IN THE CASE OF:  	  

		BOARD DATE:  8 October 2014	  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140015482 


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 his military records to show he is authorized to retain his $10,000.00 Enlisted Affiliation Bonus (EAB).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is requesting correction of his Army National Guard (ARNG) contract to restore some lost days during his initial period of service.  These lost days have caused the EAB he was supposed to receive to be voided.  He was never informed of the issue or how to correct the problem until after he was to receive the second half of his payment.  In addition to not receiving the payment, the ARNG is planning to initiate a partial recoupment of the first half of his bonus.  He notes that when he entered the Louisiana ARNG (LAARNG), he was unfamiliar with how the ARNG operated.  He was unaware that he had to find a unit in Texas on his own.  He did not know he could be moved into the Inactive National Guard (ING) because he failed to make up drills.  When he submitted his original transfer and, throughout the entire transfer process, he attempted to maintain contact with both his unit and with the LAARNG.  

3.  When he spoke with his Louisiana unit in October 2009, they told him he was absent without leave (AWOL).  They did not tell him that he should be making up the missed drills.  They told him that they forgot he was transferring and that they would correct it.  When on active duty you do not pick your unit when you are transferred.  The Regular Army cuts the orders and you go to your new unit.  Due to his unfamiliarity with the ARNG and because no one told him any different he believed the ARNG worked the same way.  Once he found out it was his responsibility to find a unit he immediately took action to do so.  He corrected the drill issue in April 2010 but was never told that he needed to extend to make-up the "lost days" in order to remain eligible for his EAB.  

4.  It was two weeks after he had fixed the problem that the LAARNG notified him they had moved him into the ING.  On the day he was transferred to the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) he extended for a little over a year in order to deploy with his new unit.  At the time, he was unaware that he needed to extend to remain eligible for his EAB.  Unfortunately, this extension was not done within the required time frame; a time frame he was never told about.  Also, while deployed to Ethiopia in 2012 he extended his enlistment for 6 additional years, to April 2019.  He was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.  As of right now he has over 10 years of service and plans to serve for over 20.  He would have gladly extended his enlistment for a mere twelve days to receive his remaining $5,000.  He was never given that opportunity.  Once he became aware, his appeals to correct the issue were denied.

5.  The applicant provides copies of:

* A DD Form 4/1 and 4/2 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document - Armed Forces of the United States) dated 26 February 2009
* Orders 110-1127, Joint Forces Headquarters, Louisiana, dated 20 April 2010
* A DA Form 4836 (Oath of Extension of Enlistment or Reenlistment) dated   20 January 2011
* Orders 026-022, Joint Forces Headquarters, Louisiana, dated 26 January 2011
* A DA Form 4836, dated 26 May 2012
* A Memorandum, National Guard Bureau (NGB), subject: Request for Exception to Policy (ETP) for EAB, dated 1 May 2013

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.  A DD Form 4/1, dated 26 February 2009, shows the applicant enlisted in the ARNG for 3 years beginning in the rank of sergeant, pay grade E-5.

3.  A DD Form 4/2, dated 26 February 2009, shows the applicant enlisted in the LAARNG for 3 years.

4.  The applicant's NGB Form 600-7-4-R-E (Annex B to DD Form 4, Enlisted Affiliation Bonus Addendum) states in Section VI - Termination with Recoupment, that becoming an unsatisfactory participant by accumulating 9 unexcused absences within a 12-month period or failing to extend his enlistment for time served in the ING within 30 days after returning to his unit is cause for termination of his affiliation bonus, with recoupment.

5.  On an unknown date, the applicant was transferred to the ING.  Joint Forces Headquarters – Louisiana Orders 110-1127, dated 20 April 2010, relieved him from the ING and transferred him to his LAARNG unit. 

6.  A DA Form 4836, dated 20 January 2011, shows the applicant extended his enlistment in the TXARNG for a period of 1 year, giving him a new expiration of his term of service (ETS) of 30 April 2013.

7.  Orders 026-022, dated 26 January 2011, announced the applicant's release from the LAARNG and transfer to the TXARNG, effective 18 January 2011.

8.  A DA Form 4836, dated 18 February 2012, shows the applicant extended his enlistment in the TXARNG for a period of 6 years, giving him a new ETS of 
30 April 2019.

9.  On 1 May 2013, the Deputy G-1 (Personnel Officer), NGB, wrote in a memorandum, subject: Request for Exception to Policy (ETP) for EAB that:

	a.  an ETP to retain the $10,000.00 EAB offered at the time of the applicant's enlistment on 26 February 2009 was denied;

	b.  the State Incentive Manager would terminate his eligibility for EAB with recoupment; and

	c.  the applicant had exceeded the authorized period of non-availability in the ING and failed to extend for the period of that non-availability within the required time period upon returning to an active status.  This failure made him ineligible to retain the EAB.



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that his military records should be corrected to show he is authorized to retain his $10,000.00 EAB because he did not know and was not informed about the procedures for transferring to another unit and the ramification of being placed in the ING.

2.  The applicant enlisted in the LAARNG in 2009 and contracted for an EAB.  He states that he did not know he could be moved into the ING because he failed to make up drills.  However, his EAB addendum warned him that being an unsatisfactory participant (i.e., not attending drills) could be a reason to terminate his bonus with recoupment.  It also warned him that he had to extend his enlistment for time served in the ING within 30 days after returning to his unit.  

3.  The NGB denied his request for an ETP citing his time in the ING and subsequent failure to extend within the required time period upon returning to active status.  This failure made him ineligible to retain the EAB.

4.  Further, he enlisted for an affiliation bonus.  That affiliation was with a unit in the LAARNG, not in the TXARNG.

5.  The applicant has not provided any additional documentation or convincing argument to overcome the denial of his ETP.

6.  There is no apparent error or injustice in this case.  The applicant's request should be denied.

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)                                         AR20140015482





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140015482



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