RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:                 19 OCTOBER 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:         AR20050003973


      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. Ronald DeNoia                 |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Barbara Ellis                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Hubert Fry                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |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 he be paid his cash enlistment bonus

2.  The applicant states that, in effect, his enlistment was based on the
enlistment bonus he was offered and that his contract was altered without
his knowledge or consent.

3.  The applicant provides a self-authored letter dated 10 March 2005; a
letter from his mother dated 15 March 2005; a newspaper article; a letter
from a state representative dated 29 April 2004; a letter from a U.S.
Senator, dated 2 June 2004; DD Form 1966 Series (Record of Military
Processing);, a letter from the applicant's mother to a major general,
dated 22 March 2004; and a letter from the applicant, dated 11 February
2004.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the Arkansas Army National Guard on 22 March
2003.  At some point he was deployed to Iraq.

2.  Item 32 (Specific Option/Program Enlisted for) of the applicants DD
Form 1996 (Record of Military Processing) shows the entry "Enlisting for
6X2 Cash Enlistment Bonus", however, the words "Cash Enlistment Bonus" are
crossed out.  This alteration is not initialed or signed by either the
applicant or the recruiter/counselor.

3.  Section VI (Remarks) of the DD Form 1966 shows the entry "I understand
that I am eligible for Enlistment Cash Bonus Program.  I accept the
Enlistment Cash Bonus Program". This form is signed by the applicant in two
places and initialed in another.

4.  The remarks section of the DD Form 1996 also shows that the entry "CAT
IV waiver NGB Control Number RR 2003-14" was hand written on the form.
This statement was obviously added by a recruiter/counselor; however, there
are no initials or signature to show the counselor added this modification
or that the applicant was aware or acknowledged it prior to enlistment.

5.  The ABCMR Staff contacted the Recruiting Office of the National Guard
Bureau. This office has verified that a CAT IV waiver means that although
the applicant did not meet a specific program criteria, in this case a Cash
Bonus, he was eligible for enlistment without the incentive.

6.  The Enlistment Cash Bonus Program that the applicant enlisted for
required an Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score of 31 to be
eligible for a $6000 enlistment bonus.  The applicant's score was 28.

7.  On 21 April 2005, the Chief, Incentives and Budget Branch of the
Enlisted Accessions Division, in the Pentagon, opined, in an advisory
opinion, that the recruiter incorrectly listed eligibility for a cash
enlistment bonus and the entry was scratched out but no initials from the
Soldier or Recruiter or any other addendum or statement  concerning the
bonus exists.  The advisory opinion further states that the "Soldier should
be paid the $6,000 EB and given the benefit of the doubt, based on the
probability that the Soldier believed he was entitled to an EB, and the
failure of the recruiter to correct the document and properly advise the
Soldier".

8.  AR 601-210 states that Guidance Counselors are specifically required to
confirm they accomplished all the processing procedures by making the
appropriate entries in the DD Form 1966.  This includes a statement
advising members of programs he or she is or is not eligible for and
ensuring the applicant’s acknowledgement of this fact is also recorded in
the remarks section of the DD Form 1966.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s AFQT score does not meet the criteria established to
authorize an enlistment bonus; however, this is not the overriding factor
in this case given the equity considerations and the resultant injustice.

2.  The DD Form 1966 clearly established a contractual agreement between
the applicant and the Army that he would receive an enlistment bonus
benefits in connection with his enlistment.

3.  A careful review of the evidence in this case reveals that the
applicant was led to believe that he would in fact receive a $6,000
enlistment bonus and acted in good faith by accepting the conditions
offered him at the time.  However, he was not properly notified or
counseled that his contract would not be honored.

4.  Thus, the Board finds that the applicant was improperly advised in
regards to his bonus entitlements and concludes that it would be
appropriate to rectify this injustice at this time.  Therefore, in the
interest of justice and equity, the Board concludes that it would be
appropriate to provide the applicant with the bonus entitlements outlined
in his reenlistment contract.

5.  Therefore, his enlistment contract dated 22 March 2003, may be
corrected by amending it to include the sentence "If a soldier is
authorized an enlistment bonus in connection with enlistment and the
government fails to verify entitlement to such a bonus prior to the actual
date of enlistment and such failure results in the nonpayment of the bonus
in total, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the
bonus, 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 he was actually entitled and the amount he was promised.

BOARD VOTE:

__BE ___  ____HF _  ___RR __  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 all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be
corrected by amending the applicant’s enlistment contract to include the
sentence, “If an enlistment bonus is accepted by the official processing
you for enlistment as payable under the Cash Enlistment Bonus Program  and
the Government fails to verify that the Soldier actually is eligible and
such failure results in nonpayment of the bonus, the Army Board for
Correction of Military Records may pay the bonus, at its sole discretion,
in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”

2.  As a result of the above correction the Defense Finance and Accounting
Service (DFAS) shall remit payment to the applicant of the total amount of
the bonus in the amount of $6,000.00, to which he is entitled as a result
of this correction.




                                  ______Barbara Ellis________________
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003973                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051019                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.0000.0000                           |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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