| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. Beverly A. Young | Analyst |
| Mr. Samuel A. Crumpler | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Curtis L. Greenway | Member | |
| Ms. Regan K. Smith | Member |
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests, in effect, correction of his enlistment contract to show he was authorized a $20,000 enlistment bonus.
2. The applicant states that he enlisted on 27 November 2000. He contends that at the time of his enlistment, his recruiter indicated to him that he would receive an enlistment bonus of $20,000. He states that he and his father made several inquiries with the recruiter to verify this amount and were told each time that the correct bonus amount was $20,000. He also states that his enlistment documents were changed sometime after he enlisted to reflect a bonus of $2,000 without notifying him.
3. The applicant provides two copies of his USAREC Form 1150-R-E (Statement of Understanding – USAREC Addendum to DD Form 1966 Series), a DD Form 1966/3 (Record of Military Processing – Armed Forces of the United States), a DD Form 3286-66 (Statement of Understanding, United States Army Incentive Enlistment Program), e-mail communications, Privacy Act Release Determination, Congressional correspondence, and a sworn statement.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) under the delayed entry program (DEP) on 27 November 2000 for eight years at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) located in Montgomery, Alabama.
2. At the time of his enlistment, the applicant acknowledged on his USAREC Form 1150-R-E that he enlisted for military occupational specialty (MOS) 11X (Infantryman) with a $20,000 cash bonus and Army College Fund option.
3. The applicant submitted a copy of his USAREC Form 1150-R-E which shows the cash bonus amount was changed from "$20,000" to "$2,000." There is no indication that the applicant initialed the change made to the enlistment bonus amount. The evidence of record shows several other enlistment documents have the enlistment bonus amount changed from $20,000 to $2,000.
4. The applicant submitted a copy of an email dated 5 February 2003 from a noncommissioned officer (NCO). The NCO stated that he saw the applicant's original contract which was in his military personnel records jacket (201 File) and it looked like someone had changed the information on the contract.
5. Subparagraph 7-16a(1) of Army Regulation 635-200 states that a defective agreement exists when a material misrepresentation by recruiting personnel, upon which the soldier reasonably relied, results in the soldier being induced to enlist for that option. Subparagraph 7-16e(1) states that when the special court-martial convening authority or the Commander, U.S. Army Human Resources Command finds an enlistment is defective or cannot be fulfilled, a non-prior service Regular Army soldier serving on first enlistment may request immediate discharge.
6. In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Accession Management Section, U.S. Army Human Resources Command. That office recommended approval of applicant's request to receive a $20,000 enlistment bonus. The opinion points out that the applicant enlisted into the DEP on 22 (sic) November 2000 for MOS 11X with the cash bonus and Army College Fund option. The opinion states that the correct amount for the bonus was $2,000 and the soldier was informed of that by his recruiter. It also states that MEPS personnel annotated his enlistment contract with a $20,000 cash bonus instead of the correct amount of $2,000. The opinion continues to state that the soldier inquired about the amount and was told it was correct. This opinion points out that upon his arrival at the MEPS for entrance to active duty, the soldier initialed a change to his education code and nothing else. Further, the opinion states that the soldier inquired about the amount of $20,000 and again was told it was correct. The $20,000 amount was subsequently reduced to the correct $2,000 amount without any initials or consent from the soldier. The opinion further states that the contract appeared to be altered to reflect $2,000 rather than the original $20,000. In addition, the opinion states that the $20,000 was incorrect, but it was also incorrect to change this amount without the consent of the soldier. A copy of the case was forwarded to the Recruiting Command for their investigation.
7. On 11 June 2003, the applicant concurred with the advisory opinion rendered in his case.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The evidence of record shows the applicant enlisted into the USAR under the DEP on 27 November 2000. He was authorized an enlistment bonus of $2,000, but it appears someone had entered $20,000 on his enlistment document and informed him that he was authorized a $20,000 bonus. It appears these documents were later changed, without the applicant's knowledge, to reflect a $2,000 bonus.
2. Based on the advisory opinion provided by the Chief of the Accession Management Section, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, the applicant's enlistment contract was altered without his knowledge or consent to show the enlistment bonus in the amount of "$2,000."
3. Although it is noted the applicant could have requested immediate discharge upon discovering his enlistment document had been altered, this case reflects gross misconduct on the part of the recruiting officials. Equity would be better served by correcting the applicant's enlistment contract to show he was authorized a $20,000 enlistment bonus.
BOARD VOTE:
SAC_____ CLG______ RKS_____ GRANT 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 amending his enlistment contract to show he was authorized a $20,000 enlistment bonus and that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service be directed to pay the remaining $18,000 due to the applicant.
Samuel A. Crumpler____
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2003087020 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20040203 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | Mr. Schneider |
| ISSUES 1. | 112.1100 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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