DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
Application for the Correction of
the Coast Guard Record of:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
FINAL DECISION
BCMR Docket No. 2009-194
SUMMARY OF THE RECORD
The applicant asked the Board to correct his record to show that he reenlisted on March
13, 2008, instead of signing a 5-year extension of enlistment contract on that day. The applicant
alleged that he was promised a Zone B selective reenlistment bonus (SRB) for the extension but
never received one because the operative date of the extension contract, May 1, 2009, fell after
his 10th active duty anniversary, which was July 13, 2008. He alleged that he needed to obligate
service to accept transfer orders to report to a new unit on May 8, 2008. However, he was told he
had to sign an extension contract, rather than a reenlistment contract, because his end of enlist-
ment (EOE) was not until April 30, 2009. The applicant’s March 13, 2008, extension contract
states that he was eligible for a Zone B SRB under ALCOAST 304/07.
The Judge Advocate General (JAG) recommended that the Board grant relief. He stated
that the SRB should have been paid for the 5-year extension and that the lack of payment
probably resulted from a glitch in the system. The JAG recommended that the Board authorize
payment of the SRB for the extension contract. Upon receipt of the JAG’s recommendation, the
applicant agreed with it.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
Article 3.C.4.b.3. of the Personnel Manual states that to be eligible for a Zone B SRB, the
member must “[h]ave completed at least 6 but not more than 10 years active service on the date
of reenlistment or the operative date of the extension.” Article 3.C.2.6. states that the operative
date is “[t]he date the extension begins to run.” In addition, Article 1.G.19. states that “[u]nless
canceled for one of the reasons in Article 1.G.20, an Agreement to Extend Enlistment becomes
operative on the date next following the normal date the enlistment expires.” The applicant was
in Zone B when he signed the extension contract on March 13, 2008, because his 10th anniver-
sary on active duty was June 13, 2008. However, the operative date of his extension, May 1,
2009, fell after his 10th anniversary—i.e., outside of Zone B. Therefore, the applicant’s failure to
receive an SRB for the extension contract was not the result of a glitch, but of his ineligibility to
receive an SRB through any extension contract since any extension would not become operative
until May 1, 2009, well past his 10th anniversary.
The applicant alleged that he had to obligate additional service to accept his transfer
orders. In addition, he was told that he could not reenlist to obligate the additional service
because he was not near his EOE. Under Article 4.B.6.a. of the Personnel Manual, to accept
transfer orders, members with more than 6 years of service must have at least one full year of
service remaining upon reporting to their new unit. Therefore, as he alleged, the applicant could
not accept his orders to transfer on May 8, 2008, without obligating additional service because
his EOE was April 30, 2009. The Personnel Manual authorizes a commanding officer to dis-
charge and reenlist members only within the 3 months prior to their EOE or their 6th, 10th, or 14th
anniversary on active duty. See Personnel Manual, Arts. 3.C.5.9. and 12.B.7.b. The applicant
was not within 3 months of his EOE or one of these anniversaries on March 13, 2008. Therefore,
as his command advised him, there was no apparent authority under the Personnel Manual to
discharge and reenlist him on March 13, 2008.
Article 1.G.18. of the Personnel Manual states “[f]or certain purposes … such as … duty
requiring additional obligated service, … an individual may extend his or her enlistment consid-
erably in advance” of the EOE. Article 1.G.15.a. states that members may extend their enlist-
ments up to 6 years to obligate sufficient service to accept their transfer orders. Article 3.C.5.5.
states that “a member who must extend for some other reason (i.e., transfer, training, …) may
extend for a period greater than the minimum required for the purpose of gaining entitlement to
an SRB.” All of the provisions in the Personnel Manual that concern obligating additional ser-
vice to accept transfer orders refer only to extensions, not reenlistments. However, the JAG has
previously informed the Board that unwritten Coast Guard policy allows members to obligate
service for transfer by reenlisting instead of extending. Therefore, the original relief requested by
the applicant should be granted in that his extension contract should be voided and he should be
reenlisted for 6 years on March 13, 2008, so that he will be entitled to the Zone B SRB author-
ized under ALCOAST 304/07.
ORDER
The military record of MK1 xxxxxxxxxxxxx, USCG, shall be corrected by removing his
5-year extension dated March 13, 2008, as null and void and by reenlisting him for 6 years on
March 13, 2008. The Coast Guard shall pay him the Zone B SRB due under ALCOAST 304/07
as a result of this correction.
March 26, 2010
Date
Jeff M. Neurauter
Lynda K. Pilgrim
Kenneth Walton
3 To be eligible for a Zone B SRB, a member must have completed “at least 6 years but not more than 10 years of active service on the date of reenlistment or operative date of the extension.” Coast Guard Personnel Manual, Article 3.C.4.b.3. He stated that upon receiving transfer orders to the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command (ISC) and the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in Seattle, he was counseled by a Coast Guard yeoman1 that he was eligible to reenlist or extend for up to six years for a...
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. His record does not On July 1, 2007, the applicant reported for duty to Station Miami Beach, and on July 7th...
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