RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        27 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050002121


      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             |
|     |Ms. Joyce A. Wright               |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Melvin H. Meyer               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Allen L. Raub                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Linda D. Simmons              |     |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 she be transferred to the Retired Reserve.

2.  The applicant states that she was erroneously discharged.  At the time
of her discharge, she was eligible for retirement with 20 qualifying years
of service and was not assisted by her unit administrator (UA) in obtaining
a 20-Year Letter (Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay at Age 60).
Without assistance, she called the Army Human Resources Command (AHRC)-St.
Louis on numerous occasions and was told that the UA would have to call
Team One, since no action had been taken to help her obtain her 20-Year
Letter nor had they discharged her.

3.  In May 2003, she drove from her home in Suffolk, Virginia, to New York
City, Fort Totten, and was discharged.  She was told that nothing could be
done for her since she had ETSed (expiration of term of service) in
November.  She believed that with assistance, the process she was going
through now would not be necessary.  It has been her intention to join the
Retired Reserve since leaving active duty.  As of the date of her
application, she had not received discharge orders and the unit she last
served in, the 408th Personnel Services Battalion (PSB), was deployed to
Iraq.  She was unable to obtain an identification (ID) card and could not
obtain Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) because she had no orders.  She
was eligible for retirement in November 2001, was discharged on 16 May
2003, and received her 20 Year Letter in June 2004.

4.  The applicant provides a copy of her 20 Year Letter, a copy of her
summary of retirement points, and a copy of her discharge orders in support
of her application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant's military records show she entered active duty (AD) on
14 November 1979.  She was promoted to sergeant (SGT/E-5) on 1 December
1984.  She continued to serve until she was honorably released from AD on
2 March 1992, in the pay grade of E-5.  She enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve (USAR) on 3 March 1992.  She continued to serve through a series of
continuous reenlistments.  She was promoted to staff sergeant (SSG/E-6)
with a date of rank (DOR) and effective date of 15 December 1994.

2.  On 16 May 2003, orders were published discharging the applicant from
her troop program unit (TPU) with an effective date of 16 May 2003, in the
rank of SSG.

3.  On 9 June 2004, the AHRC-St. Louis notified the applicant that she had
completed the required years of service to be eligible for retired pay on
application at age 60 (20-Year Letter).

4.  There is no evidence to show that the applicant applied for transfer to
the Retired Reserve or requested to be discharged.

5.  The applicant's Summary of Retirement Points shows she completed 21
years of qualifying service for retirement purposes.

6.  An advisory opinion was provided by the Retirements and Annuities
Section, Transitions and Separations Branch, AHRC-St. Louis, dated 9 May
2005.  The opinion confirmed the applicant's statements concerning dates
that actions were taken by her former unit, and corrective action taken
regarding her retirement point history were verified by the RPAS
(Retirement Points Accounting System).  Her RPAS shows that corrective
action was taken in April 2004.  The entries, the opinion states, should
have been made by her former unit when she enlisted in the USAR, and
annually thereafter.  The AHRC-St. Louis published her 20-Year Letter once
her RPAS properly reflected her service time.  The AHRC-St. Louis advised
her they did not have the authority to revoke the order of the applicant's
former unit and that the applicant's former command, the 77th Regional
Support Command (RSC), should revoke the discharge order and transfer the
applicant to the Retired Reserve.

7.  The applicant was provided a copy of the favorable opinion for possible
comment prior to consideration of this case.  The applicant concurred on
8 June 2005.

8.  Army Regulation 135-178 establishes the policies, standards, and
procedures governing the administrative separation of enlisted Soldiers
from the Reserve Components.  Paragraph 1-3 states, in pertinent part, that
orders discharging a Soldier would not be revoked or the effective date
changed after the effective date of discharge unless there was evidence of
manifest error or fraud.  After the effective date of discharge, orders can
be amended by the separation authority only to correct manifest error such
as the wrong character of service or to correct administrative errors such
as rank, social security number, or misspelled name.

9.  Army Regulation 140-10 sets forth the basic authority for the
assignment, attachment, detail, and transfer of USAR Soldiers.  Chapter 7
of the regulation relates to the removal of Soldiers from an active status
and states, in pertinent part, that Soldiers removed from an active status
will be discharged or, if qualified
and if they so request, will be transferred to the Retired Reserve.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence shows the applicant completed 20 years of service for
retirement on 9 June 2004.

2.  The applicant alleges and the evidence of record shows that her unit
failed to transfer her to the Retired Reserve in accordance with applicable
regulations.

3.  In the absence of proper assistance from her unit, the applicant took
the necessary action to correct her records and to obtain what she had
earned through her service.

4.  The applicant was issued a 20 Year Letter but was incorrectly
discharged on her ETS.

5.  The applicant is entitled to have her discharge order revoked to, in
effect, fully qualify her for transfer to the Retired Reserve and to
qualify her to receive retired pay on application, at age 60.

6.  Inasmuch as the applicant meets eligibility requirements for assignment
to the Retired Reserve, it would be equitable and just to correct her
military records by revoking her discharge of 16 May 2003, and assigning
her to the Retired Reserve effective the same date.

BOARD VOTE:

_ALR___  __MM___  __LDS___  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 and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected:


      a.  by revoking the 16 May 2003 discharge from the USAR; and


      b.  by showing that she was transferred to the Retired Reserve
effective
16 May 2003.




                                  ___    Melvin H. Meyer_______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050002121                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051027                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |20030516                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 140-10                               |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |136                                     |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |

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