PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           4 February 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12220
				   AR1998012471

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		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 the Army pay off her student loans as per her reenlistment contract.

3.  The applicant states that an error was made on the part of an agent of the government and not because of any act of fraud on her part.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she reenlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve on 9 April 1994, in a military occupational specialty (MOS) that appeared to qualify for the SLRP.  In addition to the normal documents involved in a reenlistment, a Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum, DA Form 5261-4-R, was completed wherein both the applicant and the adjutant acknowledged that she enlisted for an MOS that was authorized the Student Loan Repayment Option.

5.  On 27 May 1997, the Army discovered that the applicant’s reenlistment MOS was invalid for the SLRP.

6.  The SLRP provides for the repayment by the Government of a designated portion of any outstanding student loan(s) secured after 1 October 1975.  The loan amount to be repaid is 15 percent of the original balance of the loan plus accrued interest not paid by the Department of Education, or $500.00 plus the accrued interest not paid by the Department of the Education, whichever is greater.  Payments will be made for each year of satisfactory service in the Selected Reserve.  The maximum amount of loans against which the 15 percent is computed will not exceed $10,000.  This equates to a maximum annual repayment of $1,500 plus interest.  If the amount set for repayment is less than $500.00, then $500.00 becomes the calculated amount for repayment that year. 

7.  To be eligible for the SLRP incentive, a person must contractually obligate himself or herself to serve satisfactorily, must serve in a reserve unit for a full term of the contractual agreement and must further obligate himself or herself to continue to serve in the same component and the same MOS unless excused for the convenience of the Government.  Entitlement to the SLRP will stop if the soldier is separated from his or her unit.  Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this SLRP agreement establishes an anniversary date.  Any qualifying loan which is at least a year old may then be paid in accordance with the terms of this educational enlistment incentive.

8.  The Government will not make any payments to the soldier or reimburse a soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government will only pay the lending institution.

9.  Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552, the law which provides for the Board, states that “The Secretary may pay, from applicable current appropriations, a claim for the loss of pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, or other pecuniary benefits, or the repayment of a fine or forfeiture, if, as a result of correcting a record under this section, the amount is found to be due the claimant on account of his or another’s service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, as the case may be.”

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence in the records shows that the applicant reenlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve, in good faith, for the Student Loan Repayment Program incentive on    9 April 1994.  The adjutant signed her reenlistment documents.  This Board accepts that the applicant was led to believe that her student loan would be paid under the SLRP.  This Board also accepts that the applicant was induced to reenlist with the erroneous understanding that her student loan would be paid under the SLRP.

2.  The applicant served the Army in good faith for three years thinking she was entitled to the SLRP incentive before the Army discovered and notified her that she was not eligible for entitlement.  Through no fault of her own she was denied that entitlement.

3.	The applicant’s military records may be corrected to show her DA Form  5261-4-R, Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum, section V, was amended to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for reenlistment as payable under the SLRP and it is later discovered not to be payable for reasons of law or regulation, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”  This would allow the Board to invoke that provision and pay her the amount her lending institution would have been paid under the SLRP.

4.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.	That the DA Form 5261-4-R, Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum, section V, be amended to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for reenlistment as payable under the SLRP and it is later discovered not to be payable for reasons of law or regulation, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”

2.  That in accordance with Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service shall remit payment to the individual concerned $4941.31, the principal amount of her student loan, as a result of the foregoing correction.

BOARD VOTE:  

__JHL__  __AAO__  __VBC___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			JoAnn H. Langston
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-12220/AR1998012471	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990204	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.