DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 
 
                                                                                        BCMR Docket No. 2007-114 
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx   

 

 
 

 

FINAL DECISION 

 
 
This is a proceeding under the provisions of section 1552 of title 10 and section 425 of 
title 14 of the United States Code.  The Chair docketed the case on March 15, 2007, upon receipt 
of the completed application, and assigned it to staff member J. Andrews to prepare the decision 
for the Board as required by 33 C.F.R. § 52.61(c). 
 
 
appointed members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case. 
 

This final decision, dated November 29, 2007, is approved and signed by the three duly 

APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS 

The applicant, a lieutenant in the active Reserve who was released from extended active 
duty on June 30, 2006, asked the Board to correct his record by backdating his date of rank as a 
lieutenant commander (LCDR) to the date of rank he would have had if he had been selected for 
promotion in 2006 by the PY (promotion year) 2007 LCDR selection board.  He also asked the 
Board to award him back pay and allowances.  The applicant alleged that he was “in zone” for 
selection for promotion in 2006, but his record was not reviewed by the LCDR selection board 
because of an administrative error. 
 

VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
On July 31, 2007, the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Coast Guard recommended 
 
that the Board grant relief in this case.  The JAG noted that Article 7.A.8.b. of the Reserve Policy 
Manual states the following: 
 

A Reserve officer is not considered to have failed selection if the officer was not considered by a 
selection board due to administrative error.  
(1)  If  the  officer  is  selected  by  the  next  appropriate  selection  board  after  the  error  is 
 
discovered, and is promoted, then the date of rank and precedence on the IDPL shall be assigned 
that would have been assigned if the officer had been recommended for promotion by the selection 
board that originally would have considered the officer but for the error (14 U.S.C. 739(b)).  
(2) However, such officer’s date of appointment, which is the effective date that pay and 
 
allowances in the higher grade begin, cannot be backdated. The date of appointment is that date the 

The JAG stated, however, that although the Coast Guard may not backdate the applicant’s 
date of rank or award him back pay and allowances because of the administrative error, the Board 
may do so pursuant to its authority under 10 U.S.C. § 1552 by adjusting the applicant’s date of 
appointment to LCDR by the Secretary.  The JAG noted that under 14 U.S.C. § 736(c), “the date 
of  [an  officer’s]  appointment  shall  be  that  date  when  promotion  authority  is  exercised  by  the 
Secretary.  However, the Secretary may adjust the date of appointment … for any other reason 
that equity requires.”  Therefore, the JAG stated that, if the applicant is selected for promotion by 
the PY 2008 selection board,1 the Board should order the Coast Guard to assign him the date of 
rank and the precedence on the Inactive Duty Promotion List that he would have received had he 
been  selected  for  promotion  to  LCDR  by the PY 2007 selection board and should award him 
corresponding back pay and allowances. 

 
The JAG also adopted the findings and analysis of the case provided in a memorandum 
prepared by CGPC.  CGPC stated that in the summer of 2006, the applicant was ineligible to 
compete on the active duty promotion list (ADPL) because he had been RELAD when the ADPL 
LCDR selection board convened.  However, CGPC stated that the applicant should have been 
considered for promotion by the IDPL LCDR selection board that summer.  CGPC explained that 
under ALCGPERSCOM 037/06 the “zone” of Reserve lieutenants eligible for consideration for 
promotion  to  LCDR  included  all  those  from  signal  number  445  through  signal  number  568.  
However, the list of eligible lieutenants published under ALCGRSV 022/06 on July 24, 2006, 
did  not  include  the  applicant’s  name.    CGPC  stated  that  his  absence  from  the  list  was  an 
administrative error since he should have been on the list based on his January 17, 2002, date of 
rank as a lieutenant. 

APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE COAST GUARD’S VIEWS 

 
 
stated that he agreed with the recommendation of the Coast Guard.   
 

On October 11, 2007, the applicant responded to the Coast Guard’s advisory opinion.  He 

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

The Board makes the following findings and conclusions based on the applicant's military 

 
 
record and submissions, the Coast Guard's submissions, and applicable law: 
 

The Board has jurisdiction concerning this matter pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1552.  

1. 

 

Secretary  exercises  promotion  authority regardless of how much later that date may be than the 
date of rank.  

 

The application was timely. 
 

2. 

 The Coast Guard has admitted that the applicant should have been considered for 
promotion by PY07 IDPL LCDR selection board but was not because of an administrative error.  
According to ALCGPERSCOM 054/07, the applicant was considered and selected for promotion 
by the PY08 IDPL LCDR selection board, and his promotion has been approved by the Secretary.   
                                                 
1 On September 20, 2007, CGPC issued ALCGPERSCOM 054/07 with the “PY08 Reserve Lieutenant Commander 
Selection Board Results.”  The applicant’s name appears therein on the list of lieutenants whose names were selected 
for promotion by the PY08 IDPL LCDR selection board and approved for promotion by the Secretary. 

 

4. 

3. 

 
 
Under 14 U.S.C. § 739(b), a “Reserve officer is not considered to have failed of 
selection if the officer was not considered by a selection board because of administrative error.  If 
that officer is selected by the next appropriate selection board after the error is discovered, and is 
promoted, the same date of rank and precedence shall be assigned that would have been assigned 
if the officer had been recommended for promotion by the selection board that originally would 
have considered the officer but for the error.”  Therefore, the Board finds that the applicant has 
proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he should receive the date of rank and precedence 
on the IDPL that he would have received had he been selected for promotion by the PY07 IDPL 
LCDR selection board and that, as a matter of equity, he should receive corresponding back pay 
and allowances. 
 
 
Accordingly, relief should be granted in that when the applicant is promoted to 
LCDR, his date of rank as a LCDR should be backdated to what it would have been had he been 
selected  for  promotion  by  the  PY07  IDPL  LCDR  selection  board;  he  should  receive  the 
precedence on the IDPL that he would have had if he had been selected for promotion by that 
board;  and  he  should  receive  the  pay  and  allowances  he  would  have  received  had  he  been 
selected for promotion by that board. 
 

 
 
 
 

[ORDER AND SIGNATURES APPEAR ON NEXT PAGE] 

ORDER 

 

The  application  of  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,  USCGR,  for  correction  of  his  military 
record is granted.  When he is promoted to LCDR pursuant to his selection for promotion by the 
PY08 IDPL LCDR selection board, the Coast Guard shall 

 
(a)  backdate his LCDR date of rank to the date of rank he would have received if he had 

been selected for promotion by the PY07 IDPL LCDR selection board; 

 
(b)  correct his precedence on the IDPL to the precedence he would have received had he 

been selected for promotion by the PY07 IDPL LCDR selection board; and 

 
(c)    pay  him  the  back  pay  and  allowances  that  he  would  have  received  had  he  been 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

        

 
 George J. Jordan 

 

 
selected for promotion by the PY07 IDPL LCDR selection board. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Dorothy J. Ulmer 
  

 
 James E. McLeod