PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            01 JULY 2003                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002079544

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ted S. Kanamine		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Karen Y. Fletcher		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that his records be corrected to show his date of rank as a first lieutenant as 21 November 1999 instead of 26 June 2001. 

3.  The applicant states that the delay in his promotion to first lieutenant was because he did not have the required security clearance.  Requests for clearances were submitted in 1997, 1998, and 2000.   In response to a request from this agency for more information, the applicant states that his first request for a clearance was submitted in September 1997 with his commissioning packet, and was returned to him in May 1998 because of an outdated fingerprint card.  He resubmitted the packet to the S2 of his unit, the 455th Field Hospital.  That unit was deactivated a year later, implying that his request was somehow lost.  He states that he has no record of his conversations with the Inspector General's office, because all communications were conducted telephonically.  He has not been able to provide documentation as requested.  He did submit a request to a Member of Congress (MC) for assistance.   

4.  In a 1 December 2001 memorandum of support, the applicant's commanding officer stated that the applicant was commissioned in October 1997 following       13 years of enlisted service, and was then assigned to the 455th Field Hospital, which was inactivated in May 1999.  He corroborates the applicant's statements. He states that the applicant was transferred to the 309th Combat Support Hospital, inquired about his clearance application, and was told that the delay was to be expected.  In May the 309th informed him that they could not submit promotion documents because of the lack of security clearance.  A new security clearance application was submitted in June 2000.  In October 2000 the applicant requested an IG investigation and was told that there was a backlog [of clearance requests].  In December 2000 he was transferred to his present unit.  In June 2001, his clearance was granted and he was promoted with a date of rank of 26 June 2001.  The applicant's promotion was delayed because of problems in obtaining a security clearance, not due to any fault of the applicant.    
5.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Army Reserve delayed entry program for 6 years, on 13 February 1984.  He was discharged from that program upon his enlistment in the Regular Army for 3 years on            2 August 1984.  He was released from active duty on 1 June 1987.  He was discharged from the Army Reserve on 1 August 1990.  On 14 December 1994, he enlisted in the Army Reserve for 3 years.  He continued his affiliation with the Army Reserve as an enlisted soldier until his commissioning as an Army nurse.   He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve on 21 November 1997 with 7 months and 21 days of entry grade credit, and assigned to the 455th Field Hospital, a Reserve unit in Providence, Rhode Island.  He completed the AMEDD Officer Basic Course on 15 January 1999.  In April 1999 he was assigned to the 309th Combat Support Hospital and in December 2000, to the 402nd Medical Detachment, both units located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.  
6.  In a 24 August 2001 letter, The Adjutant General informed a MC that the applicant had been granted a Secret clearance on 13 August 2001.  A               12 October 2001 memorandum of record prepared by the Chief, Military Personnel Actions Branch at the Army Reserve Command indicates that the applicant could not be promoted on his promotion eligibility date of 31 March 1999 because all promotion qualifications were not met.  He was promoted effective on 26 June 2001 in accordance with the provisions of Army Regulation 135-155, paragraph 4-7.  

7.  The promotion eligibility date of 31 March 1999 cited above is based on the applicant receiving 7 months and 21 days of entry level credit upon his commissioning on 21 November 1997.

8.  Army Regulation 135-100 prescribes policy and procedures for the appointment of commissioned officers in the Army Reserve, and states in pertinent part that applicants for appointment will have as a minimum, a Secret security clearance prior to being tendered an appointment.  As an exception, health professionals, chaplains, and attorneys may be commissioned in the Reserve Components prior to completion of a National Agency Check (NAC) 
provided that a NAC is initiated at the time an application for a commission is submitted; and the applying health professional, etc., agrees in writing that, if the results of the investigation are unfavorable, he or she will be subject to discharge if found to be ineligible to hold a commission.

9.  Army Regulation 135-155 provides policy and procedures for the promotion of commissioned officers of the Army Reserve, and states in pertinent part, that an officer who has been recommended for promotion to the next higher grade must have undergone a favorable security screening.  Promotion authorities will screen the military personnel records jacket to ensure that derogatory or unfavorable suitability information is not contained therein.  If the screening reveals derogatory or unfavorable security information, the promotion authority will cause a National Agency Check (NAC) to be conducted.  Final action of the promotion will be withheld until the results of the NAC are received.

10.  Army Regulation 135-155, paragraph 4-7, states, "An officer disqualified for promotion to 1LT or W-1 who was retained in an active status may be promoted if later determined qualified.  The promotion eligibility date will not be earlier than the date the officer is determined qualified for promotion.  A memorandum of record will be prepared to explain the later promotion eligibility date."  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention is accepted.  Apparent is the fact that a NAC had to be submitted at the time the applicant applied for a commission in 1997.  Three and one half years later his clearance was granted and he was finally promoted to first lieutenant.  It appears to the Board, notwithstanding the applicant's own responsibility in completing and submitting his clearance request, that personnel in his chain of command also had a responsibility to ensure that his clearance was timely processed.  In this respect, he was not adequately served.  This is an inordinate amount of time to process a clearance request, especially when such an action has an effect on the applicant's career.  To let the matter rest as is, would be unfair and unjust –  the applicant would be more than two years behind his contemporaries.     

2.  Further, it would appear to this Board that if the applicant was granted a clearance in 2001, then he would also have been eligible and would have been granted a clearance prior to his promotion eligibility date of 31 March 1999, had his clearance request been properly processed.  He should have been promoted on his promotion eligibility date. 

3.  Consequently, the applicant's records should be corrected to show that he was promoted to first lieutenant on 31 March 1999, his promotion eligibility date.  He should receive all due pay and allowances as a first lieutenant, pay grade 0-2, from that date.   

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was promoted to first lieutenant effective and with a date of rank of 31 March 1999, and that he receive all pay and allowances as a first lieutenant from that date. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__TSK __  __MHM__  __KYF__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Ted S. Kanamine_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002079544	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20030701	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT 	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	102.07	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.