RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         23 SEPTEMBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2003099553


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Raymond Wagner                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Roger Able                    |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Eloise Prendergast            |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests, in effect, that her current active duty
commitment and service be accepted in lieu of the repayment of her ROTC
(Reserve Officer Training Corps) scholarship debt.

2.  The applicant states that she is currently serving on active duty for a
period of 6 years and that she “was to either accrue the debt or enter
active duty.”

3.  The applicant provides a copy of her active duty orders showing a 6-
year commitment.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant initially
enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in 1990.  In June 1993 she
entered active duty as an enlisted Soldier.  The records for the period of
her 1993 enlistment are not available to the Board.  However, on 30 July
1995, the applicant was honorably discharged to “enter officer training
program.”  She was serving in pay grade E-4 at the time of her 1995
discharge.

2.  Documents provided by the United States Army Cadet Command indicate
that the applicant received a 4-year “Green to Gold Scholarship” in August
1995 and commenced studies at Lincoln University in Jefferson City,
Missouri in the fall of 1995.

3.  The “Green to Gold” program seeks talented young enlisted Soldiers who
have decided to leave, or are considering leaving, active duty to attend
college.  Scholarships are awarded for 2, 3, or 4 years and include tuition
support, additional money for textbooks, supplies, and equipment, a monthly
stipend for up to 10 months each school year, and if qualified, Montgomery
GI Bill or Army College Fund benefits.

4.  Army Regulation 145-1 states that ROTC scholarship cadets must complete
a contract as part of the scholarship acceptance process.  Although a copy
of the applicant’s contract was not in files available to the Board, that
contract would have informed the applicant that she incurred an active duty
and/or reimbursement obligation if she were “disenrolled from the ROTC
program for breach of contractual terms or any other disenrollment criteria
established now or in the future by Army regulations….”  Included under the
terms of disenrollment was information regarding the fact that by signing
the contract she acknowledged that she understood that she could be ordered
to active duty, if qualified, or “required to reimburse the United States
government through repayment of an amount of money, plus interest, equal to
the entire amount of financial assistance (to include tuition, educational
fees, books, laboratory expenses, and supplies) paid by the United States
for [her] advanced education from the commencement of this contractual
agreement to the date of [her] disenrollment or refusal to accept a
commission.”

5.  A January 1999 memorandum from the United States Army Cadet Command
notes that the applicant was disenrolled from ROTC for “breach of
scholarship contract based on her withdrawal from school and ROTC classes
in the Spring Semester 1998.”  That memorandum notes that the applicant was
offered the opportunity to repay the cost of the scholarship and provided
with an “up-to-date total amount of monies spent in support of her
educational assistance.”

6.  A subsequent memorandum, dated 16 March 1999, indicated that the
applicant did not respond to the opportunity to make monetary repayment of
the scholarship benefits and as such, orders were published ordering the
applicant to serve 4 years on active duty to fulfill her scholarship
contractual obligation.  A notation on the bottom of that memorandum
indicated that on 24 March 1999 the applicant “faxed her repayment plan” to
the 2nd Region ROTC and her active duty orders were revoked.

7.  The applicant’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) contains an
enlistment contract indicating that the applicant enlisted in the United
States Army Reserve, in pay grade E-3, for a period of 3 years on 11
September 2002.  On 15 April 2003 the applicant executed a 6-year Regular
Army enlistment contract.  That contract indicates that the applicant
enlisted for training in a medical specialty in pay grade E-4.

8.  On 28 November 2003 the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
informed the applicant that she had a “debt in the principal amount of
$9,356.39 for the recoupment of education expenses….”

9.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was provided by the
United States Army Cadet Command.  That agency recommended that the
applicant’s request be denied noting that her breach of the terms of her
ROTC contract was voluntary “as was her choice to enlist….”  They stated
that such an action was “not an authorized remedy for debt repayment under
the terms of the ROTC contract….”  The applicant was provided an
opportunity to comment on the opinion but did not do so.

10.  AR 145-1 provides in pertinent part that a scholarship or non-
scholarship cadet under consideration for involuntary call to active duty
for breach of contract will be so ordered within 60 days after they would
normally complete baccalaureate degree requirements or the cadet is no
longer enrolled in school.  The cadet will not be discharged/disenrolled
from ROTC until determination has been received from Headquarters, Cadet
Command.  If it is determined that the cadet will be ordered to active
duty, the cadet will not be discharged, and Headquarters, Cadet Command,
will issue active duty orders.  If ordered to active duty for breach of
contract the term of service is based upon the year during which the breach
occurs:  Military Science II, 2 years; Military Science III, 3 years;
Military Science IV, 4 years.  The applicant’s records indicate she was
disenrolled during Military Science IV.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was properly disenrolled from the ROTC; there is no error
or injustice in her disenrollment.

2.  The applicant argues, in effect, that her service in the Regular Army
should qualify as repayment of her ROTC scholarship.  In actuality, if the
applicant had chosen to enter active duty, or been involuntarily ordered to
active duty, when she was notified that she was being disenrolled, she
would have been assigned against the needs of the Army and not allowed to
choose a training option.  In this case, she has obtained an advantage over
similar individuals who, upon disenrollment from ROTC, choose active duty
or were involuntarily ordered to active duty.  This advantage occurs
because Army Regulation 145-1 mandates that cadets ordered to active duty
for breach of contract are ordered directly to active duty.  Cadets so
ordered report directly to a military installation and do not participate
in the recruiting function where enlistment options are offered and
negotiated.

3.  Nonetheless, the applicant’s argument that her enlisted service in the
Regular Army is equivalent to being called to active duty under the terms
of her ROTC contract is accepted.  Therefore, collection of her ROTC
scholarship debt should be held in abeyance during the term of her
enlistment and remitted (with any monies already collected returned to her)
provided she satisfactorily completes the terms of her enlistment.

4.  If the applicant fails to complete the period of enlisted service
obligated as a result of her ROTC scholarship, either voluntarily or
because of misconduct, her ROTC scholarship debt would be required to be
recouped on a pro-rated basis.

5.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected
as recommended below.

BOARD VOTE:

___RW __  __RA  __  __EP ___  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

      a.  Amending the applicant’s ROTC scholarship contract to show that
she would satisfy the service obligation under the original terms of the
ROTC contract by virtue of her current enlistment as a Regular Army
enlisted Soldier;

      b.  Suspending collection of her ROTC scholarship debt during her
enlistment, with the debt to be remitted (and any money already collected
returned to her) upon her satisfactory completion of her term of service;
and

      c.  Showing that if she fails to complete the period of enlisted
service obligated as a result of her amended ROTC scholarship contract,
either voluntarily or because of misconduct, her ROTC debt would be
required to be recouped on a pro-rated basis.




                                  ____ Raymond Wagner______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2003099553                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040923                                |
|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.       |104.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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