RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:			   DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2012-02235

  							   COUNSEL:  NONE

							   HEARING DESIRED:  NO

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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

His Reserve retirement pay be recalculated under the Temporary 
Early Retirement Authority (TERA).

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

According to his DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or 
Discharge from Active Duty, he qualifies for recomputation of 
his retirement pay.  He has completed the requirements and 
terms.  There was no notice that the program was ending.

In support of his appeal, the applicant provides his DD Form 
214, an e-mail and letters of verification of his service.

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit A.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant is a former member of the Air National Guard, who 
retired on 30 September 1996 under the TERA program after 
serving 17 years, 2 months and 10 days. 

Documentation submitted by the applicant shows the TERA program 
allowed members the opportunity to perform community service in 
the education, medical or law enforcement fields to earn 
additional service credits that could be used to enhance their 
retirement pay upon reaching the age of 62.  

Members were required to advise the TERA program manager at the 
Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) of their employment at the 
time they would have attained 20 years.  The TERA program was 
terminated by Congress on 31 December 2001.  The last possible 
date for reporting community service was 30 December 2006.  The 
program was officially closed by the Department of Defense on 
31 December 2006. 



AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service does not make a 
recommendation.

A member who retires under TERA is entitled to recomputation of 
retired pay if such member is credited with employment under the 
provisions of 10 U.S.C. 1143a note.  To be credited, the 
employment in public or community service must be performed 
during the enhanced retirement qualification period.  The 
enhanced retirement qualification period is the period between 
the date of early retirement and the date on which the member 
would have otherwise completed 20 years of military service for 
purposes of computing the members retired pay.

The enhanced retirement period does not extend past the age 
of 62.  The DMDC will notify DFAS of the total number of years, 
months, and days of credited employment.  The total years of 
service used in the original computation plus the years, months 
and days of service used in the original computation plus the 
years, months and days associated with the certified periods of 
full-time employment credited under the provisions of 10 U.S.C. 
1143a note.  The credit for the employment periods is added to 
the previous credited service periods of active duty.  The 
recomputation is made by using each of the new total years of 
service credited as 1/12th of a year disregarding any remaining 
fractional part of the month.  In no case will the number of 
months applicable to these procedures exceed 240.  The maximum 
retired pay under the recomputation may not exceed 50 percent of 
the applicable rate of basic pay.

The applicant should have been provided instructions concerning 
his retirement under TERA.  DFAS is unable to verify that he was 
provided instructions regarding TERA.  Therefore, if the Board 
verifies his employment during the qualification period and 
provides the total years, months and days of service used in the 
original computation, plus the years, months and days associated 
with the certified periods of full time employment credited 
under 10 U.S.C. 1143a note, his pay will be recalculated and 
result in an increase to his retirement pay with retroactive 
credit from the month following the date he turned 62 years old.

The complete DFAS evaluation is at Exhibit C.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the 
applicant on 1 October 2012, for review and comment within 
30 days (Exhibit D).  As of this date, this office has received 
no response.



ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Office of General Counsel, Military and Civilian Pay Law, 
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, states there is no basis 
for granting this case.  The applicant seeks to change his 
military record to allow him credit for additional service for 
the purpose of computing his retired pay.  

The applicant retired on 1 October 1996 under the provisions of 
Public Law 102-484, dated 23 October 1992, better known as TERA.  
This law allowed certain qualifying members with over 15, but 
less than 20 years of total active duty service to be 
voluntarily retired with less than 20 years of active service.  
It also allowed those members the opportunity to apply some 
post-retirement public service employment towards their military 
retirement starting at the age of 62.  However, to obtain 
credit, the public service must have taken place after 
retirement, but before the member would have met 20 years of 
military service had they remained on active duty.  This period 
was called the Enhanced Retirement Qualification Period (ERQP).

In order for a member to be entitled to an increase in retired 
pay based on public service, he would have had to be employed by 
a public service organization listed on the registry and the 
employment must have been within the period of the members ERQP.  
For this credit, the applicant’s employment with a public 
service organization should have been after 1 October 1996 and 
before 7 April 1997.  There is no evidence he was employed by a 
public service organization between those dates.  Therefore, no 
relief is warranted.

The applicant also contends he was not informed that the post-
retirement public service employment program had ended.  
However, even if he had reported his service, he would not have 
received any additional credit because the public service that 
he engaged in did not occur during the ERQP.  

A review of the law in this case reveals there is no basis for 
granting additional service computation of his military pay 
based on the public service which he engaged in after his 
enhanced retirement qualification period.   

The complete GC evaluation is at Exhibit E.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the 
applicant on 28 August 2013, for review and comment within 
30 days (Exhibit F).  As of this date, this office has received 
no response.



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

2.  The application was timely filed.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of error or injustice.  After a 
thorough review of the applicant’s submission in judging the 
merits of the case, we are not persuaded that a change in the 
record is warranted.  Therefore, we agree with the opinion and 
recommendation of DFAS and adopt its rationale as the basis for 
our conclusion that the applicant’s public service did not occur 
within the enhanced retirement qualification period as required 
by law.  Regrettably, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, 
we find no basis to recommend granting the relief sought in this 
application.

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THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not 
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice; that the 
application was denied without a personal appearance; and that 
the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of 
newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this 
application.

________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered BCMR Docket Number 
BC-2012-02235 in Executive Session on 21 February 2013 and on 
15 October 2013, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:


The following documentary evidence was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 16 May 12, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, DFAS, dated 24 Sep 12.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBC, dated 1 Oct 12.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, DFAS/GC, dated 1 Aug 13.
   Exhibit F.  Letter, SAF/MRBC, dated 28 Aug 13.