Florida's Military Combat Duty Grant Programs

Several counties in the state of Florida, in appreciation for their residents’ military service, have established Military Combat Duty Grant Programs. The grant programs are designed to assist service members (Active Duty, Reserves and National Guard), who are fighting in the Global War on Terrorism with the support of their families and homes.

Property Tax Grants

While each county has specific eligibility requirements for their grant program, the common requirements among all are: (1) Proof of residence and homestead exemption; (2) Payment of property taxes during the applicable year; and (3) Military service in a combat zone (Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf arena). To meet these requirements, each service member may be required to provide proof of their combat service (DD-214, Orders, Leave and Earning Statement reflecting combat pay, letter from unit commander attesting to combat duty and dates, combat awards and decorations, or other official documentation specifying dates of combat duty).  The following is a brief requirement for Wakulla County Combat Grant Program:

Wakulla County Program

The Wakulla County program provides a $50 per month grant for each month served in a combat zone. The program requires residents to have resided in the county for six months prior to eligibility. Any resident who has served since 2002 is eligible for the grant.

The maximum amount payable to any one individual under the program is $600. The grant can be taken in the form of cash or applied towards payment of the resident’s Ad Valorem Property Tax Bill.

For more information please call your Wakulla Veteran Service Officer at (850) 926-1072 or Cell 228-9646

Combat-Related Service Connection (CRSC)

The Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program was enacted by Congress on 2 December 2002. The CRSC program provides compensation for eligible MILITARY retirees with combat-related disabilities.  The Army CRSC program is operated by the Army Human Resources Command (HRC) under the direction of the United States Army Physical Disability Agency. Since the programs launch (June, 2003), 30% of eligible retired Soldiers have applied for CRSC and 55% of claims have been approved. 238,000 retired Soldiers are eligible for CRSC (as of 02/27/06) with an increase of 2,500 eligible annually. CRSC provides a monthly tax-free compensation (full concurrent receipt option) that supplements Veterans Administration (VA) disability and military retired payments. To apply for CRSC, claimants must first meet ALL four of the following criteria AND have at least one VA rated injury determined to have been combat-related:

• Active, Reserve, or Medically retired with at least 20 years of service
• Receiving retired pay
• Retired pay is OFFSET by VA payments and
• Have 10% or greater VA rated injury.

Combat-related injuries are those incurred with documented proof and fall into the following four categories:

• Training that simulates war
• Hazardous duty
• Instrumentality of war, or
• Armed conflict

General Program Requirements

In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a military retiree active, reserve duty, or medically retired with at least 20 qualifying years.  You must also be drawing retirement pay as well as VA compensation, and you must have a VA disability rating of 10% or more.  You must also have at least one VA rated disability that is combat-related.  Combat-related disabilities are those that were incurred while in the performance of duty under conditions simulating war, while engaged in hazardous service, through an instrumentality of war, or as a direct result of armed conflict.

Questions should be referred to your respective service at the following numbers:

• Air Force 1-866-229-7074
• Army 1-866-281-3254
• Navy and USMC 1-877-366-2772

Presumptive disability issues resulting in VA disability compensation will be similarly treated for CRSC (based on service-connected exposure to hazards that are clearly combat-related). Presumptive issues include Agent Orange, Gulf War illnesses, radiation exposure, mustard gas, and lewisite.

In an effort to assist the veterans and dependences to all benefits and entitlements, we have provided some but not all Internet Links.