Major Richard Star Act Passes the House: What Combat-Disabled Military Retirees Need to Know

On November 12, 2026, the United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102), legislation that could substantially increase retirement benefits for tens of thousands of combat-disabled military retirees.

The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 392–18 and now moves to the United States Senate for consideration.

For military personnel who were medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service because of combat-related disabilities, this legislation could finally correct one of the longstanding inequities in our military disability retirement system.

Importantly, however, the Major Richard Star Act is not yet law, and its benefits would not extend to every medically retired veteran.

Under current federal law, many military disability retirees cannot receive their full military retired pay and VA disability compensation simultaneously.

Instead, 38 U.S.C. §§ 5304–5305 generally require military retired pay to be reduced by the amount of VA disability compensation received.

Consider, for example, a service member who suffers serious combat-related injuries after eight years of military service and is subsequently found Unfit for continued service by a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB).

If that service member receives a disability retirement under Chapter 61 of Title 10, the military calculates retired pay based on the applicable disability retirement rules.

However, when that individual also receives VA disability compensation, the military retirement payment may be substantially reduced or eliminated by the VA compensation offset.

Although Congress has previously established programs intended to address this problem, those programs do not provide complete relief to many military disability retirees.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 1413a, Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) provides additional compensation to qualifying military retirees whose disabilities resulted from combat-related circumstances.

But CRSC is not the same as regular military retired pay.

For disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of creditable service, existing statutory restrictions generally limit the combined amount of residual military retired pay and CRSC by reference to the amount of retirement pay earned through years of service.

This creates a particularly unfavorable result for service members who sustained serious combat-related disabilities relatively early in their military careers.

A service member whose disability retirement was calculated using a high DoD disability percentage may nevertheless receive substantially less than that calculated amount because of the VA compensation offset and the limitations imposed on CRSC.

The Major Richard Star Act is intended to correct that problem for qualifying combat-disabled disability retirees.

The House-approved legislation is directed primarily toward military disability retirees who meet the following requirements:

• They were medically retired under Chapter 61 of Title 10.
• They completed fewer than 20 years of creditable military service.
• They have qualifying combat-related disabilities satisfying the statutory requirements for CRSC.
• Their military retired pay is subject to reduction because they also receive VA disability compensation.

The legislation would permit qualifying retirees to receive their military disability retired pay without the existing VA disability compensation offset.

Importantly, the bill does not require a 100% VA disability rating, nor does it impose a new 50% VA disability rating requirement on this category of retirees.

However, merely having a VA service-connected disability does not establish eligibility under the Major Richard Star Act.

The combat-related nature of the disability is a critical distinction.

One issue that is frequently misunderstood by service members and veterans is the meaning of a combat-related disability.

For CRSC purposes, the term is considerably broader than an injury sustained while exchanging fire with enemy forces.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 1413a, qualifying disabilities may arise from armed conflict, hazardous service, conditions simulating war, or an instrumentality of war.

Depending upon the circumstances, disabilities resulting from qualifying airborne operations, military training exercises, or certain military equipment-related incidents may satisfy these requirements.

However, the veteran must establish the required causal relationship between the disability and a qualifying combat-related circumstance.

Simply having served in a combat zone, participated in a deployment, or received a VA disability rating does not automatically establish CRSC eligibility.

For many veterans, establishing this connection requires careful examination of their service treatment records, personnel records, line-of-duty investigations, and other documentation concerning the circumstances surrounding their injuries or illnesses.

The potential financial consequences of this legislation are significant.

According to the Congressional Budget Office's October 27, 2026 analysis, approximately 58,000 Chapter 61 disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of service were receiving CRSC payments in September 2025.

The CBO estimated that the legislation could increase total monthly compensation for affected retirees by an average of approximately $1,450.

That amounts to roughly $17,400 in additional annual compensation.

These figures are estimates, not guaranteed benefit increases. Actual amounts would depend upon each veteran's disability retirement calculation, VA disability compensation, existing CRSC entitlement, and other applicable statutory restrictions.

Some retirees could receive substantially larger increases, while others might receive smaller increases or no additional compensation.

Use our CRSC calculator to get a preliminary estimate of how your current CRSC benefit is calculated and how the offset affects your total compensation.

There are several limitations that military retirees should understand.

First, the legislation would not establish universal concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation for every medically retired veteran. Veterans whose disabilities are not combat-related would not automatically qualify merely because they were medically retired under Chapter 61.

Second, service members who were medically separated with disability severance pay, rather than placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List or Temporary Disability Retired List, would not become eligible solely because of their medical separation.

Third, the legislation does not automatically reverse previous unfavorable CRSC determinations.

Finally, the House-approved legislation does not expressly provide for retroactive payments extending back to the veteran's original date of retirement.

The House-approved bill provides for the statutory changes to become effective on the first day of the first month following enactment, applying to payments for months beginning on or after that date.

However, the legislation must still be approved by the Senate and signed into law before any of these changes take effect.

Veterans should therefore avoid making financial decisions based upon an assumption that additional retirement payments are guaranteed.

For veterans who were medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service, this is an appropriate time to review their military disability retirement and CRSC eligibility.

In particular, affected veterans should determine whether their service records and medical documentation establish that one or more of their disabilities resulted from circumstances qualifying as combat-related under federal law.

Veterans whose previous CRSC applications were denied may also wish to examine the reasons for those denials and determine whether additional evidence or an appropriate request for reconsideration could establish eligibility.

This is particularly important because the distinction between a service-connected disability and a combat-related disability may determine whether a retiree benefits from the legislation.

Veterans should also review their military retired pay statements, VA compensation awards, and CRSC determinations to understand how the proposed legislation could affect their individual retirement benefits.

The passage of the Major Richard Star Act by the House of Representatives represents an important development for combat-disabled military retirees.

For many years, service members whose military careers were cut short by serious combat-related disabilities have been subject to restrictions that prevented them from receiving their full calculated military disability retirement pay while also receiving VA disability compensation.

The Major Richard Star Act would remove that restriction for a defined group of qualifying disability retirees.

Although further legislative action remains necessary, veterans who may be affected should begin examining their eligibility and gathering the documentation necessary to establish their entitlement.

For some military disability retirees, the difference could amount to thousands of dollars annually throughout their retirement.

Understanding the distinction between military disability retirement, VA disability compensation, and CRSC vs. CRDP eligibility is essential to determining what benefits a veteran may ultimately receive.

The Gately Law Firm represents active-duty service members, Reservists, Guardsmen, and veterans in military disability retirement matters, proceedings before Physical Evaluation Boards, and applications to the Boards for Correction of Military and Naval Records. Request a free consultation to discuss your case.

• U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call Vote 323 (Nov. 12, 2026): https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026323
• Congressional Budget Office, Cost Estimate for H.R. 2102 (Oct. 27, 2026): https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62877
• 10 U.S.C. § 1413a; 38 U.S.C. §§ 5304–5305.