IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  15 March 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110024571 


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 an officer accession bonus (OAB) in the amount of $10,000.

2.  He states he was commissioned on 2 May 2008 and completed the OAB agreement on that date.  Upon completion of the Officer Basic Course (OBC)/Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) Course (30 November 2008-5 August 2010) he returned to Oklahoma and found his OAB did not have a bonus control number.  The state had gone through a process where several officers had not been given a bonus control number.  A packet was submitted from the Adjutant General to the National Guard Bureau (NGB) to reinstate his bonus.  A clerk printed his bonus from the interactive Personnel Electronic Records Management System (iPERMS) and put the incorrect date on it.  

3.  He provides:

* NGB Special Orders 238
* his DA Form 71 (Oath of Office)
* his NGB 337 (Oaths of Office)
* Oklahoma Army National Guard (OKARNG) Joint Force Headquarters Orders 130-022
* his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for the period 9 June through 30 September 2008
* OKARNG Joint Force Headquarters Orders 275-027
* his DD Form 214 as corrected by a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) for the period 23 November 2008 through 6 August 2010
* his DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report) for IERW/Utility Helicopter (UH)-60 Track during the period 30 November 2008 through 5 August 2010
* OKARNG Joint Force Headquarters memorandum, subject:  Request for Exception to Policy on Information Management and Reporting Center (iMARC) Bonus Control Number (Applicant)
* OKARNG Joint Force Headquarters memorandum, subject:  Correction of Military Records for the Applicant
* OKARNG Joint Force Headquarters memorandum, subject:  Reinstatement of Bonus (Applicant)
* a Manual Control Number Request
* his Written Agreement, Officer Accession Bonus (OAB) Addendum

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  His military records show he enlisted in the ARNG on 30 August 2006.  On 2 May 2008, he was appointed a Reserve Commissioned Officer of the U.S. Army in the rank of second lieutenant.  

2.  He completed a Written Agreement, OAB Addendum, which reflected in connection with his appointment as an officer an agreement to serve with the ARNG of the United States under the Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP), he acknowledged that:

   a.  He agreed to serve in a critical officer skill that was designated for bonus entitlement by the Chief, ARNG.
   
   b.  He further agreed to accomplish the necessary training prescribed to achieve the designated skill within 36 months of appointment.
   
   c.  He agreed to serve in the Selected Reserve for the full period of 6 years.  He acknowledged he would receive a bonus of $10,000 paid in two 50 percent installments.  The first 50 percent (%) installment would be payable upon successful completion of OBC and the second and final 50% installment would be payable on the third anniversary of his commission/appointment date.
   
   d.  He acknowledged he must accept a commission or appointment as an officer, satisfactorily complete the service obligation incurred under the agreement, and complete OBC within 36 months of the date of appointment to 
receive the entire bonus amount.  This document was authenticated with his signature and a witness' signature.  This document does not contain a date.
   
3.  A DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report) shows he completed the IERW/UH-60 Track (OBC) on 5 August 2010.  Item 5 (Specialty/MOSC [Military Occupational Specialty Code]) of the form shows the entry "15A" (Aviation).

4.  A Manual Control Number Request shows that on 18 August 2010 the incentive manager requested a manual control number for the applicant with a contract effective date of 2 May 2008.

5.  On 27 October 2010, the OKARNG Adjutant General requested an exception to policy for an iMARC bonus control number not issued.  He stated:

	a.  Upon return from the Basic Officer Leadership Course III, the OKARNG Incentive Manager identified that on 2 May 2008 the applicant signed a $10,000 50/50 OAB Agreement.

	b.  Officer recruiting did not request a bonus control number through iMARC.

	c.  The OKARNG requested the applicant's record be updated in iMARC and a bonus control number be issued for $10,000. 

6.  On 4 November 2010, Joint Force Headquarters, OK National Guard, Oklahoma City, OK, issued a memorandum awarding him primary area of concentration (AOC) 15A.  The memorandum shows the AOC was previously awarded on 5 August 2010.

7.  His record includes Officer Evaluation Reports for periods ending 20 December 2010 and 30 December 2011, which show his designated specialty as 15A.

8.  In an OKARNG Joint Force Headquarters memorandum, subject:  Correction of Military Records for the Applicant, dated 11 March 2011, addressed to the Board, the OKARNG Director of Personnel requested the applicant be paid the OAB as stated in his contract.  He stated the applicant's agreement was found and was dated wrong by an administrative clerk which caused it to be denied by the NGB and is evidentially being used as an example.  This was no fault of the applicant and it should not be held against him.  In August of 2010 it was discovered the applicant had not received a bonus control number.  His OAB agreement was found; however, it was not dated and only had his signature.  This agreement was found in his officer recruiting packet.  When the applicant filed for his bonus payment following completion of flight school it was determined the administrative date had been rejected by NGB because it was wrongly dated for the date he was promoted to first lieutenant.
9.  During the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Personnel Policy Division, NGB.  The NGB official recommended approval of the applicant's request for payment of a $10,000 OAB and for immediate payment of the full amount of the OAB.  The official stated the applicant became a member of the OKARNG on 2 May 2008 with the understanding he was eligible for the OAB.  The applicant signed an OAB Addendum which was erroneously not dated by the OKARNG administrative clerk. The contract states in part, "the Soldier would receive a bonus of $10,000 in two 50 percent installments."  The first installment would be paid upon successful completion of OBC, which would have been 5 August 2010.  The second was to be paid on the third-year anniversary of the Soldier's date of commission, which would have been on 2 May 2011.  The NGB official further stated:

	a.  A memorandum from the OKARNG, dated 13 March 2011, states the applicant was eligible to receive the bonus; however, a bonus control number was never requested prior to the 30 September 2010 deadline.

	b.  The state concurs with this recommended course of action.

10.  The NGB provided the Critical Officer AOC List effective when the applicant was appointed.  The list shows AOC 15A.  (Note:  The list shows it was effective from 10 August 2007 to 31 March 2008.  However, on 27 March 2008, by memorandum, the NGB extended the applicable policy guidance to 31 May 2008.)

11.  The advisory opinion was forwarded to the applicant for information and to allow him the opportunity to submit comments or a rebuttal.  He concurred with the favorable recommendation from the advisory opinion.

12.  Title 37, U.S. Code, section 308j(b), states the Secretary concerned may pay an accession bonus under this section to an eligible person who enters into an agreement with the Secretary to (A) accept an appointment as an officer in the armed forces, and (B) to serve in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve in a skill designated under paragraph (2) for a period specified in the agreement.  Paragraph (2)(A) states the Secretary concerned shall designate for an armed force under the Secretary’s jurisdiction the officer skills to which the authority under this subsection is to be applied.  Paragraph (2)(B) states a skill may be designated for an armed force under subparagraph (A) if, to mitigate a current or projected significant shortage of personnel in that armed force who are qualified in that skill, it is critical to increase the number of persons accessed into that armed force who are qualified in that skill or are to be trained in that skill.  Paragraph (B) states an accession bonus payable to a person pursuant to an agreement under this section accrues on the date on which that agreement is accepted by the Secretary concerned.  

13.  Army Regulation 135-7 (Incentive Programs) prescribes policies and procedures for the administration of the ARNG and USAR incentive programs.  The SRIP incentive is offered to newly-accessed officers who met eligibility criteria and accessed into an officer specialty listed in the SRIP, for the period in which commissioned.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was appointed a Reserve Commissioned Officer on 2 May 2008.  He signed a Written Agreement, OAB Addendum acknowledging he  would receive 50% of a $10,000 OAB upon completion of OBC, which he completed on  5 August 2010, and 50% on the third anniversary of his commission/appointment date, which was 2 May 2011.  The record shows the applicant was trained in and awarded a bonus-eligible AOC, has continued to serve in that AOC, and, to date, has otherwise complied with the terms of his contract.

2.  The OKARNG Adjutant General, Director of Personnel, and Officer Branch Chief stated an administrative error had been made in processing the applicant's OAB.  The NGB advisory official stated an administrative error had been made in processing the applicant's OAB, the applicant was eligible for the OAB, and recommended immediate payment of the full amount of the $10,000 OAB.

3.  He should not be penalized for the administrative errors committed by his unit and the State Incentive Office.  Had his paperwork been dated and submitted in a timely manner his bonus control number would have been assigned. 

4.  Therefore, in the interest of justice, a valid bonus control number should be assigned and the applicant paid his OAB in accordance with his Written Agreement, OAB Addendum. 

BOARD VOTE:

____X___  ____X____  ___X_____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

Board determined the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all State ARNG and Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

* showing he was assigned a valid bonus control number for an OAB in the amount of $10,000.00
* showing he is eligible for payment of the bonus in accordance with the terms of his Written Agreement, OAB Addendum
* paying him, out of ARNG funds, the bonus as specified in his Written Agreement, OAB Addendum 



      _______ _   __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)                                         AR20110024571



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110024571



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