PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           10 February 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999015709

	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. Vic Whitney.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Patrick Bogenberger		Chairperson	
	Mr. Elzey J. Arledge, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Gary F. Geraets		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 debt to the US Government for $266.48 be forgiven.

3.  The applicant states that he received pay for drills attended with his unit and was not notified until later that he had been transferred to the Retired Reserve effective a date earlier than the drill dates.

4.  The applicant’s available military records show that he enlisted in the Reserve Components on 13 December 1974 and continued to serve until his separation and assignment to the Retired Reserve by the Army National Guard, State of New York, effective 25 October 1997.

5.	The record also contains a memorandum from his unit of assignment, dated 9 November 1997, stating that the applicant attended five unit training assemblies between 7 and 9 November 1997.

6.	A leave and earnings statement (LES) for the applicant shows that he was paid $233.80, after taxes, in December 1997 for attendance at five unit training assemblies between 7 and 9 November 1997.

7.  A letter to the applicant from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) states that the debt of $266.48 is correct based on his previously receiving pay for unit training assemblies after his effective date of separation.  This was considered by DFAS to be an erroneous payment unless the applicant could show that he had been separated on a date after the drills he was paid for.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant attended five unit training assemblies without prior knowledge that he had been separated and transferred to the Retired Reserve with an earlier effective date.

2.  It appears that the applicant’s unit of assignment was not aware that he had been separated and was in a non-pay status when they allowed him to attend the above mentioned drills and processed the necessary documentation to pay the applicant for his attendance.

3.  Through no apparent fault of the applicant he accepted pay for the drills that he attended and he had, at the time, a reasonable expectation that he was entitled to it.  There is no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation on the part of the applicant.

4.  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 by showing that:

a.	the debt charged against the individual concerned be cancelled; and

b.	any monies collected from him for this erroneous overpayment be refunded to him, as appropriate.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___PB___  __EJA___  __GFG___  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015709	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990210	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.10	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.