IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 11 October 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120005761
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, in effect, payment of an officer accession bonus (OAB) for his appointment as a second lieutenant (2LT) in the California Army National Guard (CAARNG).
2. The applicant states:
a. His records should be corrected to show that an OAB Addendum was processed for him with a valid bonus control number (BCN) upon his appointment as a 2LT in the CAARNG. Due to circumstances of an enlistment by a temporary recruiter, poor administrative functions in the CAARNG Incentives Task Force Office between 2009 and 2010, and the timing of a corruption scandal in that office, he was never properly set-up administratively to receive the OAB he was offered as an incentive for commissioning with a 6-year commitment.
b. The month after he completed the Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) he was due to receive the bonus under the old, poorly managed process. The incentives program corruption scandal broke and the process was put on hold for the period of the investigation. Later it was bureaucratically restructured, causing him to slip "between the cracks."
c. He signed up with the CAARNG for a 6-year obligation with the intent to eventually retire. He received no other bonuses or student loan reimbursements during his decade of prior enlisted active duty service. He was told by his recruiter that he was eligible for the OAB in accordance with the criteria published in the enlistment brochures and magazines.
3. The applicant provides:
* four orders
* two memoranda
* DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report)
* DA Form 67-9 (Officer Evaluation Report)
* an email
* a certificate
* eight pages titled "Bee exclusive: Massive fraud at California Guard, officials allege"
* three pages titled "Special pay: affiliation bonus for officers in the Selected Reserve"
* one page titled "CNG [California National Guard] auditing 10 years of Army incentives"
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Having had prior enlisted active duty service, the applicant was appointed as a 2LT Reserve commissioned officer in the CAARNG. He executed a National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 337 (Oaths of Office) on 15 August 2009.
2. His records do not contain an OAB Addendum.
3. On 30 September 2009, the NGB published Special Orders Number 241 AR extending the applicant Federal recognition for his initial appointment as a 2LT engineer (EN) officer with an effective date of 15 August 2009.
4. He attended and successfully completed the EN BOLC from 25 May to 24 September 2010 at Fort Leonard Wood, MO.
5. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on 15 February 2011.
6. The applicant provides an email, dated 27 February 2012, wherein an official with the CAARNG Incentives Team stated, "They reviewed his inquiry pertaining to his request for an OAB and found he did not complete an OAB Addendum at the time of his commission, nor was a BCN requested at that time." In addition, an exception to policy for a manual control number was denied by the NGB on 15 November 2010; therefore, he was not eligible for an OAB manual control number.
7. ARNG Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) guidance for Fiscal Year 2009, stated, in pertinent part, retroactive entitlement to an incentive offered under this policy is not authorized. To qualify for an OAB the officer must sign the OAB addendum on the date they accept their commission as a 2LT or appointment as a warrant officer.
8. National Guard Regulation 600-7 (SRIP), paragraph 2-5, provides that enlistment bonus contracts are valid only with BCNs which will be issued from the State Incentive Management Office and reported to the NGB on a monthly basis. The State Incentive Manager will verify accession packets as prescribed by State policy for BCNs, accuracy of the enlistment contract, bonus addendum, critical skill, bonus unit eligibility, valid position vacancy, and required educational level.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The evidence of record confirms that an OAB Addendum was not executed for the applicant on 15 August 2009 for an OAB, nor was there a request for a BCN at the time of his commissioning. Notwithstanding his sincerity that he was told he met the criteria for an OAB, there is no evidence that he signed the required OAB Addendum on the date he was appointed, or that a BCN was requested and obtained. Retroactive entitlement to an incentive is not authorized. Therefore, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20120005761
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120005761
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