IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  17 March 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140012378 


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 records to reflect adjustment of her mandatory removal date (MRD) from 31 January 2014 to 31 July 2014.

2.  The applicant states:

* on 28 January 2014, a representative from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) advised her via a telephone call that her MRD would be changed from 31 July 2014 to 31 January 2014
* subsequent to the phone call, she received a memorandum from HRC, dated 1 February 2014 indicating her MRD was 31 July 2014 due to attainment of maximum age on that date
* HRC then published an order, dated 5 February 2014 assigning her to the Retired Reserve
* the 4-day notice of change to her MRD and immediate reassignment to the Retired Reserve is unfair and unjust and does not meet the intent of the Army's required transition program
* she was not provided adequate time to effectively transition from the military and retain the rank of colonel

3.  The applicant provides:

* Northern Regional Medical Command, office of the Inspector General letter, dated 6 February 2014
* HRC memorandum, dated 1 February 2014
* HRC Orders C-02-401427, dated 5 February 2014
* DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), dated 16 August 2013
* DD Form 214, dated 24 January 2014
* DA Form 67-9 (Officer Evaluation Report) covering the period 10 October 2013 through 24 January 2014
* DA Form 67-9 covering the period 10 October 2012 through 9 October 2013
* DA Form 67-9 covering the period 16 January 2012 through 9 October 2012

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was born on 12 July 1954 and was appointed as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserve on 27 January 1984.  On 
6 January 1989, she was appointed as a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard.  As a medical surgical nurse in the Virginia Army National Guard, she was mobilized in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on numerous occasions beginning in 2005.

2.  On 3 October 2011, the National Guard Bureau granted the Virginia Adjutant General's request for the applicant's retention beyond her MRD of 31 January 2012 (28 years service) until 31 July 2014 (age 60), under the provisions of Title 10, United States Code (USC) section 14703 and National Guard Regulation 635-100 (Personnel Separations - Termination of Appointment and Withdrawal of Federal Recognition).  

3.  HRC Orders A-02-302048, dated 6 February 2013 order the applicant to active duty for operational support for the period of 24 February 2013 through 
24 January 2014.

4.  HRC Orders B-11-308095, dated 27 November 2013 promote the applicant to the rank of colonel with an effective date of 1 November 2013.

5.  U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Belvoir Orders 024-0012, dated 24 January 2014 release the applicant from active duty and transfer her to the Virginia Army National Guard.

6.  On 1 February 2014, the applicant received a memorandum from HRC advising that her MRD based on attaining the maximum age (60) is 31 July 2014 and requesting her election of options for terminating her active status in the U.S. Army Reserve upon her MRD.

7.  A review of the HRC web-based Soldier Management System shows the applicant was released from the Virginia Army National Guard and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) on 4 February 2014.  HRC Orders C-02-401427, dated 5 February 2014 release the applicant from the U.S. Army Control Group (Reinforcement) and assign her to the Retired Reserve effective 4 February 2014, due to her completion of the maximum authorized years of service (30).

8.  Army Regulation 140-10 (Army Reserve – Assignments, Attachments, Details, and Transfers) prescribes policy and procedures for assigning, attaching, removing, and transferring USAR Soldiers.  Chapter 7 (Removal from Active Status) relates to removal of Soldiers from an active status and states that Soldiers removed from an active status will be discharged or, if qualified and if they so request, will be transferred to the Retired Reserve.  Paragraph 7-3 (Maximum Age) further states that field and company-grade officers not sooner removed for another reason will be removed when they reach their maximum age of 60.  The removal date will be the last day of the month in which they reach age 60.

9.  Title 10, USC, section 101(d)(4), states the term "active status" means the status of a member of the Reserve Component who is not in the Inactive Army National Guard, on an Inactive Status List, or in the Retired Reserve.

10.  Title 10, USC, section 14509 (Separation at Age 62:  Reserve Officers in Grades Below Brigadier General (BG) or Rear Admiral (Lower Half)), states that each Reserve officer of the Army in a grade below BG who has not been recommended for promotion to the grade of BG and is not a member of the Retired Reserve shall, on the last day of the month in which that officer becomes 62 years of age, be separated in accordance with section 14515 of this title.

11.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 14507(b), states that each Reserve officer of the Army who holds the grade of colonel on the reserve active-status list [RASL] and who is not on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade shall be removed from the RASL on the first day of the month after the month in which the officer completes 30 years of commissioned service.

12.  Title 10 USC, section 14515 (Discharge or Retirement for Age), states that each Reserve officer of the Army who is in an active status or on an Inactive Status List and who reaches the maximum age specified in section 14509, 14510, 14511, or 14512, of this title for the officer's grade or position, not later than the last day of the month in which the officer reaches that maximum age (unless the officer is sooner separated or the officer's separation is deferred or the officer is continued in an active status under another provision of law), shall:
	a.  be transferred to the Retired Reserve if the officer is qualified for such transfer and does not request (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned) not to be transferred to the Retired Reserve; or

	b.  be discharged from the officer's Reserve appointment if the officer is not qualified for transfer to the Retired Reserve or has requested (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned) not to be so transferred.

13.  Title 10 USC, section 14701 (Selection of Officers for Continuation on the RASL), states a Reserve officer of the Army who is required to be removed from the RASL under section 14507 of this title may, subject to the needs of the service and to section 14509 of this title, be considered for continuation on the RASL under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.

14.  Title 10 USC, section 14703 (Authority to Retain Chaplains and Officers in Medical Specialties until Specified Age), states 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 Services Corps (if the officer has been designated as allied health officer or biomedical sciences officer in that Corps), the Optometry Section of the Medical Services Corps, the Chaplains, the Army Nurse Corps, or the Army Medical Specialists Corps;  An officer may not be retained in active status under this section no later than the date on which the officer becomes 68 years of age.

15.  Title 10 USC, chapter 69 (Retired Grade) section 1370 (d) (Reserve Officers), states unless entitled to a higher grade, or to credit for satisfactory service in a higher grade, under some other provision of law, a person who is entitled to retired pay under chapter 1223 of this title shall, upon application under section 12731 of this title, be credited with satisfactory service in the highest grade in which that person served satisfactorily at any time in the armed forces, as determined by the Secretary concerned in accordance with this subsection.

	  a.  In order to be credited with satisfactory service in an officer grade above major or lieutenant commander, a person covered by [the above] paragraph must have served satisfactorily in that grade (as determined by the Secretary of the military department concerned) as a reserve commissioned officer in an active status, or in a retired status on active duty, for not less than 3 years.

	  b.  A person covered by subparagraph (a) who has completed at least 
6 months of satisfactory service in grade may be credited with satisfactory service in the grade in which serving at the time of transfer or discharge, notwithstanding failure of the person to complete 3 years of service in that grade if that person is transferred from an active status or discharged as a reserve commissioned officer solely due to the requirements of a nondiscretionary provision of law requiring that transfer or discharge due to the person's age or year of service.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's request for correction of her records to reflect adjustment of her MRD from 31 January 2014 to 31 July 2014 was carefully considered and found to have merit.

2.  Title 10 USC, section 14703 allows for the retention in an active status of any reserve officer assigned to the Medical Corps or the Army Nurse Corps until no later than the date on which the officer becomes 68 years of age.

3.  On 3 October 2011, the National Guard Bureau approved the applicant's retention beyond what was at the time her MRD for service of 31 January 2012, which equates to 28 years service as a lieutenant colonel.  Her MRD extension was approved to 31 July 2014, under the above provisions of Title 10 USC, section 14703, extending her MRD to the end of the month in which she turns 60.

4.  On 1 November 2013, the applicant was promoted to the rank of colonel.  In order to retain the highest rank held as a reserve commissioned officer, the applicant must have completed at least 6 months of satisfactory service in that grade while in an active status.

5.  The applicant's premature release from the U.S. Army Control Group (Reinforcement) to the Retired Reserve on 4 February 2014 unnecessarily removed her from an active status, thus negating her ability to attain the requisite 6 months time in grade needed for retention of the rank of colonel upon retirement.

6.  As the National Guard Bureau previously approved the applicant's MRD extension in accordance with all applicable laws to 31 July 2014 and there is no evidence the extension should not have been honored, it is in the interest of justice to correct the applicant's record to reflect her transfer to the Retired Reserve with an effective date of 31 July 2014, the date of her approved MRD extension.


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 amending the effective date of her reassignment to the Retired Reserve from 
4 February 2014 to 31 July 2014.



      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20140012378



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140012378



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