PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            11 March 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999020501

	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. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		Member	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		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 term of service at enlistment be corrected to reflect 3 years vice 4 years and that his separation date be adjusted accordingly. He states he initially enlisted for a period of 4 years but prior to entering active duty he renegotiated his term of service for a period of 3 years.  He notes that while some of his enlistment documents reflect 3 years his DA Form 4-3 still reflects 4 years and as such his separation date is erroneously scheduled for 
27 February 2000 when in fact it should have been 27 February 1999.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant initially enlisted on 
12 December 1995 under the delayed entry program and was scheduled to enter active duty on 5 March 1996 for a period of 4 years.  On 21 February 1996, prior to entering active duty, he renegotiated his enlistment contract to enter active duty on 28 February 1996 for a period of 3 years in order to be guaranteed training as an infantryman.  During the preparation of his enlistment documents his DA Form 4-3 was incorrectly prepared indicating he was entering active duty for a period 4 years on 28 February 1996 vice 3 years.  Based on his 3-year active duty enlistment contract his scheduled separation date would be 
27 February 1999.

4.  In the processing of this application an advisory opinion was provided by the Retention Management Division of the Total Army Personnel Command.  The opinion noted the applicant’s enlistment documents were incorrect and that his records should be corrected to reflect that he entered active duty for a period of 
3 years on 28 February 1996.  They recommended that line 8a on his DA Form 4-1 and line 20a on his DD Form 4-3 be corrected to reflect 3 years vice 4 years. In the interest of time this information was passed to the individual via his unit retention NCO rather than providing the applicant a hard copy of the opinion for his comment.  The applicant had no comment although the retention NCO suggested the applicant be given 45 days after notification to allow for out-processing.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms the applicant’s enlistment documents erroneously indicated he had entered active duty for a period of 4 years on 28 February 1996 when in fact his term of enlistment was really only for 3 years.  As noted in the advisory opinion his enlistment documents should be corrected accordingly.

2.  Based on his 3-year term of service the applicant’s separation date should have 27 February 1999.  However, in view of the fact that his application was not received by the Board until after that date, it would be appropriate to permit him to remain on active duty at the convenience of the Government up to 45 days following receipt of the Board’s action.  This would allow sufficient time for the applicant to prepare and be processed for separation.

3.  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 showing that the individual concerned entered active duty on          28 February 1996 for a term of 3 years;

b.  by correcting line 8a of his DD Form 4-1 and line 20a of his DD Form 4-3 to show 3 years vice 4 years; and

c.  by permitting the applicant to remain on active duty at the convenience of the government for a period not to exceed 45 days following receipt of the Board’s action to allow for proper separation processing.

BOARD VOTE:  

___cla__  ___vbc__  __clg_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999020501	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990311	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.110.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.