DEPARTMENTOFTHE NAVY

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS

2 NAVY ANNEX

WASHINGTON DC 20370-5100

JLP:jlp
Docket 
5 September  2002

No.3927-02

From:

Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records

To:

Subj:

Ref:

Encl:

Secretary of the Navy

Review-of naval record

.-

Title 10 U.S.C. 1552
Veterans Improvement Act of 1996 (PL 104 275)
Title 38, United States Code, Chapter 32

DD Form 149 w/attachments
VEAP Statement of Understanding
Statement from Educational Service Officer
BUPERS MEMO Pers-604 15 March 2001
OPNAV INSTRUCTION 1780.1
Copy of members service record

(c)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)

(l), with this Board requesting, in effect, the

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

1.
hereinafter referred to as Petitioner,
enclosure 
applicable naval record be corrected to show that he elected to
participate in the Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
when eligible and further corrected to show that he elected to
participate in the Montgomery GI Bill(MGIB)Program during the
VEAP to MGIB conversion period.

filed written application,

The Board, consisting of Messrs. Suiter,

2.
McPartlin, and Ms.
Nofsiger reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice
on 23 April 2002 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.
3.
to Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice, finds as
follows:

The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining

Documentary material considered by

a.

Prior to filing enclosure (1) with this Board, Petitioner
exhausted all administrative remedies afforded under existing law
and regulations within the Department of the Navy.

b.

Petitioner claims that he recently learned that he is not

eligible for any educational benefits. He states that while at
Aviation Officer Candidate School in 1983 he believed he was an
He is unable to locate a VEAP
eligible participant in VEAP.
Statement of Understanding which would verify his election to
participate in the VEAP.
VEAP Statement of Understanding.

Enclosure (2) is a sanitized copy of the

Enclosure (3) is a letter from his Educational Service Officer in
1985 which states that there was a strong possibility that this
document could have been lost in conjunction with a six month
deployment when all service records were loaded into large metal
containers and sent to the deployment point and the process was
reversed on return from deployment. The Educational Service
Officer described the entire process as "complete chaos".

In correspondence attached as enclosure  

(4), the office

C .

cognisance  over the subject matter involved in

having 
Petitioner's application recommended denial, commenting that the
VEAP was available to members who entered the military for the
first time between 1 January 1977 and 30 June 1985. It was closed
to new enrollments on 30 June 1985 and reopened for five months
from October 1986 to 31 March 1987. Members who did not enroll
before these deadlines lost their eligibility. On 9 October 1996
reference (b) allowed members with an active VEAP account to
convert to the MGIB Program.
reference (c) did not require the Armed Forces to keep
documentation of a member's VEAP election in their service record
and that there was no requirement for individual counseling for
VEAP enrollment upon entry or during the open enrollment period.
Pers 604 states that it attempted to notify all eligible VEAP
members prior to final closure.
Pers 604 contends that since the
program has been closed for over 14 years it is not expected that
members would remember the specifics of the program or
notification of its closure.
Sailors are in this category.

They further contend that 40,000

Pers 604 further states that

Page 7 section (8) paragraph (a)of

personnel in their commands

officers-in-

the original signed VEAP
) will be retained in

 

(4), the

In this connection, the Board found that the

CONCLUSION:
Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record,
notwithstanding the comments contained in enclosure
Board finds the existence of an injustice warranting the
requested relief.
the advisory opinion furnished by Pers 604 (Encl 4) is in
conflict with OPNAV INSTRUCTION 1780.01 which was in effect
during the period in question.
the instruction states that commanding officers or  
charge will ensure that all eligible
are aware of the provisions of the VEAP instruction. Paragraph
(b) states commanding officers or officers-in-charge of
recruiting districts or other units processing entrants to active
duty will ensure that the procedures in paragraph 5e are
followed. The last sentence in paragraph 5e states  
service member elects to enroll or not,
Statement of Understanding
the member's service record.
although eligible servicemembers may enroll and change the amount
of contributions at any time while on active duty, it is
necessary that the right to participate and provisions of
participation be reviewed with eligible servicemembers during
regularly scheduled command career counseling interviews. Page I
of the VEAP Statement of Understanding states that it will be
completed prior to entry on active duty and Page II states that
it will be completed during reception station processing or at
first duty station. It was clear to the Board that Navy policy
concerning the VEAP Program mandated that all Navy members should
have a completed and signed contract and that the contract was to
be maintained in their records.
which states that there are 40,000 members in the same position
as the Petitioner is misleading.
The vast majority of requests
from VEAP members to convert to the MGIB Program are denied
because their records contained a signed VEAP Statement of
Understanding indicating that they elected not to participate in
VEAP.Petitioner is contending that he believes his records did
contain a VEAP Statement of Understanding but it has been lost.
the Board strongly believes that in the absence of
Accordingly,
a completed signed VEAP Statement of Understanding the benefit of
the doubt should go to the Petitioner.

(Parts I and II  
Page (4) paragraph (4) states

" Whether a

The part of the Pers 604 opinion

Accordingly, the Board recommends the following corrective
action.
RECOMMENDATION:

That Petitioner's naval record be corrected, where appropriate,
to show that on 29 June 1985,
the VEAP he executed a VEAP Statement of Understanding
2057) electing to participate in the VEAP with the minimum
contribution of $25.00 and further corrected to show that on 10
October 
executed a MGIB Election Form (DD Form 2366) and that this
election form reflects that he elected to participate in the
VEAP.

199G, during the VEAP to MGIB conversion period, he

one day prior to the termination of
  (DD Form

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

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

ROBERT D. ZSALMAN
Recorder

G. L. ADAMS
Acting Recorder

The foregoing action of the Board is submitted for your

5.
review and action.

Reviewed and approved:

AUG 16 

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(Manpower and Reserve Affairs)