PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            27 May 1999       
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999021062

	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. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Edward Williamson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Meta Waller		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		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 transfer to the Retired Reserve.

3.  The applicant states that he was erroneously discharged instead of being transferred to the Retired Reserve, as he had requested after receiving his           20 year letter.   

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 10 August 1994 the applicant received notification of eligibility for retired pay at age 60 (twenty year letter).  A copy of an Armed Forces identification card that he submits with his application shows that that card was issued to him on 21 October 1994, shows his rank, grade, and status, as SGT/E5/RET, respectively, and shows the expiration date of the card as being 1 January 2017, the day prior to his 60th birthday.

5.  The applicant was a Reserve soldier assigned to the 320th Evacuation Hospital in New Windsor, New York.  Documents in his file show that he was an unsatisfactory participant (did not attend drills), having accumulated                      14 unexcused absences during a one year period as of 1 September 1994.  

6.  On 27 September 1994 the applicant’s unit commander requested to the      77th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM), the applicant’s major Reserve command, that the applicant be discharged on his ETS (separation date) of         12 December 1994.  The form used to initiate that request shows that the applicant was not available to sign it.  The 77th ARCOM forwarded the request to the Army Reserve Command at Atlanta, and on 14 December 1994, that command published an order discharging the applicant from the Army Reserve.

7.  A form in the applicant’s record, titled “Retention Recovery Program, Military Personnel Records Jacket Routing Slip” has notations of telephone attempts to contact the applicant, and a penciled notation that “wants to retire – process for retirement.”  

8.  Army Regulation 140-10, Chapter 6, provides policies and procedures for transfer to the Retired Reserve.  Paragraph 6-1 states, in pertinent part, that assignment to the Retired Reserve is authorized if a soldier has completed a total of 20 years of active or inactive service in the Armed Forces.  Eligible soldiers must request transfer.

9.  Informal information gained from an official at the Army Reserve Command in a similar case revealed that Reserve units were normally required to prepare requests for soldiers to be transferred to the Retired Reserve 90 days prior to the requested transfer date, and when this was not possible and in the interests of expediency, soldiers were sometimes discharged. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There may have been a lack of communication between the applicant and his unit, and since the applicant had not been attending unit training assemblies, and since he had not formally requested transfer, and because his ETS was forthcoming, the unit requested that he be discharged on his separation date. 

2.  Although the action to discharge the applicant does not appear to be erroneous, especially in view of the lack of information from the applicant, his request is reasonable.  He did have over 20 years of continuous and faithful service and should collect the benefits of his service.  His contention that he wanted to be transferred to the Retired Reserve is credible.  The notation in his record supports this contention.  
 
3.  Consequently, the applicant’s records should be changed to void his discharge of 14 December 1994 from the Army Reserve, and instead, show that he was transferred to the Retired Reserve on that date.

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 voiding the order discharging the applicant from the Army Reserve on               14 December 1994; and  transferring the applicant to the Retired Reserve effective that date.

BOARD VOTE:  

___ew___  __mw____  __klw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999021062	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990527	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 135.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.