RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS. IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2015-00944 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: The 24 days of leave he lost be restored to his record. APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He unfairly lost 24 days of leave due to late leave processing. Due to his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, special leave accrual (SLA) guidelines entitled him to carry a leave balance of 75 days into the new FY. On 10 Dec 13, he attempted to sell 30 days of his leave when he extended his enlistment to retire at his high year of tenure (HYT) date, but due to his leave being processed too late, he lost 24 days. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant initially entered the Regular Air Force on 7 Dec 88. On 10 Dec 13, the applicant signed an AF Form 1089, Leave Settlement Option, requesting to sell 30 days of leave in conjunction with extending his enlistment. On 31 Dec 14, the applicant retired after serving 26 years and 24 days of total active service. The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the memorandum prepared by the Air Force office of primary responsibility (OPR), which is attached at Exhibit C. AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPSIMC recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of an error or an injustice. In accordance with AFI 36-3003, Military Leave Program, Special Leave Approval (SLA) allows members who are faced with circumstances that prohibit them from taking leave to accumulate leave in excess of 60 days. The 60 day maximum was temporarily increased to 75 days through the end of Fiscal Year 2015. Therefore, as of 1 Oct 15, the maximum accrued leave which can be carried over into the new FY returns to 60-days. The situation preventing members from using leave must have been caused by a catastrophe, national emergency, and/or crises or operations in defense of national security. SLA should not be used as a means to authorize the accumulation of leave that is a result of a member’s failure to properly manage their leave balance. If, at any time, a member’s leave balance drops to or goes below the 75 day limit (60 days after 30 Sep 15), then that member no longer has any SLA protected leave. Therefore, the actual leave that can be carried over into a new FY is the lowest leave balance the member has following the completion of the SLA duty or the usual (60 or 75) days, whichever is greater. The applicant started FY14 with 73 days of leave. Throughout FY14 he earned 30 days leave and used 4 days, leaving him with a leave balance of 99 days (73+30 = 103-4 = 99) at the end of FY14. At the start of FY15 on 1 Oct 14, due to not being approved for SLA, the applicant’s leave balance was properly adjusted to the 75 days of maximum allowable leave at the time, resulting in his losing 24 days of leave. While the applicant provided documentation verifying he deployed in support of a contingency operation in 2010, AFI 36-3003 requires wing or vice wing commander approval for SLA. The applicant did not have wing or vice wing commander approval. Finally, even if the applicant had been granted SLA by his leadership, his leave balance dropped below the 75 day maximum level during the FY14, so he would not have been protected by the SLA guidelines and he would still have lost the 24 days of leave. A complete copy of the AFPC/ DPSIMC evaluation, with attachment, is at Exhibit C. APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 11 Jun 15, for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit D). As of this date, no response has been received by this office. THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2.  The application was timely filed. 3.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. After a thorough review of the evidence of record and the applicant’s complete submission, we believe the applicant is the victim of an error or injustice. While we acknowledge the comments of AFPC/DPSIMC indicating relief should be denied because the applicant did not provide advance approval from his Wing/CC or Wing/CV as required, and his leave balance dipped below 75 days during Fiscal Year 2014 resulting in his losing 24 days of accrued leave, we believe a preponderance of the evidence substantiates that corrective action is warranted. In this respect, we note that had the applicant’s 10 Dec 13 request to sell leave been processed in a timely manner, he would not have lost the leave in question. Therefore, we recommend the applicant’s records be corrected as indicated below. 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 10 December 2013, he sold an additional 24 days of accrued leave in conjunction with the extension of his reenlistment. The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2015-00944 in Executive Session on 3 Nov 15 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 Form 149, dated 5 Mar 15, w/atchs. Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C.  Memorandum, AFPC/DPSIMC, dated 11 May 15, w/atch. Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 11 Jun 15.