DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORD

S

2 NAVY ANNE

X

WASHINGTON DC

 

20370-5100 TRG

Docket No: 8589-01
7 October 2002

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

OF

(a) Title 10 U.S.C. 1552

(1) Case Summary
(2) Subject's naval record

From:
To:

Subj:

Ref:

Encl:

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

1.
retired enlisted member of the Marine Corps
with this Board requesting that his career retirement credit
report (CRCR) be corrected to show his service during Desert
Shield/Storm.
be corrected to show that he is eligible for retired pay at age
60.

He is also requesting, in effect, that this record

filed enclosure (1)

The Board, consisting 

bf Mr. Brezna, Mr. Kastner and Mr.

2.
McPartlin, reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and
injustice on 5 November 2002 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 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.

Although it appears that Petitioner's application was

not filed in a timely manner,
waive the statute of limitations and review the application on
its merits.

it is in the interest of justice to

C .

Petitioner reenlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on 12
Subsequently, in 1990, he was promoted

May 1988 for four years.
to Gunnery Sergeant (GYSGT; E-7).
Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) on 9 April 1990.
subsequently called up in support of Operation Desert
Shield/Storm and served on active duty from 19 January to 17 May
With the crediting of this
1991, and then returned to the IRR.

He transferred to the
He was

service, he had 17 years of qualifying service for reserve
retirement at the end of his anniversary year on 14 July 1991,
A three month
and he earned no further qualifying years.
extension became effective on 12 May 1992 and he was transferred
to the Retired Reserve in the grade of GYSGT on 1 August 1992.
Given the foregoing it does not appear that he has earned the
necessary two years of qualifying
a GYSGT.

service required to require as

d.

Petitioner states in his application, in effect, that
reenlist through the mail and
he was informed that his

since he was in the IRR he had to
when he called the IRR recruiter,
reenlistment package was lost.
of his extension, he was informed that his only options were to
be discharged or to request retirement.
protested that he did not have enough qualifying years, he was
informed that he was eligible to retire.
he requested retirement and was so retired effective 1 August
1992. He states that he has since learned that this honorary
retirement does not entitle him to retired pay at age 60.

Since he was approaching the end

He states that when he

Based on this advice,

e.

Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) has administratively

During this 15 year period, Petitioner

The CRCR shows continuous service from 15 July 1969

corrected Petitioner's CRCR to show his active duty during Desert
Shield/Storm and action by the Board on this issue is not
necessary.
until 14 July 1984.
earned 13 years of qualifying service.
service for one year on 12 May 1987 and served continuously until
his retirement on 1 August 1992.
However, the CRCR erroneously
indicates that his anniversary year starts on 15 July 1987.
three months extension properly became effective on 12 May 1992.
Therefore, this is a minor error that can be corrected
administratively by HQMC.
he earned an additional four qualifying years.

After his reenlistment on 12 May 1987

He reenlisted with broken

The

f.

HQMC also states that if Petitioner desires to reenlist

he should contact the prior service recruiter.
no guarantee that he will be automatically accepted back into the
Marine Corps because he must meet all the standards for
reenlistment.

However, there is

CONCLUSION:

The Board notes that Petitioner extended his enlistment

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record the
Board concludes that Petitioner's request warrants favorable
action.
for three months so that he would have sufficient time for a
reenlistment package to be processed.
The Board believes that
Petitioner must have received bad advice because although he had
20 years of total service,

he only had 17 years of qualifying

2

It certainly was an error

to request retirement when a

service.
properly considered reenlistment request apparently would have
Given the circumstances, the Board believes that
been approved.
an injustice has occurred and concludes that corrective action is
warranted.
that Petitioner contact a prior service recruiter is not a viable
alternative because Petitioner is now 55 years old and probably
does not meet the requirements for reenlistment.

However, the Board believes that  

HQMC's suggestion

Therefore, the Board concludes that Petitioner's record should be
corrected by transferring sufficient retirement points from the
excess over 50 in qualifying years into the three anniversary
years ending on 14 July 1983,
14 July 1984 and 11 May 1992, to
With this
make those years qualifying for reserve retirement.
correction, Petitioner will have 20 qualifying years and will be
Since Petitioner is already
eligible for retired pay at age 60.
retired no action to retire him is required.

Concerning the issue of Petitioner's grade on requirement, the
Board notes that with the correction to the record to make the
anniversary year ending 11 May 1992 qualifying, Petitioner will
have two qualifying year in the grade of GYSGT and concludes that
he is appropriately retired in that grade.

The Board further concludes that this Report of Proceedings
should be filed in Petitioner's naval record so that all future
reviewers will understand his eligibility for retired pay at age
60.

RECOMMENDATION:

That Petitioner's naval record be corrected by moving

a.
sufficient retirement points from the excess over 50 in
qualifying years to make the anniversary years ending 14 July
1983, 14 July 1984 and 11 May 1992 qualifying for reserve
retirement.

That this Report of Proceedings be filed in Petitioner's

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

ROBERT D.   ZSALMAN
Recorder

ALAN  E . GOLDSMITH
Acting Recorder

3

Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section

5.
6(e) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of
Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 723.6(e))
and having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby
announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the
has been approved by the Board on
authority of reference (a),
behalf of the Secretary of the Navy.

Executive