RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           5 May 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040007506


      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             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. James E. Anderholm            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Leonard G. Hassell            |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Laverne V. Berry              |     |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 that her remaining student loan be repaid per
her enlistment for the Loan Repayment Program (LRP).

2.  The applicant states that she was not given a list of "loans that do
not qualify" prior to her enlistment.  Her enlistment contract states that
her loans used for college, prior to enlistment, would be paid off in full.
 The only condition given was they had to be $65,000 or less.  They only
added up to $15,000.

3.  The applicant provides a Disclosure of Repayment Schedule from the
Maine Education Loan Authority (MELA); an account statement application; a
MELA Alternative Education Loan promissory note; and her DD Form 2475 (DOD
Educational Loan Repayment program (LRP) Annual Application).

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant entered the Delayed Entry Program on 15 January 2001.
Her DA Form 3286-66 (Statement of Understanding United States Army
Incentive Enlistment Program) shows that she enlisted for the LRP up to a
maximum repayment of $65,000 in addition to other incentives.  On this
form, she acknowledged that under the LRP the Government would repay a
designated portion of any loan she incurred that was made, insured or
guaranteed under Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or any loan
under Part E of such act after 1 October 1975 and before she enlisted into
the Regular Army.

2.  None of the applicant's enlistment documents (to include her DD Form
1966 (Record of Military Processing - Armed Forces of the United States))
identified what student loans she had.  The Remarks section of her DD Form
1966 notes only that she enlisted, in part, for the LRP up to $65,000.

3.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 9 January 2002.  Prior to
entry on active duty she had obtained several student loans that were not
in default.

4.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from
the Education Incentives and Counseling Branch, U. S. Army Human Resources
Command.  That office advised that the applicant had another loan that
qualified for repayment under the LRP.  The total remaining original unpaid
principal verified by Sanford Institute for Savings for her Stafford Loan
is $1,206.73 and appropriate payments have been authorized toward her
qualifying student loan.

5.  The advisory opinion also advised that information obtained from MELA
[indicated] the Alternative Education Loan does not qualify for repayment
under the LRP.  However, if the Board decides to grant compensation, they
recommended that payment be based on the information provided on her DA
Form 2475, which indicated the total outstanding balance on the non-
qualifying Alternative Education Loan was $7,255.47.

6.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for
comment or rebuttal.  In a letter to her Senator, which appears to have
been her response to the advisory opinion, she stated that when she
enlisted she was offered the LRP. It was explained to her and she was told
that as long as she completed training and maintained a satisfactory
standing her loans would be paid off by her separation date of January
2006.  She feels she was definitely misled and misinformed by the LRP
representative.

7.  The Loan Repayment Program is a Department of the Army enlistment
option authorized by Public Law 99-145.  This option is designed to
increase Test Score Category I-IIIA accessions.  Loans that qualify for
repayment are Guaranteed Student Loan/Stafford Loans, National Direct
Student Loan/Perkins Loans, William D. Ford Loans, Supplemental Loans for
Students, Federally Insured Student Loans (FISL), Parent Loan for
Undergraduate Students (PLUS), Auxiliary Loan Assistance for Students
(ALAS), and consolidated loans which fall under Title IV, Part B or E of
the Higher Education Act of 1965, or William D. Ford Loan.  Before entering
active duty, the loan must not be in default.  The borrower is responsible
for obtaining a deferment/forbearance with the loan holder and the loan
must remain in good standing throughout the repayment process.  Active Army
LRP participants earn their first loan repayment after completion of a full
year of active duty and for each full year thereafter, up to       3 years.
 Payment of 33 1/3 percent or $1,500, whichever is greater, is authorized
annually to the loan holder on the total remaining original outstanding
principal balance.

8.  The Government will not make any payments to the Soldier or reimburse a
Soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government will only pay
the lending institution.

9.  Army Regulation 601-210 (Regular Army and Army Reserve Enlistment
Program) prescribes eligibility criteria governing the enlistment of
persons, with or without prior service, into the Regular Army and the U. S.
Army Reserve.  Chapter 9 (Enlistment Programs/Options) states that these
programs/options are designed to merge valid Army requirements with
personal desires.

10.  Army Regulation 601-210, Table 9-4 contains guidance on enlistment
option program 9C (Bonus/Army College Fund/Loan Repayment Program).  Table
9-4 provides program processing procedures that require specific counseling
and administrative actions in connection with processing members enlisting
with the LRP incentive.  In addition, Line 7 of Table 9-4 requires the
guidance counselor to verify that the applicant has qualifying loans if
enlisting for the LRP, to advise the applicant if any loan is not eligible,
and to have the applicant acknowledge same in the remarks section of the DD
Form 1966 series.

11.  U. S. Army Recruiting Command Regulation 621-1 (Montgomery GI Bill,
Army College Fund, and Loan Repayment Program), current version effective
30 November 1998, paragraph 4-4a states that applicants for the LRP are no
longer authorized to ship without documents or verification of eligible
loans.

12.  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.”

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant enlisted for the LRP
incentive.  She had obtained several student loans prior to her entry on
active duty and they were not in default prior to her entry on active duty.
 It appears that some of her loans qualified for repayment under the LRP;
however, the MELA Alternative Education Loan did not meet the requirements
for repayment under the Higher Education Act and the LRP.

2.  It is noted that no entry was made in the Remarks section of the
applicant's DD Form 1966 reflecting that any loan was ineligible for
repayment under the LRP as required by regulation.

3.  The lack of entry on the applicant's DD Form 1966 lends credence to her
contention that, when she enlisted, she was told that as long as she
completed training and maintained a satisfactory standing her loans would
be paid.  Any reasonable doubt concerning her understanding of the
eligibility of her student loans should be resolved in her favor.

4.  In the interest of justice and equity, it would be appropriate to
provide the applicant the full LRP benefits outlined in her enlistment
contract.

5.  The applicant’s military records may be corrected to show her DA Form
3286-66 was amended to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted
by the officials processing you for enlistment as payable under the LRP and
the government fails to verify that the student loan accepted actually is
eligible under the Higher Education Act of 1965 and such failure results in
nonpayment of the loan by the LRP or the repayment or default of the loan,
the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its
sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”
This would allow the Board
to invoke that provision and pay her the amount her lending institution
would have been paid under the LRP.

BOARD VOTE:

__jea___  __lgh___  __lvb___  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends
that the applicant's DA Form 3286-66 be amended to include the sentence “If
a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for enlistment
as payable under the LRP and the government fails to verify that the
student loan accepted actually is eligible under the Higher Education Act
of 1965 and such failure results in nonpayment of the loan by the LRP or
the repayment or default of the loan, the Army Board for Correction of
Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance
with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”

2.  That as a result of the foregoing correction the Defense Finance and
Accounting Service shall remit payment to the applicant the unpaid balance
in the amount of $7,255.47 from her MELA Alternative Education Loan to
which she is entitled as a result of this correction.




            __James E. Anderholm__
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040007506                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050505                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |112.12                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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