BOARD DATE: 27 November 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120011900
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 the second half of his Critical Skills Retention Bonus (CSRB).
2. The applicant states he accepted an appointment in the Tennessee Army National Guard (TNARNG) with the incentive of a CSRB. He goes on to state the first half of his bonus was paid; however, when the second half of his bonus came due, it was denied because the certifying signatures were missing from the bonus addendum. He continues by stating the mistakes were corrected and the signatures were affixed; however, when he requested an exception to policy to be paid because he had fulfilled his obligation, his request was denied by the National Guard Bureau (NGB).
3. The applicant provides a copy of his exception to policy request, and copies of his bank statement and leave and earnings statement showing the first half of his bonus had been paid and deposited.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant was commissioned as a U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) infantry second lieutenant upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY on 27 May 2000. He continued to serve on active duty, he was promoted to the rank of captain on 1 October 2003, and he was deployed to Iraq from 20040310 - 20050318.
2. On 27 May 2005, he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) due to miscellaneous/general reasons. He served 5 years and 22 days of creditable active service and was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement).
3. On 15 September 2005, he accepted an appointment in the TNARNG and he entered into an affiliation bonus agreement at the time. The applicant signed the addendum; however, the certifying officer did not.
4. On 2 February 2009, he signed an agreement for a CSRB in the amount of $20,000.00; however, the addendum was not signed by the certifying officer or a witness. The addendum/agreement is not posted to his Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR), formerly known as the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).
5. He deployed to Iraq from 14 February 2010 - 12 July 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
6. On 2 August 2011, he was promoted to the rank of major.
7. On 27 February 2012, the NGB denied the applicants request for payment of the second half of his CSRB because neither the service representative nor the witness signed the 2 February 2009 agreement. Officials at the NGB directed the State Incentive Manager terminate the incentive without recoupment and advised the applicant to apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records if he believes an error or injustice still exists.
8. A memorandum from the applicants TNARNG unit indicates the State Incentive Office provided a bonus control number (BCN) for the applicants CSRB agreement and the agreement was entered into the Information Management and Reporting Center (iMARC.) Additionally, the applicant received the first half of his bonus ($10,000.00) without issue which should serve to verify that the incentive was offered and accepted in good faith.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Although the CSRB agreement is not present in the available records, the fact that he received the first half of his bonus and the fact that a BCN was issued is indicative that an agreement was made and was considered to be valid.
2. While the available evidence indicates the agreement was not signed by the appropriate authority or a witness, it was signed by the applicant and there is no
evidence to suggest that the agreement was not entered into in good faith, especially since the applicant has fulfilled the conditions of the agreement.
3. Furthermore, the available evidence suggests the applicant met the eligibility requirements to receive payment of the CSRB and he should not be penalized for the administrative errors committed by the ARNG staff.
4. Accordingly, his CSRB agreement should be corrected to show the original agreement was appropriately signed and witnessed and that the applicant is entitled to receive the remainder of his CSRB benefits.
BOARD VOTE:
__x___ __x______ ____x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
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:
a. showing his CSRB written agreement was properly signed by the Service Representative and witnessed by a witnessing officer;
b. showing the agreement was timely received and processed by the appropriate office; and
c. paying him, out of National Guard funds, the remainder of his CSRB bonus incentive.
__________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.
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