PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           16 December 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999022616

	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 in effect, that the Army pay off her student loans as per her reenlistment contract and that she be reimbursed all Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) monies recouped from her thus far.

3.  The applicant states that she reenlisted in 1991 for the SLRP but due to an administrative error she has been denied further repayment of her loans and she has been charged with a debt for the portion of the loans already repaid.

4.  The applicant’s available military records (microfiche) include only one document, an Academic Evaluation Report.  The information contained herein was obtained from documents provided with the application (as listed on the DD Form 149) and from the advisory opinion.

5.  The applicant apparently reenlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) on      7 December 1991 for 6 years for the SLRP in the amount of $20,000.  Apparently, her unit prepared a DA Form 4836, Oath of Extension of Enlistment or Reenlistment, instead of a reenlistment document, DD Form 4-series.  On     12 January 1997, the Reserve Pay Division notified the applicant she owed the Government $5,642.21 for erroneous payment(s) against her SLRP incentive.

6.  The applicant completed her term of service in December 1997.  She applied for a commission on 3 August 1998 and has since enrolled in the Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) for Healthcare Professional Officers.  The STRAP pays a monthly stipend while the Healthcare Professional completes his or her training.  This stipend is now being garnished to pay for her indebtedness.

7.  Army Regulation 140-111 prescribes policies for the USAR Reenlistment Program.  In pertinent part, it states that enlisted USAR soldiers may be given the opportunity to extend their current enlistment or reenlistment.  Extension periods may vary from 1 to 48 months.

8.  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.  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 his or her unit.  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.

9.  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.

10.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Enlisted Accessions Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel.  That office noted that the applicant was eligible to receive the $20,000 SLRP except for the fact she was erroneously extended instead of reenlisted.  Extensions do not constitute eligibility for the SLRP.  Her extension agreement needs to be corrected to reflect a reenlistment agreement and she is entitled to reimbursement of the money that has been recouped.

11.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment.  She did not respond within the given time frame.

12.  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 reenlisted in the USAR, in good faith, for the Student Loan Repayment Program incentive on 7 December 1991 for 6 years (the longest period of extension authorized is 48 months).  Her unit erroneously, and contrary to regulation, completed the documents for an extension instead of those required for a reenlistment. 

2.  The applicant served the Army in good faith for over five years thinking she was entitled to the SLRP incentive before the Army discovered and notified her that she was not eligible for entitlement because she had extended, not reenlisted.

3.  Through no fault of her own, she was denied entitlement to further repayments under the SLRP and in addition has had her earlier payments recouped by the Government as a debt.

4.  Even if the applicant’s military records were corrected to show she reenlisted instead of extended, it could still happen that the Government would 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 reenlistment 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:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

     a.  showing that the applicant reenlisted, using DD Form 4-series, on               7 December 1991 for 6 years for the SLRP;

     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 reenlistment 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.”

2.  That the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) cancel any debt held against the applicant for erroneous payment of the SLRP incentive and reimburse to her all SLRP monies, plus interest, recouped from her.

3.  That, 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 been properly reenlisted as a result of the foregoing correction.  This amount includes the $5,642.21 collected from the applicant as a Government debt.

BOARD VOTE:  

__fkm___  __rvo___  ___sk___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Fred K. McCoy
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999022616	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19991216	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.14	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.