| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti | Analyst |
| Mr. Walter T. Morrison | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Christopher J. Prosser | Member | |
| Ms. Yolanda Maldonado | Member |
2. The applicant requests that the student loans which weren’t made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965 be paid.
3. The applicant states that he was told by his recruiter that all of his student loans would be paid. He provides a letter from the recruiter to his lending institution assuring that institution that the Army would pay his loans off as verification that he was misled. He learned when he submitted his loans for payment under the Loan Repayment Program (LRP) that they were payable since they weren’t made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
4. In support of his application he submits the aforementioned letter from his recruiter; he submits the Total Army Personnel Command’s denial of his request to have his student loans paid; he submits a statement from his lending institution showing that he had made three loans with them in the amounts of $10,000, $10,000, and $8,500, all of which were disbursed to his college; and a letter from the applicant’s father and the applicant's wife to the lending institution. He also submits copies of the DD Forms 2475, DOD Educational Loan Repayment Program Annual Application. These forms show that the outstanding balance on his three loans, as of 18 February 2002, was $37,147.77.
5. The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army for 4 years in pay grade E-4 on 10 May 2001. In conjunction with his enlistment, he completed addenda for an $8,000 enlistment bonus and up to $65,000 in LRP benefits.
6. The LRP provides for the repayment by the Government of a designated portion of any outstanding student loan(s) secured after 1 October 1975. By law (title 10, U.S. Code, section 2171), the Government cannot pay any loans which weren’t made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
7. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552, the law which provides for the Board, states that “The Secretary may pay, from applicable current appropriations, a claim for the loss of pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, or other pecuniary benefits, or the repayment of a fine or forfeiture, if, as a result of correcting a record under this section, the amount is found to be due the claimant on account of his or another’s service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, as the case may be.”
8. Army Regulation 635-200, states that when recruiting personnel offers an incentive to an individual for which the individual was not qualified, the soldier may either elect to be discharged or to remain in the reserves without the incentive due to the defective nature of their enlistment.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant has provided a preponderance of evidence to support his contention that he was told by his recruiter that all of his student loans would be paid under the LRP.
2. However, the applicant’s enlistment is valid as the Army will, in fact, pay any student loans submitted by the applicant which were made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965. As such, requesting discharge due to defective enlistment is not an option in this case. Besides, the Army has already derived over 1 ½ years of service from the applicant. Discharging him at this late date would not correct the injustice of this case.
3. The Board cannot rectify this injustice by having the applicant’s loans paid under the LRP. That is prohibited by law and the Board is not empowered to violate law.
4. The injustice in the applicant’s military records may be corrected in an alternate manner. That would be to show his DA Form 3286-66, US Army Incentive Enlistment Program, paragraph 4a, was altered to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for enlistment, or subsequent to enlistment by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR), as payable under the LRP and it is later discovered that it is not payable due to it not being made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Guaranteed Student Loan) or due to the student loan(s) no longer being outstanding, the ABCMR may pay the loan(s), or any portion of the loan(s), at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S.C., Section 1552.” This would allow the Board to invoke that provision and pay him the amount of his loans principal and interest on the date he submitted his loans for payment.
5. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:
a. showing that the DA Form 3286-66, US Army Incentive Enlistment Program, of the individual concerned, paragraph 4a, was altered to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for enlistment as payable under the LRP and it is later discovered that it is not payable due to it not being made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Guaranteed Student Loan) or due to the student loan(s) no longer being outstanding, the ABCMR may pay the loan(s), or any portion of the loan(s), at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S.C., Section 1552.”
b. showing that the Board invoked that provision to pay him $37,147.77.
c. having the Defense Finance and Accounting Office monitor the applicant’s service and, if he fails to complete his enlistment, initiate recoupment action on a prorated basis.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
____cjp__ ____wtm ___ym __ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
__Walter T. Morrison ________
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2002077708 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20030130 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. | 128.05 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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