DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS

2 NAW ANNEX

WASHINGTON DC 203704100

TRG
Docket No:
24 March 1999

5958-97

Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records
Secretary of the Navy

OF

(a) Title 10 
(b) SECNAVINST 7220.383

U.S.C. 1552'

(1) DD Form 149 w/attachments
(2) Case Summary
(3) Subject's naval record

From:
To:

Subj:

Ref:

Encl:

Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner, a

1.
former enlisted member of the United States Navy filed enclosure
(1) with this Board requesting, in effect,
be corrected by changing the reason for discharge or, in the
alternative, that the record be corrected to show that the
unearned portion of his Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) was
not recouped.

that his naval record

The Board, consisting of Mr. Dunn, Mr. Reid and Ms. Humberd,

2.
reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice on 23
February 1999 and, pursuant to its regulations, determined that
the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the
available evidence of record.
the Board consisted of the enclosures, naval records, and
applicable statutes, regulations and policies.

Documentary material considered by

The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining

3.
to Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice, finds as
follows:

a.

Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all

administrative remedies available under existing law and
regulations within the Department of the Navy.

b.

Enclosure (1) was filed in a timely manner.

C .

Petitioner enlisted in the Navy on 4 June 1986.

During the next six years he graduated from the Nuclear Power
School and the Nuclear Power Training Unit and on 15 July 1989 he
was aboard USS TENNESSEE (SSBN 734) when she was commissioned.
He was honorably discharged on 5 July 1992 for the purpose of
immediate reenlistment.

Petitioner reenlisted in the Navy on 6 July 1992.

At that time he was authorized an SRB of  

$29,079.60.

d.

He was paid

.

an initial installment of  
remainder in annual installments of  
next 22 months in the Enlisted Educational Advancement Program at
He was disenrolled from this program
the University of Florida.
on 18 May 1994 for failing to meet academic standards. He
reported aboard the USS HAMPTON (SSN 767) on 24 October 1994.

$14,539.80 and was to 

be.paid the
He then spent the

$2,907.96.

e. On 31 January 1995 Petitioner was referred for a

psychiatric evaluation because of stress.
psychiatric evaluation,
described, in'part, as follows:

the history of the present illness was

In the subsequent

He was

~. He
. He denied a history of conduct problems.  
. . 
graduated from HS and is 30 hours from receiving
his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering.
in a Navy sponsored degree program but was
disenrolled for failure to maintain his grades and
~. He was seen by a civilian
for stress problems.  
psychologist at the U of FL for 1 year (1993-
1994); he was evaluated by a LCDR while at
Jacksonville 
~. and was recommended for expeditious
admin sep but this recommendation was not acted on
by his former command.
According to (his) Dept.
Head (he) has not effectively performed his
responsibilities at the command and has shown a
poor attitude since reporting aboard.

The diagnosis was a personality disorder not otherwise specified
with narcissistic and borderline features. The psychologist
recommended expeditious separation since he was judged to
represent a continuing danger to self or others if retained in
the Navy.

e.

In the performance evaluation for the period 1 December
1994 to 28 March 1995 he was not recommended for advancement or
reenlistment in the Navy.
notified of separation processing due to the diagnosed
personality disorder and waived his rights.
discharge authority directed discharge due to the diagnosed
personality disorder.
that time, he was assigned  
The
record shows that he was paid separation pay in the amount of
$7,486.84.

He was so separated on 7 April 1995. At

On 31 March 1995 Petitioner was

an' RE-3G reenlistment code.

On 7 April 1995 the

f.

On 7 December 1996 the Defense Finance and Accounting

Center informed Petitioner that he was indebted in the amount of
$17,750.66 for the unearned portion of his SRB and the erroneous
separation pay.
letter from the General Accounting Officer which concludes that

With his application,

Petitioner has submitted a

2

Petitioner accepted the erroneous separation pay in good faith
and waived repayment of the  
indebtedness of  

This leaves a remaining
$10,263.82 from the unearned portion of the SRB.

$7,486.84.

g.

follows:

Petitioner states in his application, in part, as

when the decision to separate

. As stated previously,
me involuntarily was made, I asked repeatedly if
~. the reenlistment bonus would be made.
recoupment of  
I was told repeatedly there would be no recoupment due
you
to the nature of the separation (involuntary).
pointed out that I did not challenge the separation
decision.
and shame that I would not be fulfilling my contract.
While no formal challenge was made, I asked several
different personnel about reassignment away from
submarine duty while I tried to work through my
difficulties.
end of it.  
~.

I was told no and thought that was the

This is not entirely true.

I felt remorse

In the

You also had some concern about the $7,000 sep
While it is true that the recoupment of that

(A) mistake was made by those same
As I said, I asked

pay.
portion of my indebtedness was waived, I believe it to
be a separate issue, apart from this case, the
recoupment for (the) reenlistment bonus paid.
case of the sep pay, a decision was made in my favor
because a mistake was made by the personnel processing
my discharge.
people in this case as well.
several people (indeed everyone I came into contact
with during separation), over several days time, about
possible recoupment and was told repeatedly that no
recoupment would be made.
separated and made many financial decisions based on
what I thought was my current financial situation. I
was separated in April 1995, in October, my wife and I
bought a house and decided to have another child. My
wife got pregnant in November and everything was going
great.
Christmas I get a bill from DFAS for over $17,000
dollars.

Then in December, just a few weeks before

With those assurances, I was

Since that I have tried to make payments when I
could, sometimes shifting the debt to high interest
credit cards because they demand a lower monthly
This large
payment and in order to keep DFAS happy.
debt has caused great difficulty in getting additional
credit and I was unable to effectively start my own
business because of this.  

~. This indebtedness and the

3

payments for it are causing an unnecessary financial
hardship on my family. Unnecessary because it is due to
I tried to do everything right and
no fault of my own.
ask the right questions.  

~.

h.

Reference 

(b) sets forth the criteria for remission or

waiver of indebtedness or erroneous payments made to or on behalf
of members and former members of the Naval service.
instruction implements Title 10 U.S.C. 6161 and 10 U.S.C. 2774.
Waiver action based on 10 U.S.C.
indebtedness related to the SRB is precluded in this case since
the payment was legal and proper when paid.
provisions of 10 U.S.C.
an enlisted member on active duty is authorized provided the
request for remission is approved by the Secretary of the Navy or
a designee prior to the individual's honorable discharge.

6161 a remission of the indebtedness of

2774 for the portion of the

However, under the

This

i.

The criteria for requesting such a remission of

That reference

indebtedness are set forth in reference (b).
states that an investigation must be conducted into the facts and
circumstances surrounding the request for waiver and the
commanding officer must recommend that the request for remission
The reference also directs that active duty members
be granted.
be advised of their right to request remission consideration
under the provisions of the reference immediately upon discovery
of an overpayment.
Petitioner was ever advised as required.
have been known, that an indebtedness would occur when discharge
was directed.
the discharge authority's decision for discharge, there was
certainly insufficient time to get a request for remission
through the system even if he had been properly advised.

Since Petitioner was discharged the same day as

There is no indication in the record that

It was known, or should

j.

The Board has recommended remission of indebtedness in a

few other cases where there was some degree of hardship, but the
Board did not wish to recommend a change in the reason for
discharge to hardship.
of all unpaid installments of the SRB.
is different because the discharge was based on an adverse
psychiatric evaluation.

Such a change would result in the payment

As indicated, this case

CONCLUSION:

_

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record the
Board concludes that Petitioner's request warrants partial
favorable action.
Petitioner was a good performer until he began have problems
while he was at the university.
problems, the Board concludes that Petitioner was properly

In reaching its decision, the Board notes that

Given his continued psychiatric

4

discharged due to the diagnosed personality disorder.
Accordingly, the Board denied Petitioner's request for a change
in the reason for discharge.

Given its conclusion that Petitioner was properly discharged, the
Board further concludes that since he could not continue in the
Navy because of a condition beyond his control, remission of at
least part of the indebtedness is appropriate. However, the Board
notes that Petitioner was erroneously paid separation pay in the
amount of 
$7,486.84 and received a windfall when he did not have
to pay it back.
be remitted should only be  
subtracting the  

Therefore, the Board believes that the amount to
$2,776.09, the amount remaining after

$7,486.84  from the unearned SRB of  

$10,263.82.

The action to remit the indebtedness can be accomplished by
showing that a request for a partial remission of indebtedness
was granted under the provisions of Title 10 U.S.C. 6161 and
reference (b).
decision on the request for remission must be made prior to
discharge.

Paragraph 7.a of reference  

(b) indicates that a

.

Therefore, the Board concludes that the record should show that
remission of Petitioner's indebtedness in the amount of
was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 1 February

$2,776.09
1995.

RECOMMENDATION:

That Petitioner's naval record be corrected to show
a.
he requested a waiver of his indebtedness in the amount
$2,776.09 and that this request was favorably endorsed by his
commanding officer.

that
of

That Petitioner's record be further corrected to show that

b.
the request for waiver was approved by the Secretary of the Navy
on 7 April 1995, the day of his discharge.

That this Report of Proceedings constitute the report of

C .
investigation or written report required by reference (b), and
the Report of Proceedings be forwarded to the Defense Finance and
Accounting Service for implementation under the provisions of the
regulations.

d.

That the remainder of Petitioner's requests be denied.

That this Report of Proceedings be filed in Petitioner's

e.
naval record.

It is certified that a quorum was present at the Board's

4.
review and deliberations,

and that the foregoing is a true and

5

complete record of the Board's proceedings in the above
matter.

entitled

ROBERT D. ZSALMAN
Recorder

ALAN E. GOLDSMITH
Acting Recorder

The foregoing report of the Board is submitted for your

5.
review and action.

Reviewed and approved:

.

I

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY
(MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS)

1000  NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20350-1000

MAY 2 

1 

19%

MEMORANDUMFORTHEEXECUTIVEDIRECTOR,BOARDFORCORRECTIO
OFNAVALRECORD

S

N

&

Subj: REVIEWOFNAVALRECORDOF

ofhis personality disorder,1   find  that  as 

the  Board's Findings are approved
to  modify  the  Conclusions,  and  the  Reliefgrantedtothe Petitioner.
through  no fault 

Aftera careful reviewofthe report ofproceedings, 
but1 have decided 
Since  the  Board has determinedthatthe Petitioner was  discharged 
own because 
ofhis indebtedness should be forgiven. Moreover, I agree   with  the  Petitionerthatthe
from  the  matter 
issue 
selective  reenlistment 
the  factthatthe General
paid  separation  payment
Accounting Office has waivedrecoupmentofthe  erroneously 
has no bearing on whether recoupmentofthe SRB is waived. In conclusion,the 
recommendation 
to  reflect 
entire amountofthe  indebtedness 
that  is the  subjectofthis petition  will  be  waived.

ofthe erroneous payment 

to  him of separation  pay is distinct 

ofhis
amatter  ofequitythe entire amount

to  waive only a  portion 

ofpetitioner's  debt  is  modified 

bonus 

(SRE3)paidto  him. Therefore, 

ofthe

BCNR's
that  the

KARENS.HEATH
Principal  Deputy  Assistant  Secretary 
(Manpower and Reserve Affairs)

oftheNavy