PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            7 July 1999       
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999023140

	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:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		Member	
	Ms. Meta Waller		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.  In effect, the applicant requests that he be reinstated in the Ready Reserve.  However, in a conversation with the applicant on 1 July 1999, he stated to a staff member of this agency that if the Board could not grant this request, he requested that he be transferred to the Retired Reserve.

3.  The applicant states that he was not made aware that he would lose commissary and post exchange privileges [because he was discharged].  He and his wife gave 25 years to the Army, six years on active duty and the remainder in the Reserve. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Army for three years on 28 December 1959 and was released from active duty on                       7 December 1962.  He served on active duty again from 17 August 1965 to       16 August 1968.  His military service thereafter, beginning in 1971, was in the Army Reserve, with the 814th Supply Company in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and with Troop C, 9th Cavalry in Wilkes Barre, troop program units of the selected Reserve.  In February 1988 he was transferred to the Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement), a Ready Reserve Control Group under the administrative jurisdiction of the Army Reserve Personnel Command.

5.  The applicant has over 20 qualifying service for retired pay at age 60 and was issued his “20 year letter” (Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay at Age 60) on 5 May 1986.

6.  On 8 January 1991 the applicant was discharged from the Ready Reserve.  The order discharging him states in pertinent part that he no longer had any military status and his records were no longer maintained by the Army.

7.  The applicant’s records contain no information as to the reason for his discharge.

8.  In response to an inquiry from a member of congress, the Army Reserve Personnel Center notified that official on 21 April 1994 that discharged service members who completed 20 years of service, but did not elect to be transferred to the Army Reserve Control Group (Retired), are not eligible for an identification card until they reach age 60.   

9.  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. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  He had no statutory service obligation at the time of his discharge.  The reason for his discharge cannot be ascertained; however, he might have well been discharged because of the expiration of his service agreement (ETS), or he could have requested to be discharged.  Nonetheless, and absent information to the contrary, his discharge is considered proper, and there is no reason, nor has the applicant provided reason to reinstate him in the Ready Reserve.

2.  Nonetheless, the applicant could have been transferred to the Retired Reserve, and receive benefits as a member of the Retired Reserve, i.e., post exchange, commissary privileges. 

3.  The applicant is now aware of the ramifications of his discharge, as evidenced by his request to this Board.  And, notwithstanding the assumption that his discharge was correct, and that no error or injustice occurred, the applicant’s belated request to be transferred to the Retired Reserve is reasonable.  He has over 20 years of faithful service and should collect the benefits of that service. 

4.  Consequently, the applicant’s records should be changed to void his discharge of 8 January 1991 from the Army Reserve and instead, show that he was transferred to the Retired Reserve on that date.

5.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

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

     a.  voiding the order discharging the applicant from the Army Reserve on        8 January 1991; and

     b.  transferring the applicant to the Retired Reserve effective 8 January 1991.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied. 

BOARD VOTE:  

___inw__  ___jea__  ___mw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999023140	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990707	
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.