RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-03497 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: His Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP) be reinstated for the period of 1 Oct 08 to present. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: His SDAP was stopped effective 1 Oct 08 due to an investigation that led to his general court-martial (GCM). The GCM sentence returned him to duty with a reduction in rank and 90 days of hard labor without confinement. AFI 36-3017 establishes eligibility for SDAP and Table 3 lists conditions that affect eligibility; none of the conditions applied to him. In fact, from May 08 to present, he has never been counseled for poor performance nor did he have his Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) revoked. He submitted complaints to the Inspector General (IG) and his congressional representative to include an attempted Article 138 request. In support of his request, the applicant provides a copy of his Court-Martial Summary, copies of his IG complaints, a copy of the Article 138 request, copies of letters of recommendation, and a copy of AFI 36-3017. His complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. _________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant is currently serving on active duty in the grade of technical sergeant, having assumed that grade effective and with a date of rank of 13 Aug 09. Additional relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the letter prepared by the appropriate office of the Air Force Reserve Command. Accordingly, there is no need to recite these facts in this Record of Proceedings. _________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFRC/A1K recommends denial. A1K states the applicant was reassigned to administrative duties based on his misconduct. A1K notes that recruiter qualifications include maintaining professional military standards. The applicant applied through various channels such as HQ USAF/JAA AND HQ AFRC/CC to request reinstatement of his SDAP; however all requests were denied using due process on each occasion. Furthermore, the applicant’s IG and congressional complaints were determined to be unfounded, and his Article 138 request was rejected by the AFRC/CC and subsequently rejected by the HQ USAF/JAA in April 2010. A1K also notes that the proper authorities reviewed the applicant’s complaints. The AFRC/A1K complete evaluation is at Exhibit B. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: The applicant responded by stating that despite his GCM conviction, he was not removed from the recruiting squadron or discharged with a punitive discharge. While reassigned to the 314th Recruiting Squadron, Burlington, NJ, he took over and revamped the Logistics office. If he had been working with any HQ element of the Recruiting Service he would have been given the title of Resources Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and would have been entitled to SDAP at a lower rate than that of a production recruiter. The governing instruction clearly identifies eligibility for SDAP and the actions necessary to revoke it; however, none of those actions were accomplished. He believes his commander and another colonel acted inappropriately when they decided to enforce the AFI without stating a reason for withdrawing his SDAP. The colonel violated his rights under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) by influencing the Article 138 process. His Article 138 request was forwarded to the general officer for review based on the colonel’s input. He points these issues out to provide support to his contention that these leaders violated the very same rules that they are supposed to uphold. He believes the board will see that despite his legal issue, he was still entitled to SDAP and AFRC failed to follow the rule of law as set forth in the instructions. The applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit D. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice. We took notice of the applicant's complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion that the applicant has not been the victim of an error or injustice. Moreover the regulatory guidance included in the application authorizes the commander to stop this payment when he finds the member does not maintain the qualifications to perform the duties, effective as of the date the commander makes that determination. The commander determined his recruiter misconduct made him not qualified and in doing so the commander was acting within the scope of his authority and we find it inherently reasonable that someone who was found to have engaged in criminal recruiter misconduct should not be given this incentive pay. The applicant has not pointed out a specific provision that restrains the commander’s authority in this area. Rather he has only pointed to subsequent actions that are appropriate under different circumstances. The fact that other steps would have been taken if it were not criminal conduct, but job performance, is irrelevant to this proper exercise of authority. Furthermore, we note the agencies of review in this matter were the proper authorities and any future reviews are unnecessary for us to decide the case. Absent a showing as to why to deny him this pay under these specific circumstances was an error or injustice we find no basis upon which to correct the record. . Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the relief sought in this application. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; that the application was denied without a personal appearance; and that the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2010-03497 in Executive Session on 26 May 11, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 14 Sep 10, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Letter, AFRC/RSOO, dated 29 Oct 10. Exhibit C. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 12 Nov 10. Exhibit D. Letter, Applicant, not dated. Panel Chair