RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2013-04770

		COUNSEL:  NONE

		HEARING DESIRED:  NO 




APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His active duty service commitment (ADSC) to 2020 be waived or reduced so he can execute the Consolidated Special Pay (CSP) Retention Bonus (RB) contract in 2016.



APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He should be eligible for the CSP RB because he was not counseled that joining Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) would affect his contracts later in his career.  Additionally, when he signed the contract for his Armed Forces Health Profession Scholarship Program (AFHPSP) scholarship, he was not counseled that he would be incurring an extra four years (for a total of eight years) ADSC that would exclude him from signing a multiyear retention bonus in 2016.  This will cause him to struggle with continued student loan debt and financial distress that his peers at the same grade will not have because they are eligible to sign the CSP RB four years ahead of him.  He is willing to repay his AFROTC scholarship/stipend in exchange for a reduction or termination of his AFROTC ADSC.  

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



STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant initially entered the Regular Air Force on 20 Jul 11.

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are described in the letters prepared by the Air Force offices of primary responsibility (OPR), which are attached at Exhibits C and D. 



AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPANF recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of an error or an injustice.  The applicant currently has an ADSC to 2020 for ROTC and AFHPSP obligations.  He has stated he understood the ROTC contract bound him to four years of service after commission, and he signed a four-year AFHPSP contract providing financial assistance for Dental school that addresses a four-year ADSC that would be added to any previously incurred service obligation.  Even though the applicant entered active duty in 2011, he started serving his eight-year ADSC in 2012 since he spent one year in residency training.  In accordance with Title 10 U.S.C., section 2123, chapter 105, (b), “A period of time spent in military intern or residency training shall not be creditable in satisfying an active duty obligation imposed by this section.”  

In 2011, the Air Force released a Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM)-11-005, with direction to implement Special Pay for General Dentists to include a RB for two, three, or four years.  According to the DTM, to be eligible for the RB, a General Dentist must have completed any active duty service commitment incurred for dental education, training, or accession obligation.  Since the applicant signed contracts for educational assistance in 2005 and 2007, it was impossible to educate/counsel the applicant that signing these contracts and incurring the ADSC would disqualify him from receiving the RB in 2016.  Per the current guidance, the applicant will not be eligible for a multi-year RB contract.

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPANF evaluation is at Exhibit C.

AFROTC/CC recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of an error or an injustice.  The applicant was a member of the AFROTC program from Aug 04 until May 07, receiving scholarship funds totaling $3,022 (tuition/fees/books) in addition to stipend payments of $10,500.  On 4 Aug 05, he signed Air Force Form 1056, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Contract, acknowledging that he would incur a four-year ADSC from the date he entered onto active duty, unless he was accepted into an Air Force program (such as Undergraduate Pilot or Combat Systems Officer Training, the Health Professions Program, or any other similar program) requiring an additional ADSC, in which case his ADSC would be extended as permitted by law and Air Force instruction guidance.  Also, by signing this form he was acknowledging that ROTC cadets accepting a AFHPSP scholarship will incur an additional ADSC to run consecutively to his four-year ADSC incurred for being commissioned through the ROTC program.  All cadets, including non-scholarship cadets, commissioned through AFROTC incur at least an initial four-year ADSC.  The applicant was explicitly advised, in multiple paragraphs in his contract that an AFHPSP ADSC would run consecutively with his original AFROTC ADSC.  Additionally, AFROTC was unable to advise him on the impact of signing the AFROTC and AFHPSP contracts on future incentive and retention plans before they were introduced or implemented.  

A complete copy of the AFROTC/CC evaluation is at Exhibit D.  



APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to the applicant on 20 May 14 for review and comment within 30 days.  As of this date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit D).



THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

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 an error or injustice.  We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the opinions and recommendations of the Air Force offices of primary responsibility (OPR) and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the victim of an error of injustice.  In 2005 and 2007, when the applicant signed contracts for educational financial assistance incurring two consecutive four-year ADSCs running to 2020, there was no way to advise the applicant of the implications of his ADSC on his eligibility for a multi-year RB that had not even been announced or implemented. Thus, it was impossible to educate/counsel the member on the implications of signing the contracts and incurring the ADSC to 2020 would make him ineligible for the RB in 2016.  Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the requested relief.



THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified the evidence presented did not demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; the application was denied without a personal appearance; and 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 AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2013-04770 in Executive Session on 2 Oct 14, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

	

The following documentary evidence was considered:

	Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 20 Sep 13, w/atchs.
	Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
	Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPANF, dated 24 Feb 14.
	Exhibit D.  Letter, AFROTC/CC, dated 17 Mar 14.
Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 20 May 14.