BOARD DATE:	  7 May 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140016616 


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 reconsideration of his request for reinstatement to the rank/pay grade of (SFC)/E-7 and placement on the Retired List in that pay grade. 

2.  The applicant states:

     a.  He was compassionately reassigned to the Charlotte recruiting command in NC when his mother was killed in February 2001.  While he was reassigned a co-worker went into his personal file cabinet and took official copies of paperwork he had brought back from the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer course (ANCOC).

     b.  For unknown reasons he deliberately took all his personal copies of his course completion records for ANCOC, to include his physical fitness test card and all course completion requirements.  He had every intention of fighting his unjust dismissal from ANCOC prior to his retirement.

     c.  He currently works as a veteran’s counselor in upstate NY.  He reconnected with SGT W____ in 2013.  He remembered the incident of his records being destroyed.  He also knows a classmate who is aware that he completed ANCOC.  The physical fitness test issue should have been resolved when he passed the second retest.

     d.  He is aware some of his peers were promoted.  He is writing to secure what is rightfully his.  He requests a formal personal Board hearing to make this unjust situation right.  He has requested replacement documents from Fort Jackson to no avail.  There is no DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report) showing he failed his physical fitness test.

3.  The applicant provides a self-authored statement and a letter of support. 

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant’s case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20130006477, on 19 September 2013.  

2.  He provides new evidence and argument that warrant reconsideration by the Board.

3.  The applicant was serving in the pay grade of E-6 as a recruiter in New York when he was conditionally promoted to the pay grade of E-7 on 1 January 1999.  His promotion order specified that the order would be revoked and his name would be removed from the centralized promotion list if he failed to meet the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) requirements.

4.  The facts and circumstances surrounding his removal from ANCOC are not present in the available records; however, his records do contain a memorandum from the Total Army Personnel Command (TAPC), dated 5 October 2000, notifying him that he had been administratively removed from the promotion selection list due to APFT failure and his disenrollment from ANCOC.  There is no evidence in his records to show he appealed his dismissal from ANCOC or his removal from the promotion selection list.

5.  On 31 May 2003, he was retired due to sufficient service for retirement and placed on the Retired List effective 1 June 2003.  He had served 20 years and 12 days of active service.

6.  He provides a letter of support from SGT W___, a former co-worker, which states another Soldier collected some files from a file cabinet where personal files and information was kept and spoke openly about how he disposed of files belonging to the applicant.  He goes on to state the applicant was an upstanding Soldier.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-19 (Enlisted Promotions and Reductions) provides in paragraph 4-16 that the Human Resources Command (formerly TAPC) will delete, without further board action, the name of any Soldier from the recommended list who is defined as failing to attend, having failed to complete for cause or academic reasons or being denied enrollment to the required NCOES course for cause.

8.  Title 10, U.S. Code provides, in pertinent part, that enlisted personnel may be advanced in grade to the highest grade satisfactorily held, as determined by the 
Secretary of the Army, upon completion of  30 years of service.  This service may consist of combined active service and service in the USAR Control Group (Retired).

9.  Army Regulation 15-185 (ABCMR) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army, acting through the ABCMR.  The ABCMR will decide cases on the evidence of record.  It is not an investigative body.  Applicants do not have a right to a hearing before the ABCMR.  The Director or the ABCMR may grant a formal hearing whenever justice requires.  Additionally, applicants may be represented by counsel at their own expense.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s contention that he should be reinstated to the pay grade of   E-7 and that he should have been retired in that grade has been noted and appears to lack merit.

2.  He was conditionally  promoted to pay grade of E-7 on 1 January 1999 with the condition that he successfully complete ANCOC; however, he was released from ANCOC due to APFT failure and his name was removed from the promotion standing list effective 5 October 2000.

3.  Although there are no documents in his official records regarding his disenrollment from ANCOC, the memorandum from TAPC states he was disenrolled from ANCOC due to APFT failure and he has failed to provide sufficient evidence to show that his disenrollment or removal from the promotion standing list were unjust or in error.

4.  It appears that he was properly removed from the promotion standing list due to not meeting the conditional requirement of his promotion (completing the NCOES requirements for his grade).

5.  Due to his failure to meet the conditions of his promotion by completing the NCOES requirements for his grade, his promotion to the pay grade of E-7 was properly revoked and therefore his service in the pay grade of E-7 was not satisfactory for retirement purposes. 

6.  His contentions and supporting statements have been carefully considered; however, they are not sufficiently mitigating to warrant relief when considering the lack of evidence to show an error or injustice in his case and the passage of time that has elapsed since he was removed from the promotion standing list.

7.  Accordingly, there appears to be no basis to grant his request for reinstatement to the pay grade of E-7 or retirement in that pay grade.

8.  His request for a personal appearance hearing was carefully considered.  However, by regulation, he is not entitled to a hearing before the Board.  Hearings may be authorized by a panel of the Board by the Director of the ABCMR.  In this case, the evidence of record and independent evidence provided by the applicant are sufficient to render a fair and equitable decision at this time.  As a result, a personal appearance hearing is not warranted  to serve the interest of equity and justice in this case. 

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20130006477, dated 19 September 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)                                         AR20140016616



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140016616



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