RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         23 FEBRUARY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004106211


      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. Hubert Fry                    |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Marla Troup                   |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Peter Fisher                  |     |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 he be granted a 6 month
extension to the requirement that he become MOS (military occupational
specialty) qualified within 24 months of enlisting/reenlisting in order to
retain eligibility for a $5000.00 enlistment bonus.

2.  The applicant states that through no fault of his own he was unable to
become MOS qualified within the required 24 month time limit because it
took over 2 years for his top secret security clearance to be granted after
he submitted the clearance package to the National Guard Bureau.  He states
that the top secret security clearance was a requirement to complete his
MOS training.

3.  He states that his top secret security clearance was granted on 24
October 2003 and he was then able to complete his MOS training in December
2003.  His request for an exception to the 24 month requirement was denied.

4.  The applicant provides a copy of his request for exception to policy, a
copy of the denial, several electronic mails regarding attempts to get him
into a training course after his clearance was granted, a copy of his
academic evaluation report showing completion of his MOS training, and a
copy of his 2001 reenlistment contract.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s Official Military Personnel File was not available to
the Board. However, the documents provided by the applicant were sufficient
to reconstruct information associated with his petition to extend the time
limits for MOS qualification in order to retain eligibility for his
enlistment bonus.

2.  A 24 May 2001 memorandum from the Chief, Human Resources Policy and
Programs Division of the Army National Guard indicated that effective 1
June 2001 an individual who was eligible for a prior service enlistment
bonus, based on a 6-year contract, would have “24 months to become MOS
qualified.”  It stated that the bonus incentive would be suspended pending
MOS qualification and if the Soldier failed to become MOS qualified within
the 24 months the incentive would be terminated.  It also noted that
exceptions to policy were not authorized.

3.  On 28 June 2001 the applicant executed a 6 year reenlistment contract
in the Army National Guard.  The contract indicated that he was reenlisting
in pay grade E-5 and that he had 6 years of prior inactive service.
Included, as part of his contract, was an addendum indicating that he would
receive a $5000.00 enlistment bonus based on his 6-year contract.

4.  On 1 August 2001 the applicant was notified by the Vermont Army
National Guard that “benefits under the SRIP (Selected Reserve Incentive
Program)” were suspended effective 28 June 2001, the date of his enlistment
action, because he was “not qualified in [his] duty MOS.”  The notification
document noted that the applicant was required to become MOS qualified not
later than 28 June 2003.  In that document it indicated the MOS in which
the applicant was to become qualified was personnel administration MOS
(75), and that failure to comply with the requirement would result in
termination of his incentive.

5.  According to a 21 July 2003 statement contained in the applicant’s
request to the Army National Guard for an exception to the 24 month policy,
his commander indicated that the applicant’s request for a clearance was
“submitted approximately 21 months ago.”  Based on that statement, the
applicant’s clearance request would have been initiated in October 2001,
approximately
4 months after his enlistment action.

6.  Electronic mail correspondence, initiated on 26 December 2001,
indicates that although the applicant had indicated that he would seek
training in a personnel MOS, he now desired training in MOS 96B
(intelligence analyst).  Although he was permitted to change his training
options he was informed that the requirement to complete such training not
later than July 2003 remained in effect.

7.  Documents included with his application to the Board indicate that
training in MOS 96B involved various “phases” and entrance into phases III
and IV required a top-secret clearance.

8.  The applicant was notified in July 2003 that his enlistment bonus
entitlement had been terminated because he failed to become MOS qualified
within 24 months of enlistment.

9.  In October 2003 the applicant’s petition to obtain an exception to the
24 month rule was denied.

10.  On 24 October 2003 the applicant was granted his top secret clearance.
 Information contained in the electronic mail correspondence, provided to
the Board by the applicant, indicates that as of 23 October 2003 he had
been scheduled to complete the remaining phases of his 96B training in July
and


August 2004, but was now hoping to attend an “accelerated” pilot training
which was scheduled to commence on 2 November 2003 and terminate on
13 December 2003.

11.  In spite of the denial of his request for an exception to the 24 month
training requirement, the applicant pursued and was successful in securing
a training seat in the pilot course, completed the course on 12 December
2003, and was awarded the 96B specialty.

12.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 611-21, which provides information
regarding eligibility requirements for various specialties, indicates that
there is no requirement for a security clearance associated with the
specialties in the personnel administration field, with the exception of
Soldiers who perform duties in the personnel information system management
field.  A top-secret clearance with access to sensitive compartmented
information (SCI), however, is required for award of MOS 96B.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence available to the Board indicates that the applicant’s
security clearance action was initiated in October 2001 and not finalized
until October 2003, 24 months later.

2.  Although the applicant initially intended to pursue training in a field
which did not require a security clearance, he was subsequently permitted
to change direction and pursue training in a field which did require a
clearance, a clearance which would not become available until several
months after the expiration of the 24 month requirement to complete
training.  Clearly the applicant cannot be held accountable for the 2 years
it took for his security clearance to be granted.  His clearance was
initiated well in advance of the expiration of the 24 month training
requirement and the delay in obtaining that clearance was outside of his
ability to impact the action.

3.  In spite of the delay, the applicant continued to pursue the training
which members of his command had permitted him to pursue.  Even after the
clearance was granted the applicant took the extra steps necessary to
ensure that he was awarded the new MOS as expeditiously as possible.

4.  Obviously the requirement to complete training with 24 months was put
in place to ensure that Soldiers take the necessary steps to become MOS
qualified within a reasonable period of time.  The evidence available to
the Board suggests that the applicant was doing everything within his power
to accomplish that goal and, except for the excessive delay in receiving
the required security clearance, he would have achieved that goal.

5.  In view of the foregoing, and in the interest of justice and equity,
the applicant’s request for an extension of the 24 month training
requirement by an additional 6 months, as an exception to policy, should be
granted.  As such, it would be appropriate to correct his records to show
that his entitlement to benefits under the SRIP were suspended for 30
months, vice 24 months, commencing on 28 June 2001, thereby requiring him
to complete his MOS qualification not later than 28 December 2003.

BOARD VOTE:

___HF __  ___MT __  __PF ___  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 the
state Army National Guard records and the Department of the Army records of
the individual concerned be corrected by showing that his entitlement to
benefits under the SRIP were suspended for 30 months, vice 24 months,
commencing on 28 June 2001, thereby requiring him to complete his MOS
qualification not later than 28 December 2003.




                                  _______Hubert Fry ________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004106211                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050223                                |
|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.       |112.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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