2. In effect, the applicant requests reinstatement to the rank and pay grade of Staff Sergeant E-6. She states that she enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard (MOARNG) as an E-6 and was told by the recruiter that she would retain her rank contingent upon her obtaining training in MOS (military occupational specialty) 75B (personnel administration specialist) within one year. She requested training in that MOS on 14 January 1994. She attended drills for three months, and upon receipt of her leave and earning statement (LES) discovered she had been administratively reduced to Sergeant, pay grade E-5. 3. She states that she was told by the unit administrator that there was nothing that could be done. She initiated action to rejoin her previous Army Reserve unit and enlisted in the Army Reserve 18 June 1994. Attempting to correct her rank, she contacted the MOARNG Inspector General (IG), who conducted an inquiry, a portion of which indicates that her National Guard company commander and unit readiness NCO talked with her about a voluntary reduction. The applicant disputes this information, stating that no one talked with her about a rank reduction. 4. The applicant enlisted in the Army National Guard in the pay grade of E-6 on 30 December 1993. Her enlistment document shows that she understood that she would undergo training in MOS 75B. A 9 March 1994 LES indicates a demotion date of 30 December 1993 to pay grade E-5. Three subsequent LES show her pay grade as E-5. 5. A 24 February 1994 MOARNG order reduced the applicant to pay grade E-5 effective 30 December 1993. The reason for her reduction is given as voluntary. 6. The applicant was discharged from the MOARNG in the rank of Sergeant on 17 June 1994. She enlisted in the Army Reserve for three years in the rank of Sergeant on 18 June 1994. 7. A 26 September 1994 memorandum to the applicant from the MOARNG indicates that her enlistment in the 1221st Transportation Company (MOARNG) was a defective enlistment, because the grade authorization for the position she enlisted in was an E-5 grade; she should not have been enlisted in pay grade E-6. The IG stated that when the defective enlistment was discovered, she should have been presented with two options - separation at her enlistment rank which was pay grade E-6, or a voluntary reduction to pay grade E-5 and remain in the unit. The IG stated that there was a voluntary reduction order in her file and that both the company commander and unit readiness NCO stated that they talked with her about it. Since there is no written requirement from a soldier acknowledging voluntary reduction, the IG could not verify that she was informed about the reduction. 8. In the processing of this case an opinion was obtained from the Army National Guard Bureau (COPY ATTACHED). An official of that agency opined that the recruiter was at fault for enlisting the applicant in a unit with no available E-6 authorization, that her transfer to the Reserves shortly after her reduction, strengthens her contention that she did not agree to a voluntary reduction, and that the applicant should be reinstated in the pay grade of E-6 with all pay and allowances due. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant enlisted in the MOARNG on 30 November 1993 in the pay grade of E-6, a defective enlistment as there was no position in the unit for her in that pay grade. 2. The applicant’s enlistment in pay grade E-6 was in good faith. To accept a voluntary reduction to pay grade E-5 immediately after her enlistment is specious. Her contention that she did not request a voluntary reduction to pay grade E-5 is accepted. 3. The applicant’s records should be corrected to reflect that her enlistment in the Army National Guard is void and that she served on continuous duty in the Army Reserve in pay grade E-6 in the rank and pay grade of Staff Sergeant E-6 from 30 November 1993. RECOMMENDATION: That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected: a. by voiding her 30 November 1993 enlistment in the MOARNG, and b. by showing that she continued to serve in the Army Reserve in pay grade E-6 until her ETS (discharge) date of 17 June 1997. BOARD VOTE: GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION GRANT FORMAL HEARING DENY APPLICATION CHAIRPERSON