PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:      18 March 1998
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-05160

	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.  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr.	John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Mr.	Thomas N. Kuhn		Member	
	Ms.	Celia L. Adolphi		Member	

	Also present, without vote, were:

	Mr.	Karl F. Schneider		Acting Director	
	Mr.	Jessie B. Strickland		Examiner	

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

	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)

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 that he be granted a qualifying year for retired pay purposes for the period 27 March 1969 to 23 March 1970.

3.  The applicant states that had he known or been advised at the time that being separated 3 days earlier than his scheduled expiration of term of service (ETS) would result in his not receiving a qualifying year for retired pay purposes, he would have requested that he be allowed to serve out his contract with the government.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that the applicant enlisted on 27 March 1967.  He successfully completed his training and was transferred to Germany where he served as a microwave radar repairman until he was returned to Fort Hamilton, New York for the purpose of being honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on 23 March 1970, under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 as an early release overseas returnee.  He had served 2 years, 11 months, and 27 days of total active service and was transferred to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement).

6.  The applicant has remained active in the USAR since his REFRAD in 1970.  However, the applicant was not credited with a qualifying year of service for his last year of active duty due to his being released 3 days earlier than his scheduled ETS.

7.  Army Regulation 635-200 provides the policies and procedures for the separation of enlisted personnel.  It states, in pertinent part, that soldiers will be separated upon ETS or fulfillment of service obligations.  This includes soldiers within 10 days of the date of ETS who return to the Continental Unites States (CONUS) for separation.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was honorably separated 3 days prior to his scheduled ETS after being returned to the CONUS as an early release overseas returnee. 

2.  As a result of his early separation, the applicant has been denied a benefit (a qualifying year for retired pay purposes) that he otherwise would have been able to have attained had he not been separated early.

3.  While the Board understands that the purpose of separating personnel prior to their scheduled ETS when returning from overseas is based on the logistics involved in travel and the timely of processing soldiers before their ETS; it is simply done as a convenience of the government. Accordingly, it is not the intent of the Department that soldiers be denied benefits that they otherwise would have been entitled to receive had they been allowed to serve the entire period of their contract.  

4.  Consequently, it would be appropriate in this case to grant the applicant a full qualifying year for retired pay purposes for the period 27 March 1969 to 23 March 1970.

5.  In view of the foregoing, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was credited with a qualifying year of service for USAR retired pay purposes for the period 27 March 1969 to 23 March 1970.  

BOARD VOTE:  

 TNK      JS     CLA   GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

                       GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                       DENY APPLICATION

		                           
		        CHAIRPERSON