RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:                            DOCKET NUMBER:  01-02249
                                        INDEX CODE 121.03  121.01
                                             COUNSEL: No

                                             HEARING DESIRED: No

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Sixteen (16) days of Special Leave Accrual (SLA) for Fiscal Year  1998
(FY98), ten (10) days of SLA for FY99, and thirteen (13) days  of  SLA
for FY00 be restored.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

The reasons the applicant believes the  records  to  be  in  error  or
unjust and the evidence submitted in support  of  the  appeal  are  at
Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the
official documents provided in the applicant’s submission (Exhibit  A)
and in the letters prepared by the  appropriate  offices  of  the  Air
Force (Exhibits B and E) and the Defense  Finance  Accounting  Service
(DFAS) (Exhibit F.)
_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ AFPC/DPSFM indicates that after several administrative  adjustments
to his regular  leave  account  and  SLA  account  by  the  DFAS,  the
applicant ultimately lost only 3, not 26, days of leave on  1  Oct  01
and recommends that these 3 days of leave  be  added  to  his  current
leave account.

A complete copy of the evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit B.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant asserts that the 13 days of SLA that was credited to him
by DFAS was for FY00, not from  previous  years  as  depicted  in  the
advisory.  This DFAS action took place after the time he  applied  for
help to the AFBCMR. After [the Air Force evaluation], DFAS restored 10
additional days of SLA.  The total days of SLA he required on 1 Oct 00
was 39. He applied through Air Force channels but DFAS  only  credited
him with the 13 days for FY00 and did not restore the SLA of  10  days
from FY99 or the 16 days from FY98. To fix the problem, he needed  the
10 days of SLA restored for FY99 and 16 days of SLA for FY98  as  well
as retaining the 13 days earned for FY00. After the  AFBCMR  input  to
DFAS he now needs 10 days of SLA restored to complete this matter.

The applicant's response is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS:

HQ AFPC/DPSFM indicates that the applicant initially asserted that  at
the beginning of the fiscal year he lost 26 SLA days  earned  in  FY98
and FY99; he did not mention he also earned  13  SLA  days  for  FY00.
DPSFM supported the applicant's original contention, advising that the
DFAS had administratively restored 10 days and recommending the AFBCMR
restore  3  remaining  days  from  FY98.  However,  DPSFM  erred  when
determining the amount of SLA that should have been credited  back  to
the applicant's account.  Not knowing about the SLA earned  for  FY00,
DPSFM had assumed the 13 SLA days restored by DFAS in Feb 01  was  the
restoration of 13 of the 26 days that had dropped off the  applicant's
account.  DPSFM believes the applicant is entitled to  restoration  of
10 days since his leave  balance  has  not  accurately  reflected  the
amount of use/lose leave versus SLA when it was  first  authorized  in
FY99.  However, due to the  complexity  of  calculating  when  regular
leave is charged and when SLA is charged, the case should be  referred
to DFAS to determine if any of the applicant's leave since  1  Oct  99
has already been charged to  SLA.  DFAS  should  restore  whatever  is
remaining.

A copy of the complete evaluation is at Exhibit E.

DFAS-POCC/DE advised that the applicant's SLA balance  as  of  Oct  01
should be 64.5 days. This still needs to be adjusted for 11-30 Sep  01
to add 2 days, but it does cover all  SLA  prior  to  that  date.  The
applicant was approved for 16 days SLA for FY98 and an  additional  10
days SLA for FY99. DFAS could find no authorization from AFPC for  the
applicant's accrual of an additional 13 days of SLA for FY00. His  SLA
balance of 86 days could not have increased by  13  days  due  to  the
maximum allowable balance of 90 days. If authorization would be  given
for additional  SLA,  the  total  allowable  could  only  be  4  days.
Adjustments are being made to correct the  applicant's  leave  balance
and the correct number of days should be reflected on his Mar 02 Leave
and Earnings Statement (LES). Therefore, denial is recommended.

A complete copy of the evaluation, with attachment, is at Exhibit F.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS:

Complete copies of the additional evaluations were  forwarded  to  the
applicant on 20 Mar 02 for review and comment within 30 days.   As  of
this date, this office has received no response.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.    The applicant has exhausted all remedies  provided  by  existing
law or regulations.

2.    The application was timely filed.

3.    Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented  to  demonstrate
the existence of error or injustice warranting  partial  relief.   The
applicant has requested a total of 39 days of SLA be restored  to  his
account.  However, according to HQ AFPC and DFAS, the 26 days  of  SLA
the applicant earned in FY 98  and  FY99  have  been  administratively
restored.  The applicant’s subsequent request for 13 days of  SLA  for
FY00 remains at issue.  By law, the maximum amount of regular and  SLA
leave that can be carried over is 90 days. According to DFAS,  he  had
an SLA balance of 86 days on 1 Oct 99.  Therefore, the most additional
SLA he could be authorized is 4 days.  In view of the confusion on the
part of both the Air Force and DFAS and the  resulting  administrative
errors that occurred in this case, we believe the benefit of the doubt
should be given to the applicant and 4 days of SLA should be added  to
his leave account.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show  that  four  (4)  days  of
Special Leave Accrual were added to his current leave account

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 22 May 2002 under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:
                 Mr. Roscoe Hinton, Jr., Panel Chair
                 Mr. Laurence M. Groner, Member
                 Ms. Martha Maust, Member

All members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.   The
following documentary evidence pertaining to  AFBCMR  Docket  No.  01-
02249 was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 26 Apr 01, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPSFM, dated 24 Oct 01, w/atchs.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 2 Nov 01.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, Applicant, dated 30 Nov 01.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPSFM, undated.
   Exhibit F.  Letter, DFAS-POCC/DE, dated 12 Mar 02, w/atch.
   Exhibit G.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 20 Mar 02.



                                   ROSCOE HINTON, JR.
                                   Panel Chair




AFBCMR 01-02249




MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF

      Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air
Force Board for Correction of Military Records and under the authority
of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code (70A Stat 116), it is
directed that:

      The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air
Force relating to           , be corrected to show that four (4) days
of Special Leave Accrual were added to his current leave account.





   JOE G. LINEBERGER

   Director

   Air Force Review Boards Agency