected conditions (40 percent and 30 percent combat-related, plus a 20 percent non-combat condition), a combined VA rating of 70 percent, and no dependents.
Step 1. Identify the retired pay waiver. At 70 percent with no dependents, VA compensation is $1,808.45. The retiree’s retired pay is reduced by that full amount, dropping from $2,800 to $991.55. The waiver is $1,808.45.
Step 2. Combine only the combat-related ratings. 40 percent and 30 percent. Efficiencies of 60 percent and 70 percent multiply to 42 percent. That leaves 58 percent disability, rounded to 60 percent.
Step 3. Look up the combat-related VA compensation. 60 percent with no dependents pays $1,435.02.
Step 4. Take the lesser of the two. Combat-related compensation ($1,435.02) is less than the waiver ($1,808.45). CRSC equals $1,435.02.
Step 5. Total the monthly picture. Retired pay after waiver ($991.55) + VA compensation ($1,808.45) + CRSC ($1,435.02) = $4,235.02 per month. Only the $991.55 in residual retired pay is taxable; the VA compensation and the CRSC are both tax-free.
Secondary Conditions in the Combined Percentage
A secondary disability counts toward your combat-related combined percentage only if the VA rating decision explicitly links it to a primary combat-related condition. Arthritis rated as secondary to a documented combat knee injury, for instance, can be included. Without that documented causal chain in the VA decision, the branch is unlikely to treat it as combat-related, and it stays out of your Step 2 combination.
The PACT Act of 2022 also matters here. If the VA grants service connection for a presumptive condition tied to burn pits or other toxic exposures in a designated combat zone, that condition is generally treated as combat-related for CRSC unless evidence indicates otherwise. If you have PACT Act ratings, include them in your combat-related combination.
The Chapter 61 Cap for Medical Retirees
If you were medically retired under Chapter 61 of Title 10 with fewer than 20 years of service, a second ceiling applies on top of the “lesser of two” rule. Your CRSC plus your residual retired pay (after the VA waiver) cannot exceed what you would have earned under the standard longevity formula based on years of service alone.
The longevity formula: years of service × 2.5 percent (or 2.0 percent for anyone who entered service on or after January 1, 2018) × retired pay base.
Example. A servicemember medically retired at 14 years of service with a 60 percent DOD disability rating and a $3,000 pay base. Disability retired pay is 60% × $3,000 = $1,800. Longevity would have paid 14 × 2.5% × $3,000 = $1,050. Because disability retired pay exceeds the longevity figure by $750, that $750 reduces CRSC dollar-for-dollar.
This cap is the single most common reason a CRSC payment comes in lower than the combat-related VA rate suggested. If you were medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service, run the longevity math before you assume your CRSC will equal the full combat-related compensation figure.
What to Do Before You Trust Your Number
Pull these together before running the calculation:
- Your VA rating decision letter listing every service-connected condition and its percentage.
- Your most recent Retiree Account Statement from myPay, showing gross retired pay and the current VA Waiver line.
- Your branch’s CRSC decision letter, if you already have one, identifying which specific ratings are approved as combat-related. Only those approved ratings go into Step 2.
The branch of service, not the VA and not DFAS, decides which of your disabilities count as combat-related. Until you have that determination in writing, you are estimating. Use your best judgment about which conditions are likely to qualify (armed conflict, hazardous duty, conditions simulating war, instrumentality of war, or Purple Heart injuries), but treat the result as a projection.
When Your VA Rating Changes
If the VA raises the percentage on an existing combat-related condition, DFAS may adjust your CRSC automatically to reflect the new rate. If the VA awards a new service-connected disability, DFAS will not add it to your CRSC calculation on its own. You have to submit a reconsideration request to your branch, which then determines whether the new condition is combat-related. Only after the branch approves it does the new condition enter your combined combat-related percentage.
Choosing Between CRSC and CRDP
You cannot receive CRSC and Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay at the same time, so the calculation above is only half the picture if you also qualify for CRDP. Eligibility differs: CRDP requires 20 or more years of service and a combined VA rating of at least 50 percent, and it restores waived retired pay for all service-connected disabilities regardless of combat relation. It is taxable. CRSC covers only combat-related conditions, has no minimum years-of-service requirement, works at ratings as low as 10 percent, and is tax-free.
When you first become eligible for both, DFAS automatically enrolls you in whichever benefit pays the higher gross amount and sends an election form with a 45-day window to switch. After that first window, changes are only allowed during the annual open season, January 1 through January 31, with the request postmarked by January 31.
Compare after tax, not before. A retiree in the 22 percent federal bracket receiving $1,400 in CRSC keeps the full $1,400; the same $1,400 in CRDP nets about $1,092 after federal tax, a gap of roughly $3,700 over a year. Run your CRSC number using the method above, then compare it against what CRDP would restore, and factor your marginal tax rate into the comparison before you elect.