Interesting...I am not sure how close in time the relative events in your case were. And, I don't doubt that what you described happened to you as you explained. I based my comments on two things- the fact (as discussed) that until you are in receipt of both military retirement pay and VA compensation, there is no offset to restore. I also based it on a somewhat recent case (going back more than a year or so ago when the CRSC application was filed) where I had a PEB client that I was able to move from separation to a retirement finding, with a combat related finding, by the Formal PEB. I advised my client of the requirements for and availability of CRSC benefits.(He had previous VA ratings for each of the relevant conditions). Unbeknowst to me, he filed right after receiving his retirement orders and he enclosed a copy of the orders (but, as I recall, about 3 days before his effective retirement date). The CRSC returned the application with a cover letter stating that he was not eligible because he was not in receipt of retired pay and VA pay. He refiled a few weeks later and enclosed his PEB findings. He was denied again, this time with a letter advising him to file an appeal to the CRSC if he disagreed. We did this, denied again. (This case was very strange because the CRSC analyst asked for PEB findings of combat related nature as part of his listing of documents requested to support the claim and we supplied this several times without a change in the denial...this next part is less important to my concerns, but, essentially, in the interim, we filed a lawsuit in Court of Federal Claims to recover approximately 5 years of back pay. The Court remanded to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, and along with that claim, I submitted a claim for CRSC to the ABCMR- during the pendency of the ABCMR decision, the Army CRSC reversed itself after receiving an inquiry from ABCMR about the issue with a copy of my arguments/evidence. This occurred about 2 months ago. So, he did eventually receive the CRSC, backdated to date of retirement. (As an aside, I will at some point in the near future post more about this case. My client has told me that I can share the details of his case so others can see an example of the issues...the good news is that the ABCMR recommended a grant of relief on the back pay issue in the form of INCAP pay for the disputed five years). My concern is that a "premature" claim may push the case to an "appeal" which may either slow the ultimate disposition or limit the issues one can raise without causing additional review...which may slow the payment. However, filing "early" in your case seems to have worked out for you, so I can't say it is always the case that doing so is going to have a negative impact. There are way too many variables (both in terms of the facts of each case, but also procedurally- as in what specific analyst/reviewer is looking at the case) to state things in absolutes. However, my instinct is that I would not apply until I met the specific criteria for the benefit or compensation requested.
Moreover, essentially, I wasn't disagreeing with your previous post...I was trying to piggyback. 
