IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:  6 July 2010    

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090021042 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests payment of a Prior Service Enlistment Bonus (PSEB) of $15,000.00.

2.  The applicant states he signed a 6-year contract with the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) to receive a $15,000.00 PSEB upon completion of drill sergeant school within 2 years of his enlistment.  He states completed the school, but he never received the bonus.  He claims he received a letter informing him he was being denied the bonus because he completed 17 years of service and therefore was not eligible for the PSEB.  He claims the recruiter knew how much service he had when he signed his contract, but assured him he would receive the bonus money.

3.  The applicant provides the following documents in support of his application:

* self-authored letter
* National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service)
* DA Form 3540 (Certificate and Acknowledgement of Service Requirements for Individual Enlisting, Reenlisting, or Transferring into Troop Program Units of the USAR) with addendums
* Drill Sergeant Identification Badge award memorandum
* certificate of training



CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant's record shows he enlisted in the Louisiana Army National Guard on 9 January 1989 and continuously served in that status until 8 January 2006 when he was honorably discharged in the rank of sergeant after completing 17 years of military service.

2.  On 3 April 2006, the applicant enlisted in the USAR for 6 years.  The DA Form 3540 completed during his enlistment processing shows he enlisted under the prior-service (PS) program.  He further shows he was assured attendance at the drill sergeant course and authorized a PSEB of $15,000.00.  The applicant and service representative authenticated the document with their signatures on 3 April 2006.

3.  In section V (Entitlement) of the PS enlistment bonus addendum to the DA Form 3540, the applicant acknowledges he was eligible for the PSEB and had less than 16 years of military service.  He signed this document in section IX (Statement of Understanding) after confirming he had read and understood each of the statements in the addendum.

4.  In connection with the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Incentives and Budget Branch, Enlisted Accessions Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1.  This DA official confirms a review of the documents submitted by the applicant and available records showed he completed in excess of 17 years of prior military service.  He states that effective March 2006, the governing statute and regulatory policy permits payment of a PSEB to applicants with less than 16 years of prior military service and under the previous statute, payment of the PSEB was authorized to members who completed less than 14 years of prior military service.  As a result, the applicant is not eligible for the PSEB even under the changed statute.  He does indicate this case clearly shows an error in counseling on the part of recruiting officials.  Based on recruiter error and restrictions of the statute, he recommends an alternative course of action awarding the applicant a reenlistment bonus in the same amount as the PSEB based on the applicant's service. 

5.  On 23 April 2010, the applicant was provided a copy of the G-1 advisory opinion in order to have the opportunity to respond.  To date, he has failed to reply.

6.  Title 37, U.S. Code, section 308i (Special Pay:  PSEB), provides the legal authority for the payment of a PSEB.  Subparagraph (a)(2) outlines eligibility criteria and states a bonus may only be paid under this section to a person who has not more than 16 years (14 years-1997 and 10 years-1996) and received an honorable discharge at the conclusion of all prior periods of active duty service.

7.  Army Regulation 601-210 (Active and Reserve Components Enlistment Program) prescribes eligibility criteria governing enlistment of persons, with or without PS, into the Regular Army, USAR, and Army National Guard.  Chapter 10 contains guidance on Selected Reserve Incentive Program and paragraph 10-5 contains the eligibility criteria for receiving a PSEB.  The criteria includes the requirement that a member have less than 16 years of total military service and states there will be no exceptions processed for personnel who have 16 or more years of service.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention he should be paid the PSEB authorized in conjunction with his April 2006 enlistment in the USAR has been carefully considered.  However, the evidence is not sufficient to support his claim.

2.  Although there was clearly recruiter error involved in the applicant's enlistment processing as confirmed in the G-1 advisory opinion, it is also clear the applicant is culpable in this matter.  In the PSEB addendum completed during his enlistment processing, the applicant confirmed in section V that he was eligible for the bonus and had less than 16 years of military service.  He also signed the document in section IX confirming he had read and understood each of the statements including the statements in section V confirming he had less than 16 years of military service.

3.  It is true the recruiter should have known the applicant completed more than 16 years of service based on the documents available at the time of enlistment, including the NGB Form 22 referred to by the applicant, and establishes recruiter error as confirmed by the G-1 advisory opinion.  However, it is also just as clear that if the applicant truly read and understood the statements contained in the PSEB addendum as he attested to in section IX of the document, he too was aware he was not eligible for the bonus and falsely attested to the fact he had less than 16 years of military service in section V.

4.  Notwithstanding the clear recruiter error in this case and given the strict statutory constraints regarding PSEB's, considering the applicant's failure to honestly complete the enlistment documents authorizing the bonus which he was responsible to do in spite of the advice he received from recruiting officials, it would not be appropriate or serve the interest of justice to grant the relief requested by the applicant or the alternative relief recommended in the G-1 advisory opinion.

5.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____X___  __X_____  ___X____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.



      ___________X____________
               CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090021042



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090021042



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