MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            24 February 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-05739
				   AR1998002362

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  In effect, the applicant requests that he be granted   20 years of qualifying service in order to be eligible for retired pay at age 60.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he has over 20 years total time and it is his understanding that part of his regular service can be reallocated to his reserve service, i.e., those years he spent in the Army Reserve and National Guard in which he did not earn the number of points to qualify for “good” years.    

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

The applicant was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve on                       30 November 1959 in the rank of Private First Class.  He had 1 year, 4 months, and 24 days of total service, and 1 year, 2 months, and 11 days of total active service.  He reenlisted and served on active duty from 1 December 1959 until his discharge on 14 November 1963, and reenlisted again the following day.  He was discharged from the Marine Corps on 14 November 1973 in the rank of Staff Sergeant E-6.  He had 10 years of service, and 5 years, 4 months, and 8 days of prior service.  He had a total of 15 years, 2 months, and 4 days of active service.

The applicant enlisted in the Army Reserve for six years on 5 August 1976 and on 10 December he was transferred from a troop program unit to the Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) at St. Louis, at his own request.  He was released from that Control Group on 4 September 1979.  Annual statements of retirement points for retirement years 1977 through 1979 show that he did not have a qualifying year, earning only 15 membership points for each of those years. 

The applicant enlisted in the California Army National Guard on                           5 September 1979 and was discharged in the rank of Staff Sergeant E-6 on        4 September 1982.  He had a total of 21 years, 5 months, and 9 days of total service for pay purposes.

In response to his application for retired pay benefits, the chief of the Retirements Section at St. Louis informed him on 21 August 1996, that in order to be eligible for retired pay at age 60, a Reserve soldier or former Reserve soldier must have completed a minimum of 20 qualifying years of service, the last 8 years of which must have been in a Reserve component.  He was informed that he had completed 16 years, 4 months, and 8 days of qualifying service, and he was therefore ineligible to receive retirement benefits as a retired reservist.  That official attached a copy of the applicant’s chronological record of military service.

Army Regulation 135-180 implements statutory authorities governing the granting of retired pay to soldiers and former Reserve Component soldiers.  Paragraph   2-1 of that regulation states, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for retired pay, an individual need not have a military status at the time of application, but must have attained age 60, completed a minimum of 20 years of qualifying service, and served the last 8 years of his qualifying service as a Reserve component soldier.

Paragraph 2-8 of the aforementioned regulation describes qualifying service, as pertains to this case, as service performed as an enlisted person in an active status in a Reserve component or in active federal service.  Before 1 July 1949 service in the National Guard, the Army Reserve in an active Reserve status, and the Army without specification of component is qualifying service.  After 
30 June 1949, a reservist must earn a minimum of 50 retirement points each retirement year to have that year credited as qualifying service.  When a person is in an active status for a period less than a full retirement year, a minimum number of retirement points are required to be earned in order to have that period credited as qualifying service.

Paragraph 2-10 provides instructions for computation of service and states, in effect, that (1) before 1 July 1949, one point will be given for each day of active duty, and 50 points will be awarded for each year of service as a Reserve component soldier.  A proportionate part of 50 points for any fraction of a year will be credited; (2) after 30 June 1949, one point will be given for each day of active duty, 15 points will be awarded for each year of membership in an active status in a Reserve component, and one point for each authorized participation in drills or period of instruction.  Not more than 60 points per year, including membership points, will be credited for inactive duty training in any one retirement year. 

Army Regulation 140-185 prescribes the types of training and activities for which retirement points are authorized and the procedures for recording retirement point credits and training for Reserve soldiers.  Paragraph 1-4 of that regulation provides the criteria for establishing or changing the retirement year (RY), and states, in effect, that soldiers in an active Reserve status on 1 July 1949 will have a retirement year from 1 July through 30 June annually.  After 1 July 1949, the retirement year will be the date of initial entry or reentry (after a break in service) into a Reserve component, or date of transfer to the Reserve component upon release from active duty, or date of transfer from an inactive Reserve status to an active Reserve status.  The retirement year once established will not change as long as the soldier has continuous service in a Reserve and/or regular component.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  The applicant had over 15 years of qualifying service for retired pay based on his service in the Marine Corps from July 1958 to November 1973.  He enlisted in the Army Reserve in August of 1976, served almost all of that time in the Reserve Control Group before transferring to the Army National Guard in 1979.  He did not have a qualifying year of service while assigned to the Army Reserve, having obtained only 15 membership points for each the three years of service with that component.
 
2.  He had one qualifying year of service while assigned to the Army National Guard, from 5 August 1979 through 4 August 1980.  In September of that year he was transferred to the inactive National Guard.
 
3.  The evidence shows that the chronological record of his military service provided to him in 1996 is an accurate record of his military service, depicting his service in the Marine Corps, both Reserve and active, his Army Reserve service, and his Army National Guard service.  He has 16 years, 4 months, and 8 days of qualifying service.  There are no provisions for taking retirement points from one qualifying year of service, i.e., his active Marine Corps service, and adding those points to a nonqualifying year of service, i.e., his Army Reserve service, in order to obtain a qualifying year of service.  Nor should this be done, being unfair to those who did obtain the qualifying years of service for retired pay.     

4.  The applicant does not have 20 qualifying years of service in order to be eligible for retired pay, nor should he be granted the qualifying years.

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___cmf__  __mdm___  __bje___  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-05739/AR1998002362	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990224	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 135.02		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.