| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Jessie B. Strickland | Analyst |
| Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Lawrence Foster | Member | |
| Ms. Margaret V. Thompson | Member |
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests that her date of rank (DOR) and effective date for promotion to the pay grade of E-7 be changed back to her original promotion date of 1 September 2000.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that she was conditionally promoted to the pay grade of E-7 on 1 September 2000 and attended the Advanced Noncommissoned Officer Course (ANCOC) at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on 8 April 2002. On 10 April 2002, she was administered her initial Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and began experiencing chest pains and a lack of balance during the run, thus failing the APFT. The academy cadre felt that after a few days recovery, she would be fine for the retest. However, on 17 April 2002, when she retook the APFT, she collapsed and was taken to the Moncrief Army Hospital and diagnosed as having a heart attack/stroke. She states that she was placed in the intensive care unit and when she was discharged 2 days later, she was also released from the ANCOC for failing the APFT. She continues by stating that she requested from the commandant that her Academic Evaluation Report (AER) (DA Form 1059) reflect that she was dismissed for medical reasons; however, the commandant would not change it. She also states that she underwent cardiac rehabilitation testing upon her return to Fort Riley, Kansas, and that when she returned to her unit she was reduced to the pay grade of E-6 on 12 May 2002. She also states that she applied for reinstatement to both the ANCOC and to the promotion list and her request was approved; however, after she completed the ANCOC on 29 April 2003, she was again promoted effective 1 May 2003. As a result of her reduction, she was required to pay back the monies she received as a result of the promotion as well as travel pay to the ANCOC, all for something that was through no fault of her own and caused her to loose time in grade for her next promotion.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. On 1 September 2000, while serving on active duty in the Active Guard Reserve (AGR), in the pay grade of E-6, the applicant was promoted to the pay grade of E-7, effective 1 September 2000. As a condition to accepting the promotion, the applicant had to agree that if she was denied enrollment, declared a "No Show", became an academic failure or otherwise did not meet graduation requirements of the ANCOC, she would be reduced to her former pay grade and would be removed from the promotion selection list.
2. The applicant attended phase I of the ANCOC at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on 8 April 2002 and on 17 April 2002, while performing the 2-mile run portion of the APFT, she experienced severe chest pains and had to be taken to the hospital, where she was admitted and diagnosed as having posterior pericardial effusion (enlargement of the muscle tissue surrounding the heart). She was released from the hospital on 19 April 2002 and was returned to the NCO Academy.
3. On the same date, the applicant was released from the ANCOC for failure to achieve course standards. Her AER indicates that she was released from the course due to APFT failure.
4. The applicant was returned to her unit at Fort Riley, Kansas, and was reduced to the pay grade of E-6 effective 12 May 2002. She continued to be treated for her condition and on 24 July 2002, a physical profile was approved for chronic abdominal muscle strain.
5. Meanwhile, the applicant submitted a request to be reinstated and to attend the ANCOC. On 15 August 2002, the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) Reinstatement Panel approved her request for reinstatement to the promotion list and attendance at the ANCOC, based on the extenuating circumstances in her case.
6. On 9 September 2002, a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) / Medical Retention Board (MMRB) determined that the applicant's medical condition did not preclude satisfactory performance of her MOS in a worldwide field environment.
7. The applicant attended Phases I and II of the ANCOC from 10 March 2003 through 29 April 2003 and achieved course standards in both phases. She was again promoted to the pay grade of E-7 on 1 May 2003, with a DOR of 1 May 2003.
8. A review of the applicant's evaluation report history shows that with the exception of her APFT failure at the ANCOC, the applicant has always passed her APFT and in most cases, comments were made in her evaluation reports about her exceptional physical fitness and high APFT scores.
9. Department of the Army (DAPE-MP) message 212352Z November 2003, announced the suspension of conditional promotions for personnel being promoted to the pay grades of E-5 through E-7, effective 1 January 2004.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Although the applicant did in fact fail her APFT at the ANCOC, the evidence of record suggests that her failure to complete the APFT or to attain a passing score was the result of a medical condition that was unknown to the applicant at the time.
2. The evidence of record also suggests that until such time as the medical condition was discovered (during APFT), the applicant had a history of always passing her APFT and in most cases with a very high score.
3. Inasmuch as the applicant was hospitalized at the time and subsequently began treatment for her condition, the evidence suggests that it would have been more appropriate to terminate her enrollment from the ANCOC for a medical condition, rather than to fail her from the course for her APFT failure, something that appears to have been beyond her control at the time.
4. The evidence also shows that after being reduced, the applicant properly sought reinstatement to the promotion list and attendance at the ANCOC. After completing her treatment, she was able to successfully complete the ANCOC and again receive her promotion.
5. However, given the extenuating circumstances in this case, the evidence suggests that it was unjust to revoke her original promotion (given her medical condition) and that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the applicant's request to retain her original promotion of 1 September 2000, with entitlement to all back pay and allowances from that date.
BOARD VOTE:
mvt_____ lf _____ rvo_____ GRANT RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2004100824 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20040224 |
| 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. 315 | 131.0500/DOR |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002075439C070403
It states that a soldier who accepts a promotion with the condition that he or she must enroll in, and successfully complete, a specified NCOES course, and fails to meet those conditions, or is subsequently denied enrollment, or becomes an academic failure, or does not meet graduation requirements, or is declared a "No Show," will be reduced to the grade and rank held prior to the conditional promotion. It states that under promotion procedures of this regulation, a soldier may be promoted...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2001 | 2001061235C070421
The applicant submitted a request for reinstatement to ANCOC and to the pay grade of E-7. A staff member of the Board also reviewed similar cases that have been reviewed by the Board and finds that in all such cases, the Board supported the PERSCOM decision to promote individuals who had been reinstated after they completed the ANCOC; however, it was always with a retroactive DOR (to the date they were originally promoted), with entitlement to all back pay and allowances (minus the de facto...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002078424C070215
The applicant states that he should have never been coded as a "No Show" for ANCOC. It states that a soldier who accepts a promotion with the condition that he or she must enroll in, and successfully complete, a specified NCOES course, and fails to meet those conditions, or is subsequently denied enrollment, or becomes an academic failure, or does not meet graduation requirements, or is declared a "No Show," will be reduced to the grade and rank held prior to the conditional promotion. The...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002073835C070403
On 17 April 2001, a colonel in the applicant's chain of command recommended that the applicant's request be approved and that he be enrolled in the next available ANCOC. On 13 August 2002, a major general -- the first GO in the applicant's chain of command -- stated in a memorandum provided to the ARPERSCOM that "I concur that [applicant's] deferment, if it were processed in April 2001, would have received my approval" and that "after a review of all of the available evidence, it is clear...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002069572C070402
The packet submitted by the applicant’s battalion commander also includes confirmation of the applicant’s medical problems between April 2000 and August 2001, and a medical document that verifies that she was placed on a temporary physical profile on 8 August 2001, which prevented her attendance at her scheduled September 2001 ANCOC class. The evidence of record and the applicant’s battalion commander confirm that she was on a valid temporary physical profile that prohibited her attendance...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002069036C070402
This policy stated that soldiers, who have not yet attended ANCOC prior to their effective date of promotion to SFC, would be promoted "conditionally." The evidence of record shows that the applicant was administered an APFT on 11 April 2000, for preenrollment at ANCOC and failed the push-up event, which precluded him from attending ANCOC. The applicant's case was reviewed by the USAR AGR Enlisted Reduction Panel, which determined that the applicant should be reduced in rank for failing to...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002069394C070402
If the grade requires the soldier to be a graduate of ANCOC, the soldier must be enrolled in the course within 12 months of the date of promotion and be a graduate of ANCOC within 24 months of the Phase I completion date. The applicant was scheduled for ANCOC, was on a temporary profile, and his recovery period of his profile overlapped with the course report date. a. by showing that he was granted an authorized delay for NCOES requirements of his conditional promotion and medical...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2003 | 2003087846C070212
The applicant requests the transfer of a DA Form 1059 dated 25 June 1999, promotion orders dated 27 September 2001 and Board proceedings dated 3 January 2003 be transferred to the Restricted fiche of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). The applicant states, in effect, that he has previously won his appeal before the Board and requests that his records be corrected by transferring the requested documents to the Restricted fiche of his OMPF in order that his chances for selection to...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002082236C070215
The applicant requests that her attendance at BNCOC (Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course) be reinstated and that her promotion to pay grade E-6 be restored. She states, in effect, that she was released from BNCOC after failing the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). When the applicant submitted her application to the Board in November 2002 she indicated her pay grade as E-6.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002074341C070403
The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein. However, if proper procedures were followed in accordance with Army Regulation 140-158, he would be attending ANCOC in the rank of SFC. It states, in pertinent part, that when a soldier fails to complete a required NCOES course, the soldier's name will be removed from a promotion list, and if conditionally promoted, the soldier will be reduced in accordance with paragraph 7-12d.