DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 
 

 
XXXXXXXXXXXXX. 
xxxxxxxxx, FS2/E-5 
   

 

 
 

BCMR Docket No. 2006-038 

FINAL DECISION 

 
AUTHOR:  Hale, D. 
 
 
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 January 13, 
2006, upon the BCMR’s receipt of the applicant’s completed application. 
 
 
members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case. 
 

This final decision, dated August 31, 2006, is signed by the three duly appointed 

APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS 

The applicant, a food service specialist, second class (FS2; pay grade E-5) asked 
the Board to correct his record to show that the selective reenlistment bonus (SRB)1 that 
he  received  while  aboard  a  ship  in  a  combat  zone  is  eligible  for  the  combat  tax 
exclusion.2  He alleged that he was counseled that his SRB payments would be eligible 

                                                 
1 SRBs allow the Coast Guard to offer a reenlistment incentive to members who possess highly desired 
skills  at  certain  points  during  their  career.    SRBs  vary  according  to  the  length  of  each  member’s  active 
duty  service,  the  number  of  months  of  service  newly  obligated  by  the  reenlistment  or  extension  of 
enlistment contract, and the need of the Coast Guard for personnel with the member’s particular skills, 
which  is  reflected  in  the  “multiple”  of  the  SRB  authorized  for  the  member’s  skill/rating,  which  is 
published in an ALCOAST.  Coast Guard members who have at least 21 months but no more than 6 years 
of active duty service are in “Zone A”, while those who have more than 6 but less than 10 years of active 
duty  service  are  in  “Zone  B”.    Members  may  not  receive  more  than  one  SRB  per  zone.    Coast  Guard 
Personnel Manual, Article 3.C. and 3.C.4.a. 
 
2  Service  members  may  exclude  from  their  gross  income  any  compensation  received  for  any  month 
during any part of which the member served in a combat zone, “provided that the member’s entitlement 

for  the  combat  tax  exclusion  because  he  would  be  serving  in  a  combat  zone  on  the 
operative date of the extension.  

                                                                                                                                                             
to  the  compensation  fully  accrued  in  a  month  during  which  the  member  served  in  the  combat  zone.”  
26 C.F.R. § 1.112-1. 

 

 

SUMMARY OF THE RECORD 

The applicant enlisted in the Coast Guard on December 11, 2001,  for a term of 
four years, through December 10, 2005.  On March 17, 2005, the applicant executed a 
six-year  extension  contract  to  obligate  service  for  a  one-year  tour  aboard  the  Coast 
Guard  Cutter  Baranof.    There  is  a  Page  73  in  the  applicant’s  record  documenting 
counseling  that  he  would  receive  an  SRB  for  signing  the  six-year  extension  contract.  
The applicant transferred to the Baranof on June 17, 2005, while it was in a designated 
combat zone.  The March 17, 2005, extension did not become operative until December 
11,  2005,  while  the  Baranof  was  still  in  the  combat  zone.    In  July  2006,  the  applicant 
completed  his  one-year  tour  aboard  the  Baranof  and  was  transferred  to  Sector  San 
Francisco. 
 

VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
 
On  May  31,  2006,  the  Judge  Advocate  General  (JAG)  of  the  Coast  Guard 
submitted  an  advisory  opinion  in  which  he  recommended  that  the  Board  deny  the 
applicant’s  request.    The  JAG  argued  that  the  applicant’s  SRB  is  not  eligible  for  the 
combat  tax  exclusion  because  the  effective  date  of  the  extension  was  March  17,  2005, 
three months before he transferred to a vessel within a combat zone.   
  

APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
 
On June 6, 2006, the BCMR sent the applicant a copy of the views of the Coast 
Guard  and  invited  him  to  respond  within  30  days.    The  BCMR  did  not  receive  a 
response.   
 

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS 

 

Article  3.C.3.  of  the  Coast  Guard  Personnel  Manual  requires  that  all  personnel 
with  10  years  or  less  of  active  service  who  reenlist  or  extend  for  any  period  shall  be 
counseled  on  the  SRB  program  and  shall  sign  a  Page  7  outlining  the  effect  that 
particular action has on their SRB entitlement. 

 
Article 3.C.5.6. of the Personnel Manual states that extensions may be canceled 
prior  to  their  operative  dates  for  the  purpose  of  extending  or  reenlisting  for  a  longer 
term  to  earn  an  SRB.    However,  such  extensions  reduce  the  SRB  by  the  number  of 

                                                 
3 A Page 7 entry documents any counseling that is provided to a service  member as well as any  other 
noteworthy events that occur during that member’s military career. 
 

months of previously obligated service unless the extension is for a period of two years 
or less, in which case the SRB is not diminished.  

 
Article  4.B.6.a.  of  the  Personnel  Manual  states  that  assignment  officers  will 
normally not transfer service members E-4 and above with fewer than six years of active 
duty unless they reenlist or extend to have enough obligated service for a full tour upon 
reporting to a new unit.  A full tour aboard the CGC Baranof was one year. 

 
ALCOAST 332/05 was issued on June 24, 2005, and was in effect from August 1, 
2005, through June 30, 2006.  Under ALCOAST 332/05, and its predecessor ALCOAST 
306/04, FS2s were eligible for an SRB calculated with a multiple of 3. 

 

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

 
 
The  Board  makes  the  following  findings  and  conclusions  on  the  basis  of  the 
applicant's military record and submissions, the Coast Guard's submissions, and appli-
cable law: 
 

1. 

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

§ 1552.  The application was timely. 
 

2. 

The applicant alleged that he was counseled that his SRB payments would 
be  eligible  for  the  combat  zone  tax  exclusion  because  his  extension  contract  would 
become  operative  while  he  was  serving  on  a  cutter  within  a  combat  zone.    Although 
there is a Page 7 in the record indicating that the applicant was counseled regarding his 
SRB  eligibility,  there  is  nothing  in  the  record  indicating  that  the  applicant  was 
counseled that the SRB payments would be eligible for the combat zone exclusion.  The 
JAG  recommended  that  the  BCMR  deny  relief  because  the  applicant  executed  his 
extension contract several months before he entered a combat zone. 

 
3. 

The Board finds that the applicant was not properly counseled regarding 
his SRB eligibility when he received transfer orders to the Baranof.  The applicant should 
have  been  counseled  pursuant  to  Article  3.C.3.  of  the  Personnel  Manual  that  he  was 
only  required  to  extend  his  enlistment  for  seven  months4  to  obligate  the  minimum 
amount  of  service  before  reporting  to  the  Baranof.    Moreover,  he  should  have  been 
advised that under Article 3.C.5.6 of Personnel Manual, he could cancel the extension 
before  it  became  operative  and  reenlist  for  an  SRB  while  he  was  in  the  combat  zone.  
The  SRB  that  he  would  have  received  for  the  reenlistment  would  have  been  earned 
while he was in a combat zone and thus eligible for the combat zone exclusion.  

                                                 
4  When  the  applicant  reported  to  the  Baranof  on  June  17,  2005,  his  EOE  date  was  December  10,  2005.  
Accordingly, he only needed to obligate service from December 11, 2005, through June 16, 2006.   
 

 
4. 

The  applicant’s  record  should  be  corrected  by  changing  the  applicant’s 
March  17,  2005,  extension  contract  from  six  years  to  seven  months.  In  addition,  his 
record  should  be  corrected  to  show  that  on  December  11,  2005,  he  cancelled  the 
extension and reenlisted for six years.  These corrections will allow him to receive an 
SRB under ALCOAST 332/05 calculated with a multiple of 3 pursuant to a reenlistment 
contract executed while he was serving in a combat zone.   

 

ORDER 

 

The  application  of  FS2  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,  USCG,  for  correction  of  his 

military record is granted as follows: 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 Elizabeth F. Buchanan 

 
The Coast Guard shall correct the term of his March 17, 2005, extension contract 
from six years to seven months.  In addition, the Coast Guard shall correct his record to 
show  that  on  December  11,  2005,  he  cancelled  the  March  17,  2005,  seven-month 
extension and reenlisted for six years.  The Coast Guard shall pay him any amount due 
under ALCOAST 332/05 as a result of these corrections. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Thomas H. Van Horn 

 

 
 
 Adrian Sevier