IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 3 December 2014 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140004829 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, in effect, that his ARPC Form 249-E (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points) be adjusted to reflect 3 additional retirement points for the retirement year 31 July 2010 to 30 July 2011, thereby making that year a qualifying year for retirement. 2. He states he misunderstood how points were calculated and believed they were calculated on a Fiscal Year (FY) basis instead of the anniversary date of his commission. The result was that he missed getting a qualifying year from 31 July 2010 to 30 July 2011. During the non-qualifying year he earned 47 points instead of the required 50 points. Between 2004 and 2011 he spent almost 6 years on active duty for voluntary deployments both in the United States and Iraq. He feels that falling short of a qualifying year by 3 points is an injustice because the shortfall resulted from an innocent misunderstanding of the regulation. He was transitioning to civilian life after 6 years of almost full-time deployments on active duty where he performed hundreds of non-credited hours during the non-qualifying year. 3. He provides: * DD Forms 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) * Self-authored statement * ARPC Form 249-E, dated 28 January 2014 * Transmittal Letter History for FY 2011 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. On 31 July 1995, the applicant was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer in the rank of second lieutenant. He is currently serving in the U.S. Army Reserve in the rank of major (MAJ)/O-4 with a date of rank of 30 May 2008. 2. The applicant's DD Forms 214 show he was ordered to active duty for the following periods: * 31 July 1995 to 30 July 1998 * 15 July 2004 to 18 October 2005 (service in Iraq from 12 October 2004 to 18 September 2005) * 1 November 2006 to 25 July 2008 (in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) from 1 November 2006 to July 2007 and 28 July 2007 to 25 July 2008) * 13 April 2009 to 12 April 2010 (in support of OEF) 3. His Chronological Statement of Retirement Points, dated 28 January 2014, shows he was credited with 15 years of qualifying service for non-regular (Reserve) retirement for each year from his date of commissioning until 30 July 2010. This statement further shows: a. His retirement year beginning (RYB) date was listed as 31 July 1995 and his retirement year ending (RYE) date was listed 1 year later, i.e., 30 July, of each subsequent year. b. During the RYB 31 July 2010 and RYE 30 July 2011, he earned 24 inactive duty points, 15 membership points, and 8 active duty points for a total of 47 creditable retirement points. c. During the RYB 31 July 2011 and RYE 30 July 2012, he earned 21 inactive duty points, 15 membership points, and 0 active duty points for a total of 36 creditable retirement points. 4. Army Regulation 135-180 (Army National Guard and Army Reserve – Qualifying Service for Retired Pay Nonregular Service) implements statutory authorities governing granting retired pay to Soldiers and former Reserve Component Soldiers. Paragraph 2-8 describes qualifying service as service performed in an active status in a Reserve Component or in active Federal service. After 30 June 1949, a Reserve Soldier must earn a minimum of 50 retirement points each retirement year to have that year credited as qualifying service. When a person is in an active status for a period of less than a full retirement year, a minimum number of retirement points must be earned to have that period credited as qualifying service. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's ARPC Form 249-E shows he was credited with 15 years of qualifying service for a non-regular retirement. This form shows his RYB date was established as the date he was commissioned (31 July 1995) and the RYE was established 1 year later. This information has been consistent throughout his Reserve service. He should have been receiving chronological statements of retirement points on a regular basis that would have told him his RY ran from 31 July – 30 July. Therefore, his contention that he misunderstood how points were calculated and believed they were calculated on a FY basis is not supported by the available evidence. 2. Further, the evidence shows he was a MAJ with over 2 years time in grade who had earned over 15 years of qualifying service prior to being credited with only 47 points toward the non-regular retirement during the period 31 July 2010 to 30 July 2011. As such, if he was not aware of the Reserve retirement system, he should have sought guidance from the appropriate personnel. 3. Nevertheless, the fact that the applicant spent almost 6 years on active duty and was deployed on several occasions is not sufficient justification to warrant adjusting his total credible points for the retirement year 31 July 2010 to 30 July 2011 to make that year a qualifying year for retirement. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ____X____ ___X_____ ____X____ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _______ _ __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) AR20140004829 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140004829 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1