PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           14 October 1998
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09781

	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	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Member	
	Mr. Robert W. Garrett		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 that his student loans be paid in accordance with his Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) addendum.

3.  He states that he specifically enlisted for the SLRP, consenting to an assignment to a USAR unit over 90 miles away from his home in order to have a military occupational specialty (MOS) which qualified for the SLRP.  He has now completed his part of the contract, being awarded the MOS for which he enlisted and remaining assigned to his unit.  However, he has now been told that his MOS did not qualify for the SLRP when he enlisted, leaving him with approximately $4,500.00 in student loans which should have been paid under the SLRP.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the USAR with no prior service in pay grade E-4 on 24 February 1994.  At that time the applicant held a masters degree.

5.  He completed his initial active duty for training and was awarded the MOS for which he enlisted (91G).  On the date he submitted his application to the Board he was assigned to a USAR unit in pay grade E-4.

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 if less than $500.00, then $500.00 becomes the calculated amount for repayment that year.  To be eligible for the SLRP incentive, a person must contractually obligate himself to service satisfactorily, must serve in the Selected Reserve for a full term of the contractual agreement and must further obligate himself 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 contracted for an MOS authorized by Department of the Army for SLRP entitlement and moves to an ineligible MOS, or is reclassified, unless at the express direction of the Department of the Army.  A soldier will not be eligible for any initial or subsequent loan repayments until he or she has completed IADT, is MOS qualified, and has been awarded a high school diploma. Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this SLRP agreement establishes an anniversary date.  As with the bonus incentive the SLRP is tied to service in a valid position vacancy.  By law (title 10, U.S. Code, section 2171), the Government cannot reimburse a soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government can only pay the lending institution.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was obviously enticed to enlist with the promise of the SLRP and completed the addendum required to receive that incentive.

2.  As such, it would be in the interest of justice to correct his records to show that his MOS qualified for the SLRP at the time of his enlistment, as an exception to policy.

3.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice 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:

	a.  showing that the MOS of the individual concerned, 91G, was eligible for a maximum of $10,000.00 in loan repayment under the SLRP on 24 February 1994, as an exception to policy to be applied only to the applicant; and

	b.  paying to him the anniversary payments, for loans which are still outstanding, which he should have received if his MOS had been eligible for the SLRP addendum when he enlisted on 24 February 1994.

BOARD VOTE:  

 EMS  RWG JNS_GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

                             GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                             DENY APPLICATION

		       John N. Slone_______
		        CHAIRPERSON