RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        4 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040010872


      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             |
|     |Mr. W. W. Osborn, Jr.             |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Mark D. Manning               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Larry C. Bergquist            |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Carman Duncan                 |     |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 he be given 2 years constructive credit for
the time spent earning a Master of Science (M.S.) degree.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he should have received 2 years
education credit as well as the 3 months and 16 days work credit and that
he should have been appointed a first lieutenant in pay grade O-2.  He
contends that his recruiter told him he would receive credit for his
education and work experience.  He inquired as to why he was appointed in
pay grade O-1 and was told that the only physician assistant (PA) in his
group who was appointed a first lieutenant had about 10 years experience.
He did not discover the problem until he had been in Kuwait for about 7
months.

3.  The applicant provides an extract from Department of Defense
Instruction (DODI) 6000.13 (Medical Manpower and Personnel), his
appointment memorandum, oath of office, Bachelor of Science diploma, DA
Form 5074-1-R (Record of Award of Entry Grade Credit Health Services
Officers), his
17 December 1999 certification as a Physician Assistant and his M.S.
diploma.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant's military records show he was certified as a PA on
17 December 1999, received a Master of Medical Science degree on
18 December 1999 and was granted a license to practice as a PA by the
Oregon Board of Medical Examiners on 21 April 2000.

2.   He was appointed an Army Reserve second lieutenant and executed the
oath of office on 30 July 2000.  He received 0 years, 3 months, and 16 days
constructive credit for previous work experience.

3.  Army Regulation 135-101 (Appointment of Reserve Commissioned Officers
for Assignment to Army Medical Department Branches) prescribes the
policies, procedures and eligibility criteria for appointment of USAR
commissioned officers, in the six branches of the Army Medical Department
(AMEDD).  This regulation provides that officers will be granted
constructive service credit for professional training and experience
accrued after receipt of the basic qualifying degree [emphasis added].

4.  Chapter 3 of the regulation provides that constructive service credit
in excess of the minimum required for appointment to a particular pay grade
will be used to adjust the date of rank within that grade.  Table 3-1
provides the basic guidance for computation of constructive service credit.
 Educational and professional experience beyond the basic qualifying degree
may be credited at the rate of ½ year's credit per year up to a maximum of
3 years.  Additional constructive service credit for additional advanced
education may be granted in certain situations as shown in Table 3-4.

5.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from
the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC).  USAREC opined that the
applicant had been appropriately awarded constructive credit of 0 years, 3
months, and 16 days for work experience.  USAREC noted that the applicant's
M.S. was the basic qualifying degree which qualified him for appointment in
the Army as a PA. It was also noted that, at the time of the applicant's
appointment Army Regulation 135-101 provided the basic guidance and
specified that credit was not given for advanced degrees except for those
that added additional adjunctive skills.

6.  The advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for possible comment
or rebuttal.  No response was received during the allotted time period.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant received appropriate constructive service credit for his
professional work experience.  He did not receive constructive service
credit for his professional education, because his M.S. was the basic
qualifying degree for appointment as a PA.

2.  The foregoing is in consonance with the advisory opinion from USAREC.

3.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must
show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily
appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to
submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__MDM__  __CD ___  __LCB__  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.





                                  _    _Mark D. Manning_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040010872                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051004                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |102.08                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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