On June 12, 2025, the United States Supreme Court handed combat-wounded veterans a sweeping victory in Soto v. United States, striking down the government’s practice of limiting retroactive Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) to six years. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Clarence Thomas held that nothing in the CRSC statute authorizes a time bar; therefore, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the military services may no longer truncate back pay simply because a veteran applied more than six years after becoming eligible. The decision recognizes that many veterans do not receive prompt combat-related disability ratings—or even learn about CRSC—until years after leaving the service, and it restores Congress’s intent that these highly deserving retirees be “made whole” regardless of administrative delays. In plain language, the Court ended a technicality that had quietly deprived thousands of wounded warriors of the full measure of compensation they earned on the battlefield.
To appreciate the magnitude of Soto, it helps to recall what CRSC was designed to do. Since 2002, CRSC has restored tax-free retired pay to veterans whose disabilities were incurred in combat or combat-related activities; it offsets the dollar-for-dollar reduction that normally occurs when VA disability compensation overlaps with military retirement. For years, however, DoD and VA enforced a six-year statute of limitations borrowed from the 19th-century Barring Act, telling veterans that any portion of CRSC earned more than six years before the application date was forever lost. Countless retirees—especially those medically discharged with less than twenty years of service—saw large swaths of back pay vanish, even when the VA had taken years to rate their wounds or when they had only recently learned of CRSC’s existence. Marine Corps veteran Simon Soto, the lead plaintiff, was one of them. Despite proving that his post-traumatic stress disorder originated in combat and should have triggered CRSC as early as 2008, he was paid only back to 2010. His class-action lawsuit argued that the six-year cap had no place in the CRSC statute, and the Supreme Court emphatically agreed.
The practical effect is immediate and profound. Veterans who previously received CRSC with a truncated retroactive period can now demand recalculation back to the first month they qualified, which for many medically retired veterans is January 2008 and for twenty-year retirees can reach as far back as June 2003 when the program began. Those who never applied—believing it was “too late” or unaware of the benefit—can file now without fear of losing historic payments. And because CRSC is tax-exempt, every additional dollar owed is a dollar in a veteran’s pocket. We expect a surge of correction-of-records petitions and CRSC re-adjudications in the wake of Soto, as service secretaries and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service grapple with revisiting thousands of files. Veterans should gather their VA rating decisions, prior CRSC determinations, and any correspondence referencing the six-year limit, then be prepared to press the service-specific CRSC boards or the Boards for Correction of Military Records for full relief. While agencies may eventually issue automatic guidance, early, proactive claims place veterans at the front of the line and safeguard against further delay.
Gardberg & Kemmerly remains ready to stand with America’s Veterans and keep pace with every change in VA policy. If you have a disability claim and need assistance, our seasoned Veterans’ Disability attorneys are here to help. We are dedicated to assisting injured and disabled Veterans in securing the benefits they rightfully deserve. For personalized support with your disability claim, don’t hesitate to contact us at 251-343-1111 or toll-free at 1-800-332-1529 for a free consultation. We are honored to serve Veterans from our office in Mobile, Alabama.