RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        6 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050000528


      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. Curtis L. Greenway            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Richard T. Dunbar             |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Laverne V. Berry              |     |Member               |

      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 reconsideration of his earlier appeal to have
his Sallie Mae loans paid under the Loan Repayment Program (LRP).

2.  The applicant states that, even though he was assured that the Sallie
Mae loans would qualify for payment under the LRP, he is stuck with the
majority of his loans unpaid.  His recruiter even volunteered that his wife
used to work for Sallie Mae and that he was sure the loans qualified.

3.  The applicant provides his statement about the discussion with the
recruiter.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were
summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number
AR2003096503 on 29 June 2004.

2.  The remarks section of the applicant's DD Form 1966 (Record of
Processing-Armed Forces of the United States) does not contain a statement
as to which students loans are and are not payable under the LRP.

3.  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.

4.  Table 9-4 of the regulation 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.  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.

5. 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.
6.  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”.

7.  As mentioned in the previous Record of Proceedings, the Human Resources
Command (HRC) Education Incentives and Counseling Branch advised that, if
the Board recommended approval of the applicant's request, payment should
be made to the applicant in the amount of $31, 436.70.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's enlistment documents did not contain the required
counseling entry in the remarks section of the DD Form 1966 series or
elsewhere.  According to established policy he should not have been allowed
to process through the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station).

2.  The above shortcoming demonstrates that eligibility of his student
loans under the LRP was not properly documented.

3.  The lack of entry on the applicant's DD Form 1966 tends to indicate
that the recruiter knew the Sallie Mae loans were not eligible but assured
the applicant that it could and would be paid anyway.  Making the required
entry on the DD Form 1966 would have confirmed to the applicant that the
loan was ineligible and would have risked his enlistment.  It appears the
applicant was misled.  Any reasonable doubt concerning the circumstances
surrounding the applicant's enlistment should be resolved in his favor.

4.  In the interest of justice, it would be appropriate to provide the
applicant the full LRP benefits outlined in his enlistment contract.  He
should be paid
$31, 436.70, the amount substantiated by the HRC.

5.  The applicant’s military records should be corrected to show his 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 him the amount his lending institutions
would have been paid under the LRP.

BOARD VOTE:

__RTD __  __LVB __  __CLG__  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 in the amount of
$31, 436.70, the amount substantiated by the HRC.





                                  _     Curtis L. Greenway_________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050000528                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051006                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |112.12                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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