PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            3 February 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999024215

	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.  

	Ms. Deyon D. Battle		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		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, retroactive enrollment in and compensation from the Ready Reserve Mobilization Income Insurance Program (RRMIIP).

3.  The applicant states that she submitted her RRMIIP appeal prior to the cut off date of 30 June 1998.  She further states that her unit was not briefed regarding the RRMIIP and that she applied for enrollment in the RRMIIP when she was properly briefed on 12 July 1997.  In support of her application she submits her RRMIIP enrollment packet dated 12 July 1997, a copy of her RRMIIP appeal packet, a copy of orders dated 14 August 1997 ordering her to active duty effective 19 August 1997, a copy of the 805th Military Police Company Unit Training Schedule for the months of December 1996, a copy of a memorandum from the RRMIIP Program Manager dated 15 June 1998 addressed to the applicant returning her RRMIIP enrollment packet and a copy of a memorandum dated 24 June 1998 from the former commander of the 805th Military Police Company attesting to the fact that the applicant was not properly briefed regarding the RRMIIP until 12 July 1997.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 7 January 1976 she enlisted in the USAR for 3 years and she remained in the USAR through a series of reenlistments.  During the initial RRMIIP enrollment period she was assigned to the 805th Military Police Company in Raleigh, North Carolina.

5. On 12 July 1997, the applicant submitted a DD Form 2746 requesting enrollment in the RRMIIP under the $5,000 option.

6.  Orders were published on 14 August 1997, ordering her to active duty effective 19 August 1997 for a period not to exceed 270 days.  On 19 April 1998 the applicant was released from active duty upon completion of her required service.

7. On 15 June 1998, the Army Reserve Personnel Command (ARPERSCOM) Program Manager returned her application without action.  The ARPERSCOM stated that the applicant had missed the initial enrollment period of 1 October 1996 through 31 December 1996.  The ARPERSCOM informed her that if she wished to submit an appeal to submit a Memorandum for Record through her commander at the time of the open enrollment period stating why she was not briefed.  The ARPERSCOM provided the applicant with a checklist of documents needed to complete her packet.

8.  On 26 June 1998, the applicant faxed her RRMIIP appeal packet to ARPERSCOM along with the documentation she was informed that she needed in order to complete her packet.  She also included a memorandum from her commander that there was never an official briefing regarding the RRMIIP.  The commander stated that during the initial enrollment period a fellow soldier in the 805th Military Police Company saw the article in the soldier’s magazine, ran copies of the application and began to distribute the application throughout the unit.  The commander’s memorandum also stated that she was not properly briefed regarding the RRMIIP until 12 July 1997 when she submitted her RRMIIP application.

9.  On 9 September 1998, the applicant’s appeal packet was returned to her by the RRMIIP program manager stating that her appeal was disapproved because she was made aware of the RRMIIP during the initial enrollment period by a fellow soldier.  The RRMIIP program manager also stated that as a senior NCO, by not making any attempt to enroll or inquire further, she showed no desire to enroll in the program until almost mobilized.  The RRMIIP program manager’s memorandum indicated that the decision was final and that any further documentation would be returned without action as the Department of Defense established 30 June 1998 as the cutoff for the appeal program.

10.  The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, dated 10 February 1996, authorized the RRMIIP with an initial start date of 1 October 1996.  The RRMIIP was designed to provide income insurance for most Reserve Component members who were involuntarily ordered to active duty in support of military operations for over 30 days.  The initial enrollment period for active members of the Reserve Components (USAR and National Guard) was 1 October 1996 through 31 December 1996.  Personnel who failed to enroll with 60 days after being briefed were considered to have declined.  Personnel on active duty were not eligible to apply for enrollment in the RRMIIP.  Personnel who enlisted in a Troop Program Unit after the initial enrollment period were required to be briefed on the program within 60 days of arrival in the unit and had 60 days after being briefed to enroll or decline.  Personnel on active duty were not eligible to apply for enrollment in the RRMIIP.

11.  The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, effective 18 November 1997, terminated the RRMIIP coverage for those not ordered to involuntary active duty as of that date and prohibited new enrollments.  Consequently, the USAR and the Army National Guard extended administrative appeal/errors process to offer Reserve Component soldiers who believed that they were wrongfully denied enrollment an opportunity to appeal.  All appeals had to be received in complete form as of 30 June 1998.

12.  The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense memorandum dated 14 November 1996, provided clarifying guidance regarding eligibility of Reserve members who were insured under the RRMIIP.  It states that during the period in which eligible members of the Reserve components who were members prior to the establishment of the RRMIIP are being offered an opportunity to enroll for coverage, such members being called to active for a period of covered service prior to having had the opportunity to enroll or decline to be insured under the RRMIIP, will have the option to elect coverage not to exceed the $1,000.00 basic amount.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The issue in this case is whether or not the applicant was properly briefed on the RRMIIP and was it accomplished within the prescribed timeframe.  The Board is convinced that the applicant was properly briefed on the RRMIIP.

2.  Her commander for the period covering 1 October 1996 through 31 December 1996 submitted a memorandum requesting that she be allowed the opportunity to enroll in the RRMIIP as only information that was obtained regarding the RRMIIP was distributed by a fellow soldier who saw an article in the soldier’s magazine.  The Board has determined that collection of information obtained from the soldier’s magazine is not a briefing that would have allowed the applicant to make an informed decision regarding the program.

3.  The fact that the applicant submitted her application approximately 37 days prior to being mobilized is not sufficient justification to deny her the opportunity to enroll in the RRMIIP or to limit the amount of her enrollment.  To do so would be denying her an opportunity to be afforded the same benefits that other soldiers were afforded.

4.  Therefore, the Board accepts the applicant’s contention that she was not briefed on the program and was unjustly denied a benefit that she otherwise would have been able to receive had he been properly and timely briefed.  Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to enroll her in the RRMIIP under the $5,000 effective 12 July 1997, the date that she submitted her application and, through no fault of her own, was denied.

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 showing that the individual concerned was enrolled in the RRMIIP effect 12 July 1997 under the $5,000 option.

2.  That the individual concerned be afforded the opportunity to submit a DFAS-CL From 1241/3 (RRMIIP Claim for Mobilization Insurance Benefits) and supporting documents for retroactive payment of RRMIIP benefits, minus any premiums he would have paid had he been properly enrolled on 12 July 1997.

BOARD VOTE:  

___ewl__  ___be___  ___mkp__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Margaret K. Patterson___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999024215	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/02/03	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  13	101.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.