PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            3 June 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999023237

	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:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Kathleen A. Newman		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		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 separation document be corrected to reflect that he was separated in pay grade E-7.  He notes that he was promoted one day prior to his separation by reason of physical disability.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on 17 September 1982 and served continuously until 2 October 1997 when he was honorably discharged as a result of physical disability.  Orders promoting him to pay grade E-7 were issued by the Army’s personnel headquarters on 
11 September 1997 with an effective date of rank of 1 October 1997.

4.  When officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center issued orders assigning the applicant to the transition point for separation processing they indicated he was “entitled to receive disability severance pay in grade of E-6….”  However, in December 1997, after the applicant was released from active duty, those orders were amended to reflect that he was entitled to disability severance pay in the grade of E-7.

5.  Army Regulation 600-8-19, which established the policies and provisions for the promotion of enlisted personnel, indicates that soldiers who have been determined by a Physical Evaluation Board to be unfit for continued service are considered to be in a “non-promotable” status.  In cases where such soldiers are on a centralized promotion list the regulation requires individual counseling and written notification to Headquarters, Department of the Army before the individual’s name may be removed from the promotion standing list.

6.  There is no indication that the applicant was ever counseled regarding his promotion status, nor is there evidence Department of the Army was ever notified.

7.  In similar cases, the Board has been informed by officials from the Army’s Senior Enlisted Promotions Branch, that individuals who were promoted prior to being separated by reason of physical disability but after a determination by a PEB, were generally allowed to retain the promotion and separate in the higher grade, particularly when the sole basis for separation was disability.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms the applicant was separated by reason of physical disability and was promoted to pay grade E-7 on 1 October 1997, one day prior to his separation.

2.  In the interest of justice, and in view of the fact that the applicant’s sole basis for separation was because of physical disability, he should be allowed to retain his promotion to grade E-7 and to have his records corrected accordingly.

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 by showing that the individual concerned was discharged in the grade of E-7 with a 1 October 1997 promotion effective date.

BOARD VOTE:  

___rvo__  __kan___  __tbr___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999023237	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990603	
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. 110.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.