PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           10 March 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09466
                                              AR1999015611

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

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Ms. Juanita I. Williams		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Ms. Meta Waller		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

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

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests , in effect, that his records be corrected to show him entitled to receipt of reserve retired pay.

3.  The applicant states that he received his discharge from the State of Texas Adjutant General Department, Austin, Texas, stating he had completed his 
20 years of service.  At the time, he was 41 years old.  In 1989, at age 60, he began preparing for retirement and wrote to the Texas National Guard Adjutant General.  The letter he received in response stated that he needed 2 more years. He states that no one informed him in 1970 that he needed any more years of service.  If he had known this then, he would have stayed 2 more years.  

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was born on 10 October 1929 in San Antonio, Texas.  He enlisted in the active Army on 23 August 1950 and served until 12 August 1953.  He then served in the USAR from 13 August 1953 until 16 November 1956.  In only 1 of those 3 years did he earn 50 or more retirement points.  He had no military status between 17 November 1956 and
4 February 1957.  On 5 February 1957 he enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG), actively participating in the USAR program and  attaining the rank of staff sergeant.  On 15 November 1970 he was honorably discharged from the TXARNG.  During his service with the TXARNG the applicant earned between 62 and 208 retirement points per retirement year.  The orders discharging him from the TXARNG and his separation document (NGB Form 22) both show the reason for his discharge as “completion of 20 years of service.” 

5.  On 6 February 1990 the Army Reserve Personnel Center (ARPERCEN) informed the applicant, in response to his application for retired pay benefits, that he had not accrued the necessary 20 years of qualifying service and, therefore, was ineligible for retired pay benefits.  A Chronological Record of Military Service prepared at that time shows him credited with 17 years, 9 months and 1 day of creditable service for reserve retired pay purposes and a total of 20 years and 
5 days total service (qualifying and non-qualifying) for longevity pay purposes.  

6.  Title 10, U.S. Code, sections 1331-1337, then in effect, governed eligibility for receipt of reserve retired pay at age 60.  It provided that after 1 July 1949, a qualifying year is one in which a reservist earns at least 50 retirement points.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant, and apparently his National Guard unit, believed he had completed 20 qualifying years of service for receipt of reserve retirement benefits, as evidenced by the applicant’s separation orders and document.  

2.  While he had completed 20 years of service for longevity pay purposes, the applicant had completed only 17 years, 9 months and 1 day of  qualifying service for reserve retirement benefits.  It appears that the applicant’s break in military status, plus his failure to earn 50 or more retirement points during 2 of the 3 years he was assigned to the USAR, was inadvertently overlooked by the TXARNG when it discharged the applicant in 1970.  

3.  It is reasonable to believe, as the applicant contends, that had he known he needed the additional years of service, he would have remained active in the USAR program until he had completed the required service, given the level of his participation in the TXARG for the previous 14 years.  

4.  Believing he was entitled to reserve retired pay, the applicant made application for same in a timely manner.  He is now 69 years old  and past the age for actively participating in the USAR.  

5.  The interests of justice would best be served, therefore, by correcting the applicant’s records to show he is entitled to reserve retired pay benefits.  However, since he did not complete 20 years of qualifying service, his pay should be calculated based upon 17 years, 9 months, and 1 day’s service.  

6.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected:

a.  by issuing to the individual concerned a letter of eligibility for receipt of reserve retired pay (20-year letter);  

b.  by showing that his application for reserve retired benefits was timely filed and approved retroactive to his 60th birthday; and 

c.  by calculating his reserve retired pay on 17 years, 9 months, and 1 day of qualifying service.   

BOARD VOTE:  

____X____  ____X____  ____X____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID AR1999015611	AC98-09466	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990310	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DIRECTOR 	
ISSUES         1.136.0200		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.