DEPARTMENT OF

 

T-HI? NAVY

BOARD FOR  

CORRECTI& OF NAVAL RECORDS

2 NAVY ANNEX

WASHINGTON DC 20370-5100

ELP
Docket No. 4356-00
18 June 2001

From:
To:

Subj:

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

RECORD OF

Ref:

(a) 10 U.S.C.1552

Encl:

(1) Case Summary
(2) Subject's Naval Record

1.

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

enlisted member of the Marine Corps Reserve, applied to this
Board requesting, in effect,
Corps Reserve on 12 April 2001 be backdated to 15 April 2000.

that his reenlistment in the Marine

Leeman, Ms. Wiley and Ms.

The Board, consisting of Mr.  

2.
McCormick reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and
injustice on 12 June 2001 and, pursuant to its regulations,
determined that the corrective action indicated below should be
taken on the available evidence of record.
considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, naval
records, and applicable statutes, regulations and policies.

Documentary material

The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record

3.
pertaining 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.

Petitioner's application to the Board was filed in a

timely manner.

C .

Petitioner's record reflects that he reenlisted in the

Marine Corps Reserve on 25 April 1996 for two years as a SGT
(E-5).

He was promoted to SSGT (E-6) on 1 January 1997.

d.

On 25 June 1998, Petitio

xer extended his enlistment for

three months to have sufficient obligated service to affiliate
with the Selected Marine Corps Reserve.
are not filed in the record.

Two previous extensions

-’

Petitioner had two periods of active duty for special

work,efrom 9 February to 31 March and 16 June to 14 August 1999.
Petitioner submitted a request to reenlist on 26 August 1999.
However, Headquarters, Marine Corps (HQMC) denied his request
because a fitness report for the period 11 May to 12 July 1996
was never filed in his record.
extension to resolve this gap.

He was granted a six month

f.

Petitioner extended his enlistment on 15 September 1996

for an additional period of six months in order to retrieve the
The Agreement to Extend Enlistment on
missing fitness report.
file indicated that his current enlistment commenced on 14 April
1995.

cr.

Petitioner was on active duty for special work from

15 October 1999 to 1 March 2000.
showed Petitioner was discharged on 15 April 2000 at the
expiration of enlistment, as extended.
total of 13 qualifying years in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Information provided by HQMC

At that time, he had a

h.

On 7 June 2000, Petitioner's prior commanding officer
submitted the missing fitness report and it was placed into the
fitness report system on 26 June 2000.

i.

At enclosure  

(l), an advisory opinion from the Reserve

Affairs Division, Career Management Team (CMT), HQMC, states
that at no time did Petitioner request an additional extension
to remain in the Marine Corps Reserve until the date gap
surrounding the missing fitness report was resolved.
The CMT
recommended that Petitioner contact.his prior-service recruiter
and request a waiver to rejoin the reserves.
recommended that his request for correction of his record to
show no break in service be denied.

The CMT

j.

A copy of the foregoing advisory opinion was sent to
Petitioner for response but was returned as "undeliverable" by
the Post Office even though it was mailed to a valid address.
The opinion was subsequently faxed to Petitioner after he
inquired about his application.
would comply with  
reenlist.

HQMC's recommendation and submit a request to

At' that time, he stated he

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k.

Petitioner submitted a request to reenlist on

28 December 2000.
6 March 2000 and he was reenlisted on 12 April 2001.

HQMC approved a two year reenlistment on

1.

Petitioner now requests that his date of reenlistment

be backdated to 15 April 2000,
had it not been for the missing fitness report.

the date he would have reenlisted

CONCLUSION:

The Board notes that the fitness report in question was

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the
Board concludes that Petitioner's request warrants favorable
action.
for a two month period that occurred nearly four years earlier.
The Board is well aware of the effect a fitness report has on
promotion, but finds it disturbing that such a minor
administrative matter was grounds for denying reenlistment.
Normally, reenlistment is denied for more egregious reasons,
i.e., unsatisfactory drill participation, poor performance and
Although the Board believes Petitioner bears some
conduct, etc.
responsibility in this matter and should have pursued the matter
of obtaining the missing fitness report more  
contacting a past reporting senior after four years probably was
difficult.
The fact that it took nearly a year from the date of
his discharge until he was reenlisted was by no means totally
within his control.
by a break in service.

The Board believes he should not penalized

aggressively,

enlistment.

If the date of the current reenlistment is simply backdated,
Petitioner would have already completed more than half of his
Accordingly, the Board believes that it
two-year
would be appropriate and just to correct the record to show that
he was reenlisted on 15 April 2000 for three years rather than
on 12 April 2001 for two years.
participating actively in the reserves, the Board concluded that
he should be awarded 35 inactive duty non-pay points for the
When combined with the 15
period April 2000 to April 2001.
membership points awarded to all reservists, this action will
ensure that this period counts as a qualifying year for reserve
retirement.

Additionally, since he was

The Board further concludes that this Report of Proceedings
should be filed in Petitioner's Naval Record so that all future
reviewers will understand the circumstances of the case and the
crediting of the retirement points.
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RECOMMENDATION:

a.

That Petitioner's naval record be corrected by showing

he reenlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve for three years on
15 April 2000 vice the two-year reenlistment on 12 April 2001
now of record.

b.

That he be awarded 35 inactive duty non-pay points to

complete a qualifying year for the period from April 2000 to
April 2001.

c.

That a copy of this Report of Proceedings be filed in

Petitioner's naval record.

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

4.
and that the foregoing is a true and
review and deliberations,
complete record of the Board's proceedings in the above entitled
matter.

ROBERT D. ZSALMAN
Recorder

ALAN E. GOLDSMITH
Acting Recorder

The foregoing action of the Board is submitted for your

5.
review and action.

Assistant General Counsel

(Manpower And Reserve Affairs)

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