RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           7 December 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004105871


      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. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Mark D. Manning               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John E. Denning               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. James B. Gunlicks             |     |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, reimbursement of $2,000.00 that was
erroneously collected from his pay.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that $2,000.00 of his debt to the
government based on his receiving a Career Status Bonus (CSB) after he
agreed to being placed in a reduced retirement plan (REDUX) was erroneously
collected while final resolution of the debt was pending.  He claims the
debt should have been suspended pending the outcome of his application for
cancellation/remission of indebtedness and his application to this Board.

3.  The applicant provides the initial packet he submitted to the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in support of his
application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s record shows that he served in the Army National Guard
(ARNG) from 1 June 1984 through 22 January 1987.  On 23 January 1987, he
entered the United States Army Reserve (USAR) Delayed Entry Program (DEP)
and remained in that status until being discharged on 23 February 1987.  On

24 February 1987, he enlisted in the Regular Army and entered active duty,
where he has continuously served through the present.

2.  After being offered the opportunity by the Army, the applicant elected
to receive a CSB in return for participating in the REDUX program.  The
Chief, Compensation and Entitlements Division, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1
determined that a small group of service members were erroneously paid a
CSB for which they were not eligible, which thereby created a debt to the
United States Government.  The memorandum indicated that those soldiers who
erroneously received the CSB did not initially enter military service on or
after 1 August 1986; therefore under the law, they are not eligible to
elect for the bonus or for participation in the REDUX that accompanied the
CSB.

3.  The G-1 gave the affected soldiers the following options:  appeal the
validity of the debt; request remission and cancellation of the debt;
request waiver of the debt; and/or apply to the Army Board for Correction
of Military Records.  The applicant submitted a cancellation/remission of
debt packet and applied to this Board on 26 December 2002.
4.  In March 2003, $2,000.00 of the applicant’s CSB debt to the government
was collected by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).

5.  In connection with the processing of his original application, an
advisory opinion was obtained from Department of the Army (DA), Recruiting
Policy Branch, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1.  The G-1
recommended that administrative relief be granted in this case because the
debts appear to have been incurred as a result of administrative oversights
by military separation personnel and were not the fault of the applicant.
The applicant was provided a copy of this G-1 opinion and concurred with
its contents on 9 October 2003.

6.  During the processing of the applicant’s initial application, it was
discovered that his application for cancellation/remission of indebtedness
had been acted upon by the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Manpower and
Reserve Affairs (ASA, M&RA).  The ASA, M&RA approved cancellation of
$28,000.00 of the applicant’s debt, but was unable to approve the remaining
$2,000 because it had already been collected.  Upon learning that the
applicant’s cancellation/remission request was acted upon, his application
to the Board was administratively closed without referral to the Board
because administrative correction had been accomplished.

7.  Army Regulation 600-4 provides instructions for submitting and
processing applications for remission or cancellation of indebtedness to
the United States Army.  Applications must be based on injustice, hardship,
or both. This includes debts caused by errors in pay to or on behalf of a
soldier.  Chapter 3 provides the administrative procedures for submitting
an application for remission/cancellation of indebtedness.  Paragraph 3-4
outlines the responsibilities of the Finance and Accounting Officer in the
application process.  It states, in pertinent part, that he/she will ensure
collection of the debt is stopped until a final decision is made.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s contention that the collection of his debt should have
been suspended and that he should now be reimbursed for the collected
portion of the debt was carefully considered and found to have merit.  By
regulation, if a soldier decides to submit an application for
remission/cancellation of indebtedness and properly notifies unit and
finance officials, the debt collection process should be suspended until a
final decision is made on the application.
2.  The evidence of record confirms that once the applicant was notified
that he was indebted to the government based on the erroneous CSB payment,
he immediately began the process of preparing and submitting an application
for remission/cancellation of indebtedness and made application to this
Board in accordance with the procedures outlined by Army G-1 officials.
However, this compliance with the announced procedures did not result in
the timely suspension of the debt collection, as is required by regulation.


3.  Given the applicant’s request for remission/cancellation of
indebtedness was ultimately approved by the ASA, M&RA on the merits, for
the uncollected portion of the debt, it is concluded that it would be
appropriate to correct the applicant’s record to show his application for
remission/cancellation of indebtedness of $30,000.00, due to the erroneous
payment of a CSB, was approved in full, as if no amount of the debt had
been collected prior to the approval.  In addition, the applicant should be
reimbursed any amount of the debt that was erroneously collected prior to
the date of the approval.

BOARD VOTE:

__MDM__  __JED__  __JBG___  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 all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by
showing that the application of the individual concerned for remission
and/or cancellation of indebtedness of $30,000.00, due to an overpayment of
a CSB, was approved for the full amount of the debt; and by reimbursing the
applicant any portion of the total debt that was collected.




            ____Mark D. Manning______
                    CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004105871                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2004/12/07                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |N/A                                     |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |N/A                                     |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |N/A                                     |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |N/A                                     |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  231  |112.0900                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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