2. The applicant requests remission of $1,380.15 in indebtedness incurred as the result of overpayment of BAQ (bachelor allowance for quarters) at the with dependents (w/dep) rate. He states that he has two dependent sons, but is unmarried. When he first joined the Army on 2 February 1995, he began receiving BAQ w/dep when he should have received the differential between BAQ w/dep and BAQ. This error was continued through five reassignments and it was not until more than 1 year later, on 3 April 1996, that he was notified of a problem.
3. The applicant was born on 26 April 1974 and enlisted in the Regular Army for a period of 3 years on 2 February 1995. At enlistment, he indicated that he was single, but the father of one child [his second child was born after his enlistment]. Following his initial in-processing, he was erroneously paid full BAQ w/dep when he was only entitled to the differential between that rate and the lower BAQ rate.
4. When the error was discovered, the applicant provided his servicing Finance Office with information concerning his support payments to his first childs mother. Based upon this information, the Finance Office determined that, in addition to receiving excessive BAQ payments, the applicant was providing less than the full amount of BAQ received in the support of his first child. Finance deducted the actual amount of support provided from the total amount of BAQ w/dep paid to the applicant, then held him liable for the remainder, established as $1,380.15 (with interest). This was in accordance with the Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation (DoDFMR), Volume 7a, Chapter 50.
5. In the processing of this case, a staff advisory opinion was obtained from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service-Indianapolis Center (DFAS). It contains no information, advice or recommendation which would constitute a basis for granting the relief requested.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant, through no fault of his own, was erroneously given an amount of BAQ greater than that which he was entitled to receive. He subsequently was transferred to new duty assignments on five different occasions; each new assignment requiring that his records be checked for correctness. The error was not discovered until his overpayment reached $2,980.15.
2. The DFAS forgave a portion of the applicants debt equal to the amount of actual support which he provided to his child; however, they demanded repayment of the remainder of the overpayment in accordance with applicable DoDFMRs.
3. Although properly applied, the DoDFMR ignores the fact that the applicant was not responsible for the overpayment of BAQ. He was a young soldier, new to the Army and unaware that he was being overpaid. He discharged his support obligation to his first dependent child in a reasonable fashion [$365.00 per month] and later increased that amount by $200.00 per month when he had a second child with a female soldier.
4. The Board believes that the applicant should not be made to suffer a debt because of an error by Finance Specialists during his in-processing into the Army. Therefore, the applicants record should be corrected as indicated below.
RECOMMENDATION:
That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by remitting the $1,380.15 debt of the individual concerned and refunding to him any moneys already collected to satisfy that debt.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
CHAIRPERSON
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