APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded membership retirement points for the period 8 May 1972 through 14 August 1992, that he be promoted to lieutenant colonel, and that his placement on the Army of the United States (AUS) Retired List be corrected to show him in the rank of lieutenant colonel.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he notified the Adjutant General (AG), Connecticut Army National Guard (CTARNG), after his release from active duty that he did not intend to return to Connecticut.  He assumed that he would be transferred to the USAR (presumably, the Control Group Reinforcement).  Upon reaching retirement eligibility at age 60 he commenced making inquiries to insure that he would receive retired pay in a timely manner.  It was then that he discovered that the CTARNG had never issued orders transferring him to the USAR.  When the CTARNG was made aware of the omission, it published orders assigning him to the USAR on orders dated 10 April 1992, with an effective date of 8 May 1972.  It is the applicant’s contention that if the CTARNG had transferred him to the USAR, he would have received membership retirement points from the date of his release from active duty and he would have been promoted to lieutenant colonel.

COUNSEL CONTENDS:  That the applicant has more than adequately set forth his contentions and argument in support of his case, and wishes to submit the application based on those contentions and argument.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He was ordered to active duty from his status as a captain in the CTARNG on 24 September 1967.  He was branch qualified in artillery upon his entry on active duty and was later transferred to air defense artillery.  He served as an operations and training staff officer in Vietnam and Texas, and was promoted to the rank of major on 15 March 1968.  His significant awards include the Bronze Star for meritorious service and the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service.
On 18 January 1972 the applicant was notified that he had been selected for release from active duty under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-100, paragraph 3-58, then in effect.

Accordingly, the applicant was honorably released from active duty on 7 May 1972 and transferred to the CTARNG the following day.

The applicant’s records do not contain any indication of him notifying the CTARNG AG that he was not returning to Connecticut after his release from active duty.  For that matter, there is no evidence of any correspondence or any other form of communication from him to any military authority until 1992.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In all probability orders were in fact issued by the CTARNG discharging the applicant from the Army National Guard and transferring him to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement) shortly after his release from active duty.  However, a record of those orders would not exist, or would not be readily retrievable, after the passage of nearly 20 years.

2.  When the CTARNG was made aware of the applicant’s predicament in 1992, it published an order with a retroactive effective date to give closure to the applicant’s service in the Army National Guard.  In that scenario, the CTARNG published its order not to correct an error or omission on its part, but as a service to the applicant.

3.  It appears to the Board that the applicant is attempting to benefit from a clerical error.  By his own admission, he has had absolutely no participation in or, even, communication with the military since his release from active duty.  To now expect to be awarded benefits for his inactivity is not reasonable.

4.  In view of the preceding there is no basis for granting the applicant’s request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

                       GRANT          

                       GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                       DENY APPLICATION




						Karl F. Schneider
			Acting Director