IN THE CASE OF:	   

		BOARD DATE:	  25 March 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130012355 


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:

* correction of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show she completed 33 years and 6 months of service
* service credit of 3 years that she completed but was not credited with
* correction of her mandatory removal date to show 4 April 2015
* reinstatement and selection to attend the War College

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  She was commissioned from the Howard University Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program and served or trained in high visibility assignments including the 82nd Airborne Division, Academy of Health Sciences, Brigade Family Support Officer during Operations Desert Shield/Storm, and multiple other positions within the Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well as U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) units and she supported the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Wounded Warrior Employment and Career Fairs system.

	b.  She served on active duty from 5 June 2007 to 5 June 2008.  Her DD Form 214 reflects 30 years and 6 months of total service (active and inactive). However, she completed 3 more years with the USAR after that.  Her DD Form 214 does not reflect this service.  The U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) refuses to give her credit for 33 years and 6 months that she completed.  She was only credited with 30 years and 6 months.   

	c.  She attended a retirement briefing at Fort Belvoir, VA, and inquired about her additional service.  When her file was reviewed, her records showed her MRD as 4 April 2015.  Nothing was done about this issue and despite her emails and letters to resolve this issue, it remains unresolved.  About 15 years ago, the U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Command (now HRC), St. Louis, MO, requested volunteers from the Medical Service Corps (MSC) to complete extension packets to extend their military service to age 60 due to critical shortages of MSC officers.  She completed the packet that was sent to her house and mailed it back.  The Department of the Army approved her packet and her MRD was changed on her DA Form 2A (Personnel Qualification Record).  

	d.  She was illegally involuntarily transferred to the Retired Reserve and denied the opportunity to serve her country until her MRD of 4 April 2015.  She contends the Board should allow her to complete her service through her MRD.  She also contends she should be put back on active duty to work with the wounded warriors as she was a by-name and by-rank select by a general officer of the National Reconnaissance Office.  She should be given service credit for this time or paid for the time that she should have been allowed to complete her duty either on active duty or in the USAR due to no fault of her own.  

	e.  She has been unemployed since 2012 and her drill pay stopped when she was transferred to the Retired Reserve in 2011.  She has no source of income.  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has also denied her claims in relation to an eye injury she received during Operation Desert Storm.  Now she has to appeal the VA's decision.

	f.  She was denied the right to have a full year allowed to find another reserve unit prior to being removed from the 80th Training Command (The Army School System (TASS)).  The memorandum signed by the Chief of Army Reserve, Titled: Shaping the Force, was not followed by her unit.  The memorandum authorizes all colonels (COL) one year to find a unit.  She was only given 90 days and then her file was transferred to HRC who transferred her to the Retired Reserve without consideration of her MRD.  

	g.  She applied to the Army War College five times but she was not accepted. She completed all the prerequisites but she was told her application arrived one minute too late.  She should have been placed on active duty and allowed to attend the war College.  She even applied to the Navy War College Joint Maritime Operations Course and she was accepted. 

3.  The applicant provides:

* DD Forms 214, ending on 5 June 2008 and 19 September 1991
* Unit Manning Report
* Retired Reserve orders
* Personnel Qualification Record (Commissioned Officer)

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was born on XX April 1955.  She will turn 60 years of age in April 2015. 

2.  Her records show she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree on 14 May 1977 from Howard University.  She was discharged from the USAR (ROTC Standby) on 16 December 1977 to accept appointment as an officer in the USAR.  

3.  She was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer and executed an oath of office on 16 December 1977.  She was 22 years and 8 months of age at the time.  She was relieved from the First ROTC Region (Officer Active Duty (AD) Obligator) on 16 December 1977 and reassigned to the USAR Control Group (Officer AD Obligator) due to a voluntary delay in her education. 

4.  She also attended Howard University from the fall of 1977 to the summer of 1981 under a senior ROTC program and she was awarded a Master of Science degree on 25 July 1981.  She was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the USAR on 15 December 1980 and appointed in the USAR in the rank of 1LT on 16 December 1980.  She was 25 years and 8 months of age on that date. 

5.  She entered active duty on 11 April 1983 and completed the Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course from 12 April to 10 June 1983.  She was released from active duty on 10 June 1983.  Her DD Form 214 shows she completed 2 months and 1 day of active service.

6.  On 9 August 1984, she was reassigned from the USAR Control Group (Annual Training) to a troop program unit (TPU), the 2290th Army Hospital, Rockville, MD.  

7.  She served in a variety of TPU assignments, including the 2290th Army Hospital, Rockville, MD, and the 78th Division, Richmond, VA.  She held area of concentration (AOC) 67A (Health Care Administration). 

8.  She entered active duty on 1 February 1991 and she was honorably released from active duty on 29 September 1991.  Her DD Form 214 shows she completed 7 months and 29 days of active duty during this period and she had 2 months and 1 day of prior active service for a total of 10 months of active service.

9.  On 2 February 2000, the U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Command issued her a Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay at Age 60 (20-year letter).  This letter informed her she had completed the required years of service and would be eligible for retired pay upon application at age 60.  

10.  On 12 October 2001, she was reassigned from the 6th Brigade, 80th Division, Fort Belvoir, VA, to the 80th Division (Institutional Training), Richmond, VA.  On 8 November 2006, she was transferred to the 2290th Hospital, Washington, DC. 

11.  On 6 June 2003, she was awarded AOC 70B (Health Services Administration) with the additional skill identifier of 5K (Instructor).

12.  On 1 November 2006, she was promoted to COL and on 7 June 2007, she entered active duty.  She served as the Officer in Charge/Executive Services Ambassador/Escorts, WRAMC.  She was honorably released from active duty on 5 June 2008.  Her DD Form 214 shows in:

* Item 12c (Net Active Service This Period), 0000-11-29
* Item 12d (Total Prior Active Service), 0000-10-00
* Item 12e (Total Prior Inactive Service), 0028-07-21

13.  On 24 November 2010, she was transferred from the 2290th Hospital, Washington, DC, to the 80th Training Command (TASS), Richmond, VA. 

14.  On 3 June 2011, Headquarters, 99th Regional Support Command, Fort Dix, NJ, published Orders 11-154-00024 releasing her from her current assignment and reassigning her to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement), effective 3 June 2011 by reason of "Involuntary Request Shaping the Force" in accordance with Army Regulation 140-10 (Army Reserve - Assignments, Attachments, Details, and Transfers).

15.  On 6 July 2011, HRC published Orders C-07-109281 releasing her from the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement) and transferring her to the Retired Reserve effective 5 July 2011 by reason of completion of maximum authorized years of service, under the authority of Army Regulation 140-10, paragraph 6-2.

16.  Her Army Reserve Personnel Command Form 249-E (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points) shows she completed 30 years, 6 months, and 20 days of qualifying service toward non-regular retirement. 

17.  An advisory opinion was obtained from HRC on 7 February 2014 in the processing of this case.  An advisory official started:  

	a.  According to Army Regulation 140-10, paragraph 7-2, when a COL reaches 30 years of commissioned service or maximum age, the officer must be removed.  [Applicant] reached her maximum years of service on 16 December 2010.  She was initially appointed on 16 December 1980.  When maximum service is the basis for an MRD, the actual MRD becomes the first day of the following month, or in her case, 1 January 2011.  

	b.  The MRD of 4 April 2015 on her DA Form 2A is incorrect because it shows an MRD based on age, not years of commissioned service.  Again, her actual MRD is 1 January 2011.  The applicant is a Medical Service Corps officer and as such is not authorized an MRD extension.  There are also no records in her file that show she requested an MRD extension, which, if received, would have been immediately disapproved, since she would have been ineligible.

18.  The applicant was provided with a copy of this advisory opinion but she did not respond within the allotted time. 

19.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 14507 (Removal from the Reserve Active Status List (RASL) for Years of Service: Reserve Lieutenant Colonels and COLs of the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and Reserve Commanders and captains of the Navy), states in section 14507(b) (COLs and Navy Captains) -  Unless continued on the RASL under section 14701 or 14702 of this title or retained as provided for in section 12646 or 12686 of this title, each reserve officer of the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps who holds the grade of COL, and each reserve officer of the Navy who holds the grade of captain, and who is not on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade shall (if not earlier removed from the RASL) be removed from that list under section 14514 of this title on the first day of the month after the month in which the officer completes 30 years of commissioned service.  This subsection does not apply to the adjutant general or assistant adjutants general of a State.

20.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 14703 (Authority to Retain Chaplains and Officers in Medical Specialties Until Specified Age) states in section 14703(a) (Retention) notwithstanding any provision of chapter 1407 of this title and except for officers referred to in sections 14530, 14504, 14505, and 14506 of this title and under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army may, with the officer’s consent, retain in an active status any reserve officer assigned to the Medical Corps, the Dental Corps, the Veterinary Corps, the Medical Service Corps (if the officer has been designated as allied health officer or biomedical sciences officer in that Corps), the Optometry Section of the MSC, the Chaplains, the Army Nurse Corps, or the Army Medical Specialist Corps.

21.  Army Regulation 140-10 prescribes policy and procedures for assigning, attaching, removing, and transferring USAR Soldiers.  

	a.  Paragraph 4-5 (Involuntary reassignment of TPU or individual mobilization augmentee officers) states the involuntary reassignment of an officer to the IRR is authorized under any one of the following conditions including reassignment is a result of TPU reduction in officer strength directed by Headquarters, Department of the Army.

	b.  Chapter 6 states assignment to the Retired Reserve is authorized for eligible Soldiers who have completed a total of 20 years of active or inactive service in the U.S. Armed Forces. 

	c.  Chapter 7 covers removal from active status.  Paragraph 7-2 (Removal Rule Number 1) for COLs, remove on the earlier of the following dates, except as shown in (2), below.

		(1) The actual removal date will be 30 days after (a) they complete 30 years of commissioned service if under age 25 at initial appointment; (b) their 55th birthday if age 25 or older at initial appointment.

		(2) The 5th anniversary of appointment to colonel if that date is later than the date shown in (1), above.  If promotion to colonel was delayed as a result of limitations imposed, removal will be computed from the officer’s promotion eligibility date.  Otherwise, removal will be computed from the later of the following dates (a) the effective date of promotion to colonel; or (b) the date of the letter announcing the promotion.

		(3)  Remove officers recommended for promotion by a selection board under the criteria that apply to the higher grade. This applies only if the officer remained in an active status since recommended for promotion.

22.  On 6 May 2010, the Commanding General, USAR Command (USARC) published a memorandum to the USAR Major Subordinate Command, titled: Shaping the Force - Eliminating Senior Grade Overstrength.  The memorandum states: 

	a.  The Army Reserve has exceeded its end strength objective and our massive transformation is nearly complete.  As I have indicated to you before, our current focus is to shape our force to meet future needs as an Operational Army Reserve.  It is time for you (commanders) to make some tough decisions.  We can no longer afford to carry senior grade overstrength Soldiers on our rosters as they block promotion opportunities and inhibit our ability to fill lower-grade vacancies.  Overstrength Soldiers come in many ranks and categories, but I want to focus on senior non-commissioned officers and officers who are not assigned to a valid position for which they are qualified.  During the period of transformation, we authorized commanders to retain these overstrength Soldiers for up to 1 year.  In most cases, we are well past the 1-year transformation window; therefore, I need you to take immediate action to correct E8/E9 and O5/O6 overstrength conditions in your units. 

	b.  The USARC G-1 will be contacting your G-1 and Directors of Human Resources to ensure that we share a common understanding of which Soldiers require action.  The best options are voluntary measures, such as reassignment to a valid vacancy -- by themselves, not double-slotted -- in another Troop Program Unit (TPU) for which the Soldier is qualified; military occupational specialty/Area of Concentration (AOC) reclassification; reassignment to an Individual Mobilization Augmentee vacancy; transfer to the Retired Reserve or Individual Ready Reserve (IRR); or discharge.  However, if overstrength senior grade Soldiers choose not to volunteer for such assignments/actions, commanders must exercise one of the following available options: involuntarily reassign the Soldier to a valid vacancy within a TPU for which the Soldier is qualified that is within the normal commuting distance; involuntarily reclassify the Soldier to another MOS/AOC for which the Soldier is qualified; or involuntarily reassign them to the IRR.  I have instructed the USARC G1 to track our progress in this action and provide assistance as necessary.  My intent is that commanders will have shaped their forces such that we have eliminated unauthorized senior grade overstrength conditions by 1 September 2010. 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends: 

* her DD Form 214 should be corrected to show she completed 33 years and 6 months of service
* she should receive service credit of 3 years that she completed but was not credited with
* her MRD should be corrected to show 4 April 2015
* she should be reinstated and selected to attend the War College

2.  With respect to the DD Form 214:

	a.  The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty.  It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge.  She served on active duty from 7 June 2007 to 5 June 2008.  She completed 11 months and 29 days of active service and she was issued a DD Form 214 that captured this period of active duty service.  It also credited her with 10 months of prior active service.

	b.  Aside from her active service from11 April 1983 to 10 June 1983, 1 February 1991 to 29 September 1991, and 7 June 2007 to 5 June 2008, for which a DD Form 214 was issued for each period of active service, there is no evidence she performed any other period of active duty of at least 90 consecutive days that would have qualified her for the issuance of any additional DD Forms 214.  Her service in the USAR after her release from active duty would not have been listed on her DD Form 214 because none of it occurred during her active duty service.

3.  With respect to the transfer to the IRR:

	a.  Shaping the Army Reserve Force is building the right force to meet the challenges of the future; the needs of the Army and the nation; and the needs of our Soldiers, their families and their employers.  It is a focused strategy of proper balance and force sustainment.  During the last three years, Soldiers of the Army Reserve have worked hard to grow the Army Reserve end strength. 

	b.  In 2010, the Army Reserve leveraged human capital management strategies to shape the force into an affordable and effective force capable of supporting national security objectives and the combatant commanders' war-fighting needs.  This strategy was designed to meet future military needs by ensuring the right people with the right skills are in the right units at the right time. 

	c.  As a result of shaping the force, senior noncommissioned and commissioned officers, who were in overstrength positions, were transferred to another TPU, the IRR, or the Retired Reserve.  The applicant was in this situation.  That is why she was transferred.

4.  With respect to the additional service credit of 3 years that she contends she completed but was not credited with:

	a.  If the applicant is contending her ARPC Form 249-E is not updated and does not reflect all her retirement points, particularly her service from the date she was released from active duty to the date she was transferred to the Retired Reserve, her request to this Board is premature.  
	b.  Paragraph 2-5, Section II, Army Regulation 15-185, the regulation under which this Board operates, states that the Board will not consider any application if it determines that a member has not exhausted all administrative remedies available to him/her.  The applicant is advised that she should submit her request with supporting evidence to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY for a review and/or correction of this form. 

5.  With respect to her MRD:

	a.  The applicant was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer at the age of 25 years and 8 months on 16 December 1980.  Since she had no break in service and she held the rank of COL, she was transferred to the Retired Reserve at the 30-year mark.  

	b.  She was transferred to the Retired Reserve on 5 July 2011 due to maximum years of service (albeit 6 months late).  She served for 30 years in the USAR, which is the maximum allowable time for officers in the rank of COL.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 14703 authorizes extensions beyond a Soldier's MRD; however, MRD extensions are not granted to Medical Service Corps officers who have not been designated as allied health officers or biomedical sciences officers or are not in the Optometry Section.

	c.  Her contention that she was granted an extension to April 2015 is without merit.  She produces no evidence that the Secretary has authorized her extension beyond MRD.  An administrative entry on a Personnel Qualification Record does not translate to a firm approval of extension beyond MRD.  

6.  With respect to the War College, the applicant applied to but was not selected for the War College.  The board process used for Professional Development Education (PDE) Senior Service College is closely related to that for a promotion board. Board members review all applicants' board consideration files and recommends officers for PDE opportunities.  Board members do not provide feedback on how or why a particular officer is recommended or not recommended.  There is no special selection board, by law or regulation, to reconsider a member for PDE.  

7.  The applicant's civilian employment challenges as well as her service to the Army and the nation are not in question.  However, the fact that an administrative error had occurred and provided her with the erroneous assumption of continuation does not change the fact that, by law, colonel must have a removal date of 30 days after they complete 30 years of commissioned service.  

8.  Based on the foregoing evidence, regretfully, she is not entitled to the 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)                                         AR20130012355





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130012355



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