BOARD DATE:	  22 January 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120017552 


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 enlistment bonus in the amount of $15,000.00.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 6 June 2007 at Hanau, Germany.  At the time of enlistment, he was informed he was eligible for a prior service enlistment bonus (PSEB).  If he enlisted for 6 years, he would receive a bonus of $15,000.00 upon completion of his military occupational specialty (MOS) 88N (Transportation Management Coordinator) training.

	b.  Although he fulfilled the terms of the enlistment contract, he has been denied the bonus as an exception to policy.  After he completed the 88N course, he turned in paperwork to receive the bonus and it was denied.  He submitted a request for payment of the bonus as an exception to policy and it was denied.  Prior to requesting payment of the bonus as an exception to policy, he was mobilized in April 2008 and deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to June 2009.  After his deployment, he was transferred to the Wounded Warrior Unit and received treatment for a back injury that resulted in surgery in June 2010.  He has continued to receive treatment for multiple physical and behavioral health conditions.  He believes his post-deployment medical situation is a sufficient reason for the delay in his request.


	c.  At the time of enlistment, he had 14 years of service and was qualified and eligible to receive the bonus as promised.  He disputes he had 16 years of service at the time of enlistment.  He enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) in June 1978 and served on active duty until June 1992 (this service equals 14 years).  It is unfair and an injustice for his time in the inactive Reserves to be counted as service for the purpose of bonus eligibility.

3.  The applicant provides a bonus addendum, a statement of support, and two DA Forms 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report). 

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant's records show he enlisted in the RA in the delayed entry program (DEP) on 3 October 1977 and he entered active duty on 8 June 1978.  He held MOS 16D (Hawk Missile Crewmember).  He reenlisted and/or extended his enlistment on several occasions and continually served on active duty.

3.  He was honorably discharged on 30 June 1992 under the special separation benefit, and he enlisted in the USAR.  The DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) he was issued for this period of service shows he completed 14 years and 23 days of net active service and had 8 months and 5 days of inactive service in the DEP.

4.  His records contain a DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document), dated 1 July 1992, that shows he enlisted in the USAR, Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) for a period of 3 years.  

5.  On 6 June 2007, he enlisted in the USAR.  On that date, he signed an enlisted bonus addendum under the Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP).  This addendum stated he had less than 16 years of prior military service, he was enlisting for 6 years, a bonus in the amount of $15,000.00, and that he must serve the entire period in a USAR Selected Reserve troop program unit.  The initial payment of 50 percent would be paid upon award of the MOS 88N, and 25 percent would be paid at the end of his 2nd and 4th year of satisfactory service.  

6.  At the time of his enlistment in the USAR on 6 June 2007, he had a total of 14 years and 23 days of active service and he had 3 years, 8 months, and 5 days of inactive service which was a total of 17 years, 8 months, and 28 days of total military service.

7.  He attended and successfully completed the Unit Movement Officer Course from 10 to 14 March 2008 at the Combined Arms Training Center, Germany.  He attended and successfully completed the 88N Transportation Management Course from 20 to 30 April 2008 at the U.S. Army Combat Support Training Center, Fort Hunter Liggett, CA.  He was subsequently awarded MOS 88N.

8.  The applicant provides a statement of support, dated 20 May 2008, wherein a chief master sergeant, U.S. Air Force, stated he had known the applicant for 15 years and was present at his enlistment on 6 June 2007.  At that time, he was told the applicant would receive his enlistment bonus of $15,000.00 once he finished his MOS training.

9.  He was ordered to active duty as a member of his USAR unit in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and he entered active duty on 10 May 2008.  He served in Iraq from 13 June 2008 to 17 April 2009.

10.  He was honorably released from active duty on 14 May 2009 by reason of completion of required active service and he was assigned to his USAR unit.  He completed 1 year and 5 days of net active service during this period of service. He is currently assigned to Company A, Warrior Transition Unit, Germany.

11.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion, dated 22 October 2012, was received from the Chief, Incentives and Budget Branch, Enlisted Accessions Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1.  The advisory official recommended approval of the applicant's request for payment of a $15,000.00 enlistment bonus.  The official stated:

	a.  The statute and policies in Army Regulation 601-201 (Active and Reserve Components Enlistment Program) and Department of Defense Instruction 1205.21 (Reserve Component Incentive Programs Procedures), dated September 1999, governing the PSEB were changed in March 2006 to permit payment of the PSEB to applicants with less that 16 years of "total military service."  The previous statute was 14 years of total prior service. The applicant was not eligible for the bonus even with the revised statute.  

	b.  However, the applicant should be granted relief.  The case is clearly an error in counseling by recruiting officials.  Based on recruiter error and restrictions regarding the PSEB, this office supports an alternative course of action by awarding the applicant a reenlistment bonus in the same amount [$15,000.00], based on the applicant's service.  MOS 88N was on the 2007 SRIP list for a reenlistment bonus.

12.  In a response to the advisory opinion received on 4 December 2012, the applicant stated he concurred with advisory opinion.  The errors in counseling by recruiting officials resulted in confusion and ambiguity.  He believes he has satisfied the requirements for the PSEB.

13.  Army Regulation 601-201, paragraph 10-16, states in pertinent part, applicants are eligible for the SRIP PSEB if they had less then 16 years of total military service.  Total military service includes inactive time in the IRR.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he should be paid the $15,000.00 bonus he was promised in his enlistment contract on 6 June 2007.

2.  The evidence of record confirms the applicant enlisted on 6 June 2007 in the USAR for 6 years, in MOS 88N, for a PSEB of $15,000.00.  As specified in his enlistment contract, he was not MOS qualified at the time of enlistment and he fulfilled his contractual agreement by completing the training for MOS 88N within 24 months.  Unfortunately, after he qualified for the MOS, and after he served on active duty in Iraq in support of OIF, he was told his enlistment bonus was not authorized as records show he had over 16 years of total military service at the time of his enlistment in June 2007.

3.  It is evident an error was committed in the processing of his enlistment contract by the recruiting officials.  The applicant had just over 14 years of active duty in the RA; however, he also had an additional 3 years, 8 months, and 28 days of USAR service in the DEP and IRR.  

4.  But regardless of the additional time he served in the USAR, this was not the fault of the applicant.  He acted in good faith and fulfilled all the requirements of his contract.  In addition, the MOS 88N that he enlisted for, and served in, was on the 2007 SRIP list for a reenlistment bonus.  
5.  The advisory official also recommended the applicant be granted relief by awarding the applicant a $15,000.00 reenlistment bonus based on the applicant's service (in MOS 88N) and stated there was clearly an error by recruiting officials.  

6.  Therefore, he should not be penalized for an error committed by USAR recruiting officials and he should be entitled to receive payment of a $15,000.00 reenlistment bonus.

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 and U.S. Army Reserve records of the individual concerned be corrected to:

* show he enlisted in the USAR for MOS 88N and qualified for a $15,000,00 reenlistment bonus 
* pay him the reenlistment bonus as specified in his corrected enlistment contract



      _______ _   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)                                         AR20120017552



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120017552



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