IN THE CASE OF

		BOARD DATE:	    24 April 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130012848 


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 that recoupment action be stopped and that he be paid his last installment of the Officer Accession Bonus (OAB).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was given an OAB through the Colorado Army National Guard (COARNG) following his commission in 2008.  He requested his bonus roughly 7 months after his commissioning date and received his first installment.  However, he is now being informed that he will not receive his last installment and that his first payment will be recouped because there were administrative errors in his original paperwork.  He believes he should be entitled to his bonus because the errors made were through no fault of his own and were made by persons who were supposed to know what was required.

3.  The applicant provides a list of enclosures on the signature page of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in the COARNG on 24 May 2008.  He completed his training and subsequently received a $5,000 OAB payment.  He deployed to Iraq during the period 20100317 – 20110314.

2.  In 2012, when it came time for his second installment to be paid, he was denied payment because there was no OAB Addendum on file.  There was a bonus control number on file but no signed addendum.  Accordingly, he submitted a request for an exception to policy to stop recoupment and to be paid his second installment.  His chain of command supported his request and forwarded it to the National Guard Bureau (NGB).

3.  On 1 May 2013, the NGB denied his request and directed recoupment of the first OAB payment because his addendum was signed after his commissioning; therefore, the addendum he signed was obsolete and signatures were missing.

4.  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 paragraph (2)(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 (2)(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.

5.  National Guard Regulation 600-7 (Selected Reserve Incentive Programs), paragraph 2-5, provides that bonus contracts are valid only with bonus control numbers which will be issued from the State Incentive Management Office to Military Entrance Processing Station counselors and reported to NGB on a monthly basis.  The State Incentive Manager will verify accession packets as prescribed by State policy for bonus control numbers, accuracy of enlistment contract and bonus addendum, critical skill and bonus unit eligibility, valid position vacancy, and required educational level.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no doubt the applicant entered into an agreement for payment of an OAB.  However, the agreement was determined to be invalid 3 years after the fact because it appears that his agreement had administrative errors and was not signed by the service representative and a witnessing officer.

2.  The applicant attests that he was informed he would be paid a $10,000.00 OAB in return for his agreement to fulfill a 6-year commitment in the ARNG and by successfully completing the required training within 3 years of his appointment/commissioning date.

3.  On 24 May 2008, the applicant was commissioned as a second lieutenant (2LT); he completed his infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course and he was paid $5,000.00 of his OAB in 2009.  However, he was not paid the second $5,000.00 OAB installment because of the administrative irregularities discovered in his agreement.

4.  Officials of both the COARNG and NGB affirm the applicant's contention and acknowledge this error occurred as a result of an administrative oversight on the part of the COARNG Incentive Officer and was due to no fault of the applicant.

5.  The COARNG supported the applicant's request for an ETP and authorization for the remaining payment of the OAB which was subsequently denied by NGB based upon the fact that the agreement was not signed by the service representative and a witnessing officer.  

6.  The evidence shows the applicant fulfilled the requirements to qualify for payment of the bonus, did absolutely nothing wrong, and upheld his end of the bargain.  Therefore, it would serve the interest of equity and justice to pay him the remainder of his OAB.  It simply does not make sense to hold the applicant at fault for the administrative errors made in completing the addendum as a newly-commissioned 2LT when more experienced officers who were responsible for officer accessions failed to ensure the Written Agreement – OAB Addendum was properly completed.  This is especially true since he was paid his initial installment and the COARNG waited 3 years to inform him that his contract was not valid for administrative reasons.  If it took the COARNG 3 years to discover that his contract/addendum was administratively flawed, it is not reasonable that a newly-commissioned 2LT would know what the procedures were on the date he was commissioned.

7.  In short, to date the applicant has been penalized for relying on those officials responsible for recruiting officers.  It is not appropriate for the applicant to suffer for the mistakes of more senior officials who were responsible for ensuring that all State Army National Guard and paperwork was done in a proper manner

8.  Accordingly, in the interest of justice and equity, the applicant should be paid his remaining OAB installment and recoupment actions be stopped.




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 State Army National Guard and Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  showing all parties concerned properly executed and signed a properly-prepared Written Agreement – OAB Addendum on the date of his appointment/commissioning and that he is therefore fully entitled to payment of the bonus in accordance with the terms of his Written Agreement – OAB Addendum; and

   b.  stopping recoupment actions and paying him the remaining $5,000.00 installment for the total amount of the $10,000.00 bonus, less applicable deductions, out of ARNG funds as a result of this correction.
 




      _______ _ 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)                                         AR20130012848



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130012848



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