BOARD DATE: 4 August 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080013130 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests that his date of rank (DOR) for promotion to chief warrant officer three (CW3) be adjusted to 27 August 2003. 2. The applicant states that his promotion to the rank of CW3 was delayed due to overdue officer evaluation reports (OERs) that were not completed in a timely manner and prevented him from being considered by a Federal Recognition Board (FRB). He goes on to state that the delay caused his promotion to be delayed until 13 December 2007; however, he was fully qualified for promotion on 27 August 2003. 3. The applicant provides a copy of his DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Report) for completion of the Warrant Officer Advanced Course in 2003, a copy of his medical/physical examination dated 2001, a copy of his assignment orders, a copy of promotion orders to the rank of chief warrant officer two (CW2), a copy of his military occupational specialty orders, a copy of his promotion orders to CW3, copies of four OERs, a copy of proceedings of an FRB, a copy of a page from a unit table of distribution and allowances, a copy of his DA Form 705 (Army Physical Fitness Test Scorecard), and a copy of his DA Form 5500-R (Body Fat Content Worksheet). CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was born on 13 March 1960 and he enlisted in the Regular Army on 26 July 1977. He served on active duty until he was honorably released from active duty on 25 July 1980 and was transferred to the United States Army Reserve to complete his statutory service obligation. 2. He again enlisted in the Regular Army on 17 November 1981 and served on active duty until he was honorably discharged on 9 February 1990. 3. On 10 February 1990, he enlisted in the New Jersey Army National Guard and on 10 May 1996, after completing the warrant officer candidate school, he was appointed as a warrant officer one in the New Jersey Army National Guard. 4. He was issued his 20-year letter on 1 May 1998 and he was promoted to the rank of CW2 on 27 August 1998. He was promoted to the rank of CW3 on 13 December 2007 in Special Orders Number 4 AR, dated 7 January 2008. 5. In the processing of this application a staff advisory opinion was obtained from the National Guard Bureau (NGB) which recommends that the applicant's request to have his DOR for promotion to the rank of CW3 backdated to 27 August 2003 be approved with entitlement to all back pay and allowances. Officials at the NGB opine that the applicant met the requirements for promotion to CW3 on 27 August 2003; however, his records did not contain OERs for the period of June 2000 through February 2003 and those reports were not completed until 2004. NGB officials also noted that the last seven of the applicant's OERs were all overdue and discovered that the applicant's senior rater had a history of submitting overdue OERs that averaged 720 days overdue when submitted. The advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment and he concurred with the opinion as written. 6. National Guard Regulation 600-101 (Warrant Officers – Federal Recognition and Related Personnel Actions), paragraph 7- states that the promotion of warrant officers in the Army National Guard is a function of the State. A warrant officer who is promoted by the State and extended Federal recognition in the higher grade will be concurrently promoted to the higher grade n the Reserve of the Army.. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. While it is recognized that all officers have an inherent responsibility to ensure that their records are up to date and that they meet the requirements for promotion, the submission of evaluation reports is primarily the responsibility of the chain of command. 2. In the applicant's case, his chain of command established a pattern of submitting late evaluation reports, which in turn resulted in the penalization of the rated officer in the end because FRBs do not have current evaluations in which to evaluate an officer's performance and potential for future service when compared to his or her peers. 3. In the applicant's case, it appears that had his evaluation reports been prepared and submitted in a timely manner, he would have been promoted to the rank of CW3 on 27 August 2003 instead of 13 December 2007. 4. Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice at this time to correct his records by promoting him to the rank of CW3 effective 27 August 2003 and granting him entitlement to back pay and allowances from that date. BOARD VOTE: __x_____ ___x____ ___x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all State Army National Guard records and Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by amending NGB Special Orders Number 4 AR dated 7 January 2008 to show that he was extended Federal recognition as a CW3 effective 27 August 2003, with a DOR of 27 August 2003 and that he be entitled to all back pay and allowances that flow from these changes. _____________x____________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080013130 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080013130 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1