RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-02900 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: YES ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 1. She be promoted to the grade of Master Sergeant (E-7), with an effective date of 1 Oct 08. 2. Her official records be corrected to show she was retained on active duty for the purpose of medical continuation (MEDCON) during the periods 24 Sep 10 through 31 Oct 10 and 1 Oct 11 through 23 Jan 12. 3. She be reimbursed 56 cumulative days of leave she has lost since Nov 01. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 1. In 2008, her outgoing commander initiated paperwork for her promotion, entered it and her Enlisted Performance Report (EPR) into the Virtual Personnel Center Guard/Reserve (VPCGR), and announced her promotion at his Change-of-Command Ceremony. Then, the new incoming commander refused to promote her. 2. Failure to receive a timely Line of Duty (LOD) Determination for her foot injury caused her to unjustly experience breaks in service during the periods 24 Sep 10 through 31 Oct 10 and 1 Oct 11 through 23 Jan 12. 3. Operational requirements precluded her from taking leave. She supported Operation NOBLE EAGLE (ONE) from 26 Nov 01 through 23 Sep 10. She was a one-deep shop and because it was a 24- hour mission, she worked lots of hours and did not take much leave. She was subsequently deployed to Iraq and lost approximately 20 days of leave. In addition, in Sep 10 she was notified her position was going away, and did not have enough time to use her leave. She was paid for 60-days of leave in Jun 11 which she did not wish to be paid for, but she lost the remaining 13 days of leave she had on the books. Finally, she was on orders from 1 Nov 11 through 30 Sep 11 and has a balance of 23 days from this period she would like to recoup. The applicant’s complete submissions, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant served in the Air National Guard in the rank of Technical Sergeant (E-6) during the period of time in question. On 8 Apr 13, officials within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force directed the applicant be discharged and receive severance pay with a combined disability rating of 20 percent. According to the applicant’s Point Credit Accounting Report Summary (PCARS), the applicant has been credited with 19 years, 10 months, and 13 days Total Active Federal Military Service (TAFMS) as of 15 Apr 13. The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are described in the letters prepared by the Air Force offices of primary responsibility which are included at Exhibits C, D, and E. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: NGB/A1PP recommends denial of the applicant’s request for promotion to Master Sergeant, indicating there is no evidence of an error or injustice. ANGI 36-2502, Promotion of Airman, states “Prior to promotion to any grade, the immediate commander must first recommend the airman.” While it appears the applicant’s commander recommended her for promotion, on 21 Aug 08, the Force Support Squadron (FSS) Superintendent received an e-mail from the 121 FS/CC stating: “I have conferred with the ASA/CC and we wish to temporarily hold [the applicant’s] promotion to MSgt. Please return her promotion package to the Operations Group.” The FSS returned the package without action. This was prior to the Oct 08 Change-of-Command at which the applicant claims the prior commander announced her promotion. Therefore, at the time of the Change-of-Command, the applicant was not recommended for promotion by her immediate commander in accordance with ANGI 36-2502. A complete copy of the NGB/A1PP evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit C. NGB/A1PS recommends denial of the applicant’s request that her records be corrected to show she did not have a break in service during the period 24 Sep 10 through 31 Oct 10. She provided no documentation to support her contention that she should have been on active duty during this period for the purpose of MEDCON, such as an AF FM 469, Duty Limiting Condition Report, or any other documentation which would indicate her injury rendered her unfit for duty during this period which would form the basis for her retention on active duty for MEDCON. However, the applicant’s request that her records be corrected to show that she was retained on MEDCON orders during the period 1 Oct 11 through 23 Jan 12 should be granted. The applicant’s documentation for this period includes three AF Forms 469 showing she was on Mobility Restricted Status, with a release date of 12 Mar 12. IAW SAF/MR Medical Continuation Policy, dated 15 Aug 12, “MEDCON eligibility requires a Line of Duty (LOD) determination and a finding by a credentialed military health care provider that the Airman has an unresolved health condition requiring treatment and renders the Airman unable to meet retention or mobility standards IAW AFI 48-123, Medical Examinations and Standards.” A complete copy of the NGB/A1PS evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit D. NGB/A1PS recommends denial of the applicant’s request to restore her lost leave, indicating there is no evidence of an error or injustice. AFI 36-3003, Military Leave Program, Air Force Guidance Memorandum 5, states annual leave is both the management and members shared responsibility in managing leave balances throughout the Fiscal Year (FY); Congress did not intend for members to accrue large leave balances expressly for payment of accrued leave. DoD 7000.14-R, Financial Management Regulation (FMR), states, “a member is entitled to receive payment for no more than 60 days of accrued leave during a military career.” The applicant did not submit sufficient evidence to show circumstances or situations either prohibited her from taking leave or that she was inappropriately denied leave. In addition, the applicant’s records indicate she was already paid for all unused leave for tours supporting ONE. However, she is eligible to receive 23.5 days of leave for Special Order A-A000120 once a proper voucher has been submitted. A complete copy of the NGB/A1PS evaluation is at Exhibit E. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 1. Regarding her request for promotion to MSgt, her commander’s change-of-command was on 16 Aug 08. Her outgoing commander did announce that he wanted to promote her on that day, but there was an administrative error and he had to re-submit the promotion package. The officer who requested her promotion package be returned was not in her chain-of-command. The incoming commander had her promotion package pulled back without the approval of the outgoing commander because of retribution and retaliation toward the outgoing commander. Her promotion was on “temporary hold,” it was not denied. 2. Regarding the NGB/A1PS recommendation to deny her request to correct her record to reflect she was on MEDCON orders during the period 24 Sep 10 through 31 Oct 10, the Medical Group Commander did not comply with DoDI 1241.01, Reserve Component Medical Care and Incapacitation Pay for Line of Duty Conditions, which states, “Establishes policies for ordering a Reserve component member to active duty or continuing the member on active duty while being treated for (or recovering from) an injury, illness, or disease incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.” Her Medical Group Commander told her to take her LOD to the VA, but she had not received an LOD. An Interim LOD could have been accomplished but she did not receive one. She did not receive her LOD until mid-March 11. 3. Regarding the NGB/A1PS recommendation to deny her request for recoupment of lost leave, she states she supported both ONE and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM; according to the literature she was authorized to retain 120 days of leave until the end of the second Fiscal Year. She reiterates that her intent was never to sell leave but to use it. She has filed an Inspector General complaint and made a Congressional inquiry but received no relief. She submitted additional documentation related to her attempt to recoup leave through DFAS. A complete copy of the applicant’s response, with attachments is at Exhibit G. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice with regard to the applicant’s requests to correct her records to reflect that she was promoted to the grade of Master Sergeant, retained on active duty during the period 24 Sep 10 through 31 Oct 10 for the purpose of medical continuation (MEDCON), or reimbursed for her lost leave. We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission, to include her response to the advisory opinions, in judging the merits of the case and her arguments are duly noted; however, we agree with the opinions and recommendations of the Air Force offices of primary responsibility (OPR) and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion that she has not been the victim of an error of injustice with regard to these three requests. Therefore, in view of the above and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis upon which to recommend favorable consideration of this portion of the application. 4. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice with respect to the applicant’s claim she should have been retained on active duty for the purposes of MEDCON during the period 1 Oct 11 through 23 Jan 12. After a thorough review of the evidence of record, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of NGB/A1PS and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant should have been retained on MEDCON orders for the purpose of recuperating from her unfitting medical condition. In this respect, we note she has provided copies of three duty limiting condition reports which indicate that her line of duty injury rendered her unfit during the period in question and should have formed the basis for her retention on active duty for the purpose of MEDCON. Therefore, we recommend her records be corrected to the extent indicated below. We note that she is currently being processed through the disability evaluation system (DES) for this unfitting condition. We are also aware that by crediting her with the additional 3 months and 23 days of active service related to this period of MEDCON that she will ultimately attain more than 20 years of total active military service and, thus, be eligible to apply for an active duty retirement should she so choose. 5. The applicant’s case is adequately documented and it has not been shown that a personal appearance with or without counsel will materially add to our understanding of the issues involved. Therefore, the request for a hearing is not favorably considered. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that on 1 October 2011 she was not released from active duty, but on that date, she was continued on active duty through 23 January 2012 for the purpose of medical continuation in accordance with Title 10 USC 12301(h). ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2012-02900 in Executive Session on 21 Mar 12, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: Panel Chair Member Member All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Forms 149, dated 27 & 29 Jun 12, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, NGB/A1PP, dated 30 Aug 12, w/atchs. Exhibit D. Letter, NGB/A1PS, dated 13 Sep 12, w/atchs. Exhibit E. Letter, NGB/A1PS, dated 8 Jan 13. Exhibit F. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 15 Jan 13. Exhibit G. Letter, Applicant, dated 13 Feb 13, w/atchs.