Information verified through September 14, 2026.
The short answer. Your Retiree Account Statement (RAS) is the two-page document the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) issues every month to describe what your next retired-pay deposit will look like. For Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), three lines matter: gross retired pay, the VA Waiver, and whatever net retired pay is left after it. CRSC can never exceed the VA Waiver line, because the regulation caps CRSC at the reduction in your retired pay caused by VA disability compensation. What you will not find on the RAS is CRSC itself as a line in that computation. CRSC is not taxable, so DFAS issues it as a separate payment with its own statement in myPay. Once you can read those three lines, you can tell in about a minute which side of the "lesser of" rule is controlling your CRSC, and whether a rating increase would move your check at all.
Key takeaways
- The RAS is posted in myPay by the first of each month, with the most recent 12 months on file, plus a statement whenever your account changes and an annual statement each December.
- Gross retired pay minus the VA Waiver is the taxable retired pay you still receive. The VA Waiver is the most CRSC can restore (DoD FMR Volume 7B, Chapter 63, paragraph 8.2).
- CRSC is not a line in the retired-pay computation. It is paid separately, it is not taxable, and DFAS provides a separate CRSC statement in myPay.
- Chapter 61 retirees: the gross on your RAS may be your disability-percentage pay, not the years-of-service amount that actually caps CRSC under paragraph 8.5.2. That cap is not printed on the statement.
- The DFAS debt-waiver rule treats a retiree who had statements that would have revealed an overpayment, and did not review them, as partially at fault. Reading the RAS is not housekeeping. It protects you.
What the RAS is, and where to get it
DFAS describes the Retiree Account Statement as a two-page document that summarizes your pay, benefits and deductions at a specific point in time, and as a description of what you can expect on the next pay date. If you remember the Leave and Earnings Statement from active duty, the RAS is its retired-pay equivalent.
A monthly electronic RAS is available to every retiree currently receiving retired pay through myPay, the DFAS account-management site. Statements post by the first of each month and myPay keeps the most recent 12. You also receive a RAS whenever you make a change to your account, and an annual RAS each December. DFAS asks retirees to register an email address in myPay so you get a reminder each month when the statement is ready, and that same address is what DFAS uses for status notifications on forms you submit.
If you cannot get into myPay, or you need a statement older than the 12 in your account, DFAS accepts a written request. Send your name, Social Security number, signature and the date, and say exactly what information and which dates you need, to Defense Finance and Accounting Service, U.S. Military Retired Pay, 8899 E 56th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200, or by fax to 800-469-6559. DFAS notes that statements from past years require extensive research and asks for up to 60 days to process an extended audit of the account. That matters if you are reconstructing a back-pay period after a CRSC award, and it is one more reason to download every statement the month it posts.
Page one carries your identifying information and the statement date at the top, followed by the pay items for the month. When your pay has changed since the last statement, DFAS shows the previous amount alongside the amount now being applied. Not every field appears on every statement; DFAS prints only the items that apply to your account, and it publishes an annotated guide to both pages on its Retiree Account Statement page.
The three lines that matter for CRSC
1. Gross retired pay
This is what DFAS computes you are entitled to before anything comes out. For a 20-year retiree it is the retired-pay multiplier applied to your retired pay base: 2.5 percent per year of service under the legacy systems, 2.0 percent per year under the Blended Retirement System, multiplied by the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. For a Chapter 61 disability retiree it is the higher of the disability-percentage computation and the years-of-service computation, which is why "gross" on a Chapter 61 statement is not automatically the number that caps CRSC. We come back to that below.
2. The VA Waiver
The law requires a military retiree who receives VA disability compensation to waive retired pay, dollar for dollar, in the amount of that compensation. DFAS calls the deduction the VA Waiver, sometimes the VA offset. Its own open-season guidance tells retirees who elect CRSC that "you will also begin to see an amount under 'VA Waiver' on your Retiree Account Statement."
The line equals your monthly VA compensation, unless your VA compensation is larger than your gross retired pay. In that case the waiver equals the gross, your net retired pay is zero, and the VA continues to pay you the full compensation amount directly.
This is the line that governs CRSC. The regulation is DoD Financial Management Regulation Volume 7B, Chapter 63, and paragraph 8.2 is the sentence to know:
Volume 7B, Chapter 63, paragraph 8.2 (Adjusted Amount): "The CRSC payment may not exceed the current reduction in retired pay applicable to the retiree under 38 U.S.C. § 5304 and 38 U.S.C. § 5305. ... The amount of a member's CRSC entitlement will be adjusted to be the lesser of the gross CRSC from paragraph 8.1 or the reduction to the retired pay entitlement."
The "reduction to the retired pay entitlement" is your VA Waiver. So whatever your combat-related conditions are worth on the VA tables, CRSC is capped at this line.
One caution for retirees currently on Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) who are weighing a switch: DFAS explains that CRDP is not a separate payment but a reduction of the VA Waiver, so a CRDP retiree's statement shows a smaller waiver than the full offset. The ceiling that would apply under CRSC is the full VA compensation amount up to your gross, not the reduced figure on your current RAS. The annual open-season letter, which states both entitlements, is the cleaner source for that comparison. Our CRSC versus CRDP guide walks the after-tax math.
3. Net retired pay
Gross minus the VA Waiver, minus deductions such as Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) premiums and federal tax withholding, is what lands in the bank on the first business day of the month. Two things to read from it.
If net retired pay is zero, your VA compensation fully offsets your retired pay, and every dollar of CRSC up to the cap is money you are not receiving today. This is the typical picture for a Chapter 61 retiree with a high VA rating, and it is why CRSC is "new money" for that group; our Chapter 61 page covers it in detail.
If net retired pay is greater than zero, you still draw some taxable retired pay, and for Chapter 61 retirees with fewer than 20 years that residual counts against the CRSC cap. Paragraph 8.5.2.2 limits CRSC "when combined with any remaining retired pay after DVA offset." Keep that number handy.
Reading which side of "lesser of" is binding
Two numbers, side by side. Number A is the VA Waiver from your RAS. Number B is what the VA compensation tables would pay for your combat-related conditions only, combined under the VA's combined ratings table, at your dependent status. Paragraph 8.1 of the regulation calls that the gross monthly amount, and paragraph 8.1.1 confirms DFAS uses the same dependency rates the VA uses. Special monthly compensation counts only if it rides on conditions the branch found combat-related (paragraph 8.1.2). If you receive Individual Unemployability, paragraph 8.1.3 has DFAS work from the compensation actually paid rather than the schedular percentage, subject to the rest of the chapter. CRSC is the lesser of A and B.
A worked example at 2026 rates, which reflect the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment effective December 1, 2025. Take a 22-year retiree, no dependents on the VA award, with gross retired pay of $2,400 and a 100 percent VA rating paying $3,938.58. The RAS reads: gross pay $2,400.00, VA Waiver $2,400.00, net retired pay $0. Number A is $2,400.
- If the combat-related conditions combine to 70 percent, number B is $1,808.45, the 2026 rate for 70 percent with no dependents. That is less than $2,400, so CRSC is $1,808.45. The VA side is binding. If the branch later approves another combat-related condition and the combat-related percentage rises, CRSC rises with it, until B reaches $2,400.
- If every rated condition is combat-related, number B is $3,938.58. That is more than $2,400, so CRSC is $2,400. The retired-pay side is binding. No rating change can raise this retiree's CRSC. Only a retired-pay cost-of-living adjustment moves it. This retiree receives $2,400 tax-free from DFAS and $3,938.58 from the VA each month.
DFAS's own open-season example shows the same mechanics from the other direction: gross retired pay $1,000, VA compensation $450, so net retired pay of $550 that is taxable, plus $250 in non-taxable CRSC, for $800 total from DFAS. Notice that CRSC there is $250 against a $450 waiver. The combat-related conditions were valued below the full VA award, so the VA side was binding.
That is the whole test. If you can find the VA Waiver on your statement and you know which of your conditions the branch approved, the CRSC calculator does the rest.
Chapter 61: the number that is not on your statement
Medical retirees with fewer than 20 years of creditable service have a second limit, and it is invisible on the RAS. Paragraph 8.5.2.2 provides that for these retirees the CRSC payment, "which when combined with any remaining retired pay after DVA offset, will not exceed the amount that is equal to 2½ percent of the member's years of creditable service multiplied by the member's retired pay base." The note to the same paragraph applies 2.0 percent instead of 2.5 percent for members under the Blended Retirement System.
Here is why the statement misleads. A Chapter 61 retiree's gross retired pay is the higher of two computations. When the disability percentage wins, the gross printed on the RAS is above the years-of-service amount. Suppose a retiree with 12 years of service and a retired pay base of $5,200 was placed on the retired list at 50 percent disability. Gross retired pay on the RAS is $2,600. The longevity amount is 12 years times 2.5 percent times $5,200, or $1,560. With a VA award large enough to offset the full $2,600, the RAS shows a $2,600 waiver and $0 net. If the combat-related conditions are worth $1,808.45 on the VA tables, the lesser-of test in paragraph 8.2 gives $1,808.45. Paragraph 8.5.2.2 then restricts CRSC to $1,560. Neither $1,560 nor the 12-year figure appears on the statement. You need your retirement orders, your DD Form 214 and the pay records behind your retired pay base to compute it.
Paragraph 8.5.3 adds a detail that answers a common question: once the Chapter 61 reduction is established, based on the date the member was first placed on the Temporary or Permanent Disability Retired List, it is increased by each retired-pay cost-of-living adjustment and is not recomputed from current pay tables. So the cap walks upward with each COLA, and so does the retro period behind it. Our Chapter 61 guide has a longer worked example.
Why CRSC is not where you expect on the RAS
Retirees new to CRSC often open the statement, find no CRSC line, and assume something went wrong. DFAS explains it in its open-season FAQ: "CRSC is non-taxable, so it is issued separately from your retired pay. You may begin to receive two separate payments from DFAS each month, one for retired pay (taxable) and one for CRSC (non-taxable)." Both arrive the same way your retired pay does, direct deposit or paper check, on the first business day of the month, and DFAS notes that if the VA offset exceeds your retired pay entirely, CRSC goes to the account most recently designated on your file. DFAS makes a separate CRSC statement available through myPay.
A few things can come out of the CRSC payment, and a few cannot. Under paragraph 8.3 of the chapter, and as DFAS has done since April 2018, SBP premiums are deducted from CRSC when retired pay is not sufficient to cover them. CRSC is subject to garnishment for child support and alimony, and to Treasury offset for debts owed to the United States, including overpayments of retired pay or erroneous CRSC payments (paragraph 1.1.3.1). Allotments cannot be deducted from CRSC; DFAS warns that if there is no retired pay left to carry them, allotments such as dental or TRICARE premiums have to be paid directly to the provider. And CRSC is not retired pay for purposes of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, so a former spouse's share may decrease or stop after a switch. Our CRSC and divorce page covers that separately.
The annual letter that pairs with the RAS
If you are eligible for both CRSC and CRDP, the regulation (paragraph 3.2) requires DFAS to provide an annual notice of your entitlements under both programs, and gives you one opportunity a year, during open season, normally January 1 through 31, to change your election. DFAS is clear that "the member bears the responsibility for electing which benefit to receive," and its FAQ confirms that not returning the form is treated as a passive election to stay put. Read that letter against your RAS. The letter gives you both gross entitlements; the RAS shows you what one of them actually looks like after SBP premiums and withholding.
One mechanical point from the same chapter helps with the reading: CRSC is paid only in whole-month increments (paragraph 1.1.2), so a mid-month change shows up the following month.
The rule that makes reading the RAS matter
DFAS reports that it receives more than 15,000 benefit changes a month from the VA, and that fewer than 2 percent of them, on average, result in a debt. When one does, the letter explains the debt and the repayment options, interest is added to any unpaid portion beginning 30 days from the date of the notification letter, and a debt delinquent for more than 120 days is transferred to the Treasury for collection.
The debt-waiver rule is what turns the RAS from a courtesy into a duty. DoD FMR Volume 16, Chapter 4 provides that economic or financial considerations play no role in the determination of a waiver request, and, at paragraph 8.5.2.2, that a waiver will not be granted where the debtor had records that, if reviewed, would have indicated the overpayment and failed to review them. That failure makes the debtor partially at fault and ineligible for waiver. A retiree who receives a monthly statement, does not open it, and later discovers a retired-pay or CRSC overpayment has a much weaker waiver request than one who can show the statements never revealed the problem. We cover the audit and the two response lanes in the DFAS CRSC audit, explained.
What this means for military retirees
The RAS will not tell you whether a condition is combat-related. Only your branch decides that, and DFAS's FAQ is explicit that a VA increase does not automatically raise CRSC; new conditions go back to the branch on a reconsideration request. What the RAS does tell you, every month, is the ceiling. Knowing whether your retired pay or your rating is the limit, before you spend time on a reconsideration, is the single most useful thing the statement can do for you.
What you should do now
- Log in to myPay and download the last 12 statements, plus the most recent December annual statement. Keep them somewhere you can find in two years, not just in myPay.
- Write down three numbers from the current RAS: gross retired pay, VA Waiver, net retired pay.
- Pull your VA rating decision or the current award letter and note the total monthly compensation and each rated condition. Confirm the VA Waiver on the RAS matches the compensation, or matches your gross if the compensation is larger.
- List which conditions your branch has approved as combat-related, from your CRSC decision letter, and combine those ratings alone. Look up that combined percentage on the 2026 VA tables at your dependent status. That is number B.
- Compare A and B. The smaller one is your CRSC before any Chapter 61 restriction. The calculator does this and flags the Chapter 61 case.
- Chapter 61, under 20 years: get your retirement orders, your DD Form 214 and the pay history behind your retired pay base, and compute years times 2.5 percent (2.0 percent under BRS) times the base. Add any net retired pay you still receive. That total is the cap.
- If the numbers do not reconcile, call DFAS Retired and Annuitant Pay at 800-321-1080 with the statement in front of you. For questions about the VA award itself, the VA is at 800-827-1000. For which conditions are combat-related, only your branch CRSC office can answer: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, and our branch-by-branch guide has the addresses and forms.
Document checklist
What to have in one folder
- Last 12 monthly Retiree Account Statements and the most recent December annual statement (myPay)
- The DFAS welcome letter with the original breakdown of your retired pay, if you still have it
- Your CRSC decision letter from your branch, listing each condition approved as combat-related
- The current VA award letter or rating decision with the monthly compensation amount and each rated condition
- The most recent CRDP/CRSC open-season letter, if you received one
- Chapter 61 retirees: retirement orders, DD Form 214, the disability rating from your Physical Evaluation Board, and the pay records behind your retired pay base
- Any DFAS debt notification letter, with the date, if one has arrived
Frequently asked questions
Where is CRSC shown on my Retiree Account Statement?
Generally it is not a line in the retired-pay computation. DFAS explains that because CRSC is non-taxable it is issued separately, so you may receive two payments from DFAS each month. The RAS covers the retired-pay side: gross, VA Waiver, deductions and net pay. A separate CRSC statement is available in myPay. The RAS still governs CRSC because the VA Waiver line is the ceiling.
What does the VA Waiver line on the RAS mean?
The dollar-for-dollar reduction of retired pay required when you receive VA disability compensation. It equals your VA compensation unless the compensation is larger than your gross retired pay, in which case it equals the gross and your net retired pay is zero. Under Volume 7B, Chapter 63, paragraph 8.2, CRSC may not exceed that reduction.
How do I tell whether my VA rating or my retired pay is limiting my CRSC?
Compare the VA Waiver on your RAS with what the VA tables would pay for your combat-related conditions alone at your dependent status. CRSC is the lesser. If the combat-related value is smaller, your rating is the limit and an added combat-related condition can raise CRSC. If the waiver is smaller, your retired pay is the limit and only a retired-pay COLA moves it. Chapter 61 retirees under 20 years then apply the paragraph 8.5.2.2 cap, which is not on the statement.
Why is my gross retired pay on the RAS higher than my CRSC cap as a Chapter 61 retiree?
Chapter 61 retired pay is the higher of the disability-percentage and years-of-service computations. When the disability percentage wins, the gross on the RAS sits above the longevity amount, and for retirees with fewer than 20 years paragraph 8.5.2.2 caps CRSC plus any remaining retired pay at 2.5 percent (2.0 percent under BRS) of creditable years times the retired pay base. That figure is not printed on the RAS.
How far back can I get a copy of my RAS from DFAS?
myPay holds the most recent 12 monthly statements plus the annual December statement and change statements. For older statements, send a signed written request stating exactly what you need and for which dates to DFAS, U.S. Military Retired Pay, 8899 E 56th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200, or fax 800-469-6559. DFAS asks for up to 60 days for past-year research.
The bottom line
The Retiree Account Statement is the one document in this process you receive automatically, every month, without asking anyone. Three lines on it, gross retired pay, the VA Waiver and net retired pay, tell you the ceiling on your CRSC and which side of the lesser-of rule is holding your payment where it is. What it will not show you is the Chapter 61 longevity cap or the CRSC payment itself, and knowing that keeps you from misreading a healthy account as a broken one.
Read it when it posts. Save it. If the numbers do not match what you expected, the reason is usually in the regulation quoted above, and if it is not, DFAS has a phone number and a written-request process built for exactly that question.
If you would like a second set of eyes on your statement and your CRSC decision letter together, that is a short conversation and we are glad to have it. Flat fee if you decide to work with us, never a percentage, and the first call costs nothing. If you already filed and the award came back lower than you expected, you can also have the packet reviewed.
Sources: Department of Defense, DoD 7000.14-R, Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7B, Chapter 63, "Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC)" (June 2024), paragraphs 1.1.2 (whole-month increments), 1.1.3 (relationship to other provisions; garnishment and Treasury offset; SBP deduction), 3.2 (annual notice and open-season election), 8.1 through 8.1.3 (gross monthly amount, dependents, SMC, Individual Unemployability), 8.2 (adjusted amount, "lesser of"), 8.3 (SBP premium deduction from CRSC), 8.5.2.2 and 8.5.3 (Chapter 61 restriction and out-year COLA treatment), and 9.3 (VA retroactive increase), published by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Retiree Account Statement (RAS), Understanding Your RAS, Page 1 and Page 2, Using myPay, CRSC and CRDP Payment, Combat Related Special Compensation, Comparing CRSC and CRDP, Understanding the VA Waiver and Retired Pay/CRDP/CRSC Adjustments and CRDP/CRSC Open Season Frequently Asked Questions, all at dfas.mil; DFAS, Helpful Tips and Tools for Retirees New to Retired Pay (April 2023); DFAS, "Retiree Account Statement: What it is and why it matters," republished in the Army Echoes newsletter, February 2026; DoD FMR Volume 16, Chapter 4 (May 2024), paragraphs 8.5 and 8.5.2.2 (waiver standards and the fault rule); 10 U.S.C. § 1413a; 38 U.S.C. §§ 5304 and 5305; Department of Veterans Affairs, 2026 veterans compensation rates (effective December 1, 2025). Dollar figures in the examples use the 2026 VA rates for a veteran with no dependents and are illustrative; your own statement, award letter and retirement orders control.
This article is provided for general educational purposes and is not legal advice, financial advice, or a guarantee of CRSC eligibility, approval, effective date, or payment amount. Rules, guidance, and implementation procedures can change. Veterans should verify current requirements with their military department, DFAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or an appropriately accredited representative.