PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           16 December 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999021727

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		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 the Army repay her student loans under the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) as per her enlistment contract.

3.  The applicant’s military records show that she enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on 10 April 1992 for 8 years, in a military occupational specialty (MOS) 95B (Military Police) that qualified for the SLRP.  In addition to the normal documents involved in an enlistment, a Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum was completed wherein both the applicant and her guidance counselor acknowledged that MOS 95B was authorized the Student Loan Repayment Option and that, among other reasons, a move to an ineligible MOS would terminate her eligibility for the SLRP.  A move to another unit was not one of the listed reasons for termination.  She was assigned to the 810th Military Police Company.

4.  On 5 August 1995, the applicant was notified that she no longer qualified for the SLRP since she left her qualifying unit before 10 April 1995.  (The applicant apparently continued to hold a 95B position and has, since the date of this application, returned to the 810th Military Police Company).

5.  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 is less than $500.00, then $500.00 becomes the calculated amount for repayment that year. 

6.  To be eligible for the SLRP incentive, a person must contractually obligate himself or herself to serve satisfactorily, must serve in a reserve unit for a full term of the contractual agreement and must further obligate himself or herself 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 is separated from the Selected Reserve.  Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this SLRP agreement establishes an anniversary date.  Any qualifying loan which is at least a year old may then be paid in accordance with the terms of this educational enlistment incentive.

7.  The Government will not make any payments to the soldier or reimburse a soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government will only pay the lending institution.

8.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Enlisted Accessions Division, Reserve Components Incentives Policy Branch.  That office noted the terms of the applicant’s SLRP agreement do not indicate that a transfer to another unit would be a condition for SLRP termination; therefore, her SLRP incentives should be restored and payment should be made for anniversary year 1995 and beyond.

9.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment and she responded by concurring with the opinion.

10.  Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552, the law which provides for the Board, states that “The Secretary may pay, from applicable current appropriations, a claim for the loss of pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, or other pecuniary benefits, or the repayment of a fine or forfeiture, if, as a result of correcting a record under this section, the amount is found to be due the claimant on account of his or another’s service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, as the case may be.”

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve for the Student Loan Repayment Program incentive on 10 April 1992 for 8 years in qualifying-MOS 95B. 

2.  The applicant was paid for one year of SLRP eligibility before she was notified in August 1995 that she no longer qualified because “she left qualifying unit before 950410.”  The notification makes no note that she left her qualifying MOS as a 95B after she departed the 810th Military Police Company.

3.  The advisory opinion noted that the terms of the applicant’s SLRP agreement do not indicate that a transfer to another unit would be a condition for termination and that her SLRP incentives should be restored and payment should be made for anniversary year 1995 and beyond.  The Board concludes she was denied entitlement to further repayments under the SLRP based upon an erroneous reading of her enlistment contract.

4.  The Government will not make any payments to the applicant or reimburse her if she paid off a student loan.  The Government will only pay the lending institution.  However, her military records may be further corrected to show her DA Form 5261-4-R, Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum, section V, was amended to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for enlistment as payable under the SLRP and it is later discovered that it is not payable for reasons of law or regulation, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552.”  This would allow the Board to invoke that provision and pay her the amount her lending institution would have been paid under the SLRP.

5.  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.  repaying any current eligible student loans the applicant may have;

     b.  amending DA Form 5261-4-R, Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum, section V, to include the sentence “If a student loan is accepted by the officials processing you for enlistment as payable under the SLRP and it is later discovered that it is not payable for reasons of law or regulation, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552;” and

     c.  That as a result of the foregoing correction and if appropriate, and in accordance with Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552, DFAS shall remit payment to the applicant the total amount of her loans to which she would have been entitled had she not been erroneously denied such repayment.  The applicant will be required to submit the appropriate evidence showing her out-of-pocket expenses.

BOARD VOTE:  

__fkm___  __rvo___  __sk____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Fred K. McCoy
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999021727	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19991216	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.