RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            19 August 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2004100455


      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. Fred Eichorn                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Curtis Greenway               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. William Powers                |     |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 his present active duty status be allowed
to serve as credit for his Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) debt.

2.  The applicant states that he enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR)
in March 1998.  In November 2000, he enrolled in ROTC.  In July 2002, he
was notified of his disenrollment from ROTC and told that he should return
to the USAR to fulfill his original Reserve contract.  Along with that
notification, he was told that he could go active duty to pay back his debt
or he could make monthly payments.  Before he had a chance to suspend the
debt because he was still a full-time student, they started to collect the
debt from his Reserve drill pay.

3.  The applicant states that in August 2003, his Reserve unit was
activated and deployed to Iraq for at least a year.  The Defense Finance
and Accounting Service (DFAS) notified him that service during this
deployment counts against his debt.  Instead of suspending the debt until
he came off active duty and counting his active time against his debt, they
have been taking two-thirds of his active duty pay since August 2003.  He
is not sure what percentage of his debt is supposed to be paid by his
active duty during his deployment but he would like to take advantage of it
since it should save him money.  If he still owes money after he comes off
active duty, he will pay it, but he believes he may have paid too much
already.

4.  The applicant provides pages 1, 8, 9, and 10 of his ROTC contract
(pages      2 through 7 are generic) and his leave and earnings statement
for the month ending 1 October 2003.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the USAR on 14 March 1998 for 8 years.  He
completed initial active duty for training on 30 July 1999 and was awarded
military occupational specialty 88M (Motor Transport Operator).

2.  On 3 November 2000, the applicant signed a DA Form 597-3 (Army Senior
ROTC Scholarship Cadet Contract).  Paragraph 7d of the DA Form 597-3 states
that if the cadet were disenrolled from the ROTC Program for any reason,
the Secretary of the Army could order him to reimburse the United States
through repayment of an amount of money, plus interest, equal to the entire
amount of financial assistance paid by the United States for his advanced
education from the commencement of the contractual agreement to the date of
his disenrollment or refusal to accept a commission.  Or, the cadet could
be ordered to active duty for not more than four years.
3.  Paragraph 12 of the applicant’s DA Form 597-3 states that the cadet
understood and agreed that if he voluntarily or because of misconduct
failed to begin or failed to complete any period of active duty that he may
have incurred under the contract, he would be required to reimburse the
United States an amount of money, plus interest, that is equal to or bore
the same ratio to the total cost of the financial assistance provided him
as the unserved portion of such duty bore to the total period of such duty
he was obligated to serve.

4.  The applicant was disenrolled from ROTC around July 2002 for breach of
contract and apparently transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve.  He
apparently then transferred to a troop program unit (TPU).  On 6 August
2002, he promised to make repayment of the total amount owed, $11,217.00,
in monthly installments, plus interest, as specified in his scholarship
contract in lieu of being ordered to active duty.

5.  On 6 August 2002, the applicant elected to repay his ROTC debt in lieu
of being ordered to active duty in an enlisted status for a period of 3
years.

6.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from
the      U. S. Army Cadet Command.  That Command recommended disapproval of
the applicant's request.  It noted that the applicant elected monetary
repayment in lieu of agreeing to be ordered to active duty based on the
needs of the Army.  It noted that his [current] active duty service is not
the result of being ordered to active duty through ROTC channels in
satisfaction of his ROTC contractual obligation.

7.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for
comment or rebuttal.  He did not respond within the given time frame.

8.  Army Regulation 145-1 (Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Program:
 Organization, Administration, and Training), paragraph 3-44c, states that,
upon disenrollment from ROTC, a cadet assigned to the Control Group (ROTC)
who is not ordered to active duty or pending such an order and has
previously completed a basic training course conducted by a U. S. Armed
Force will be transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve if the military
service obligation has not been met.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  When the applicant was disenrolled from ROTC, he elected to repay his
debt rather than accept active duty in lieu of repaying that debt.  Because
he had previously enlisted in the USAR in March 1998, had completed initial
active duty for training in July 1999, and had not completed his military
obligation, he should have been transferred to the Individual Ready
Reserve.  It appears he was, and then he transferred to a TPU, which was
ordered to active duty for deployment to Iraq in August 2003.

2.  The applicant does not provide the DFAS notification which he states
notified him "that service during this deployment counts against his debt"
so it cannot be determined what the phrase, "counts against his debt,"
might mean.  However, his current active duty is serving the same purpose
as would have been served had he been ordered to active duty after his
disenrollment from ROTC.  As a matter of equity, it would be appropriate to
consider his current active duty to have met the 3-year active duty
obligation required by his ROTC scholarship contract.

3.  If the applicant fails to complete a 3-year period of active duty
obligated as a result of his ROTC scholarship either voluntarily, because
of misconduct, or because he is released from active duty before completing
3 years of active duty, his ROTC debt would be required to be recouped on a
pro-rated basis.

BOARD VOTE:

__fe____  __cg____  __wp____  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be
corrected by amending the applicant’s ROTC scholarship contract to show
that he would satisfy the service obligation under the original terms of
the ROTC contract if ordered to active duty in his Reserve status.

2.  If the applicant fails to complete the period of enlisted service
obligated as a result of his amended ROTC scholarship contract either
voluntarily, because of misconduct, or because he is released from active
duty before the 3-year period
of active duty is completed, his ROTC debt would be required to be recouped
on a pro-rated basis in accordance with paragraph 12 of his DA Form 597-3.




            __Fred Eichorn________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004100455                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040819                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |128.10                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]