RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        25 July 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060002293


      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. G. E. Vandenberg              |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Allen L. Raub                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. LaVerne M. Douglas            |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Yolanda Maldonado             |     |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 all of his student loans be paid under the
Loan Repayment Program (LRP).

2.  The applicant states that he was told that all of his student loans
qualified under the LRP.

3.  The applicant provides copies of his enlistment contract, a 31 January
2006 letter of support from a military lawyer at the Hunter Legal Center,
Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, a letter from his recruiter, and a letter
from the Chief, Education Incentives Branch, Human Resources Command,
Alexandria, Virginia.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The record shows the applicant enlisted on 22 July 2004.  The Statement
of Enlistment indicates he was enlisting with the options of guaranteed
military occupational specialty (MOS) training, a Station/Unit/Area/Command
guarantee, a United States (US) Army HIGH Grad Bonus, a US Army Cash Bonus,
a US Army Seasonal Bonus, and the US Army Loan Repayment Program (LRP).

2.  None of the applicant's enlistment documents identified what student
loans he had prior to his entry onto active duty.  He completed a DD Form
2366 indicating that he understood that with participation in the LRP he
was not eligible for Montgomery GI Bill benefits.

3.  On 20 September 2005 the Chief, Education Incentives Branch, Human
Resources Command, Alexandria, Virginia notified the applicant that the
student loan, made by American Educational Services (AES), in the amount of
$29,917.45 did not qualify under the LRP.

4.  On 24 January 2006, the applicant's recruiter, a sergeant first class,
provided a statement indicating that he had specifically looked up the type
of loan (a Student Maximizer Loan through AES) and that this loan qualified
under the LRP.

5.  A 31 January 2006 letter of support from a captain assigned to the
Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Hunter Legal Center, Hunter Army
Airfield, Georgia, offers that the denial of the loan repayment is contrary
to the representation of the recruiter and raises a question of possible
fraudulent enlistment.  The captain opines that an injustice has occurred.

6.  It is noted that the applicant also has Stafford Loans with Citibank
and College Foundation Incorporated that qualify and are being paid at the
current time.

7.  The Loan Repayment Program is a Department of the Army enlistment
option authorized by Public Law 99-145.  This option is designed to
increase Test Score Category I-III A accessions.  Loans that qualify for
repayment are Guaranteed Student Loan/Stafford Loans, National Direct
Student Loan/Perkins Loans, William D. Ford Loans, Supplemental Loans for
Students, Federally Insured Student Loans (FISL), Parent Loan for
Undergraduate Students (PLUS), Auxiliary Loan Assistance for Students
(ALAS), and consolidated loans which fall under Title IV, Part B or E of
the Higher Education Act of 1965, or William D. Ford Loan.  Before entering
active duty, the loan must not be in default.  The borrower is responsible
for obtaining a deferment/forbearance with the loan holder and the loan
must remain in good standing throughout the repayment process.  Active Army
LRP participants earn their first loan repayment after completion of a full
year of active duty and for each full year thereafter, up to 3 years.
Payment of 33 1/3 percent or $1,500, whichever is greater, is authorized
annually to the loan holder on the total remaining original outstanding
principal balance.

8.  The Government will not make any payments to the Soldier or reimburse a
Soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government will only pay
the lending institution.

9.  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.

10.  Army Regulation 601-210, Table 9-4, as then in effect, 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.  In addition, 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 the same in
the remarks section of the DD Form 1966 series.


11.  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.”

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant enlisted for the LRP
incentive.  He had obtained student loans prior to his entry on active duty
and they were not in default prior to his entry on active duty.  The loans
managed by American Education Services, with the approximate outstanding
balance of $29,917.45, do not meet the requirements for repayment under the
Higher Education Act and the LRP.

2.  The lack of entry on the applicant's DD Form 1966 and the recruiter's
statement lends credence to the applicant's contention he was led to
believe the loans were payable under the LRP.  Any reasonable doubt
concerning the circumstances surrounding the guidance counselor counseling
the applicant on the eligibility of his student loans should be resolved in
the applicant's favor.

3.  In the interest of justice and equity, it would be appropriate to
provide the applicant the full LRP benefits outlined in his enlistment
contract.

4.  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:

__ALB___  __LMD__  __PMT__  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 SLRP 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 SLRP 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 for the total
amount 29,917.45 of his AES loan to which he is entitled as a result of
this correction and advise the applicant if he does not serve the required
active duty, a debt will be established.




                                  __      Allen L. Raub______
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060002293                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            | 20060725                               |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |  . . . .                               |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |                                        |
|                        |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |128 LRP                                 |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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