PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           23 January 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000036112

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Luther L. Santiful		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas E. O'Shaughnessy		Member	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		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 she receive time in service and time in grade credit for the period after she graduated from the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and before she entered active duty.

3.  The applicant states that she graduated from college on 8 December 1998 and was scheduled to receive her commission at that time.  However, because the ROTC staff had not submitted her security clearance she did not receive her commission.  On 12 January 1999 she received orders directing her to report to the Engineer Officer Basic Course (EOBC) on 21 January 1999 with follow on assignment to Germany.  She was told to report pending receipt of her security clearance.  The security clearance did not arrive and she was told to prepare to attend the next course that would begin the end of February 1999.  On              22 February 1999 the orders to attend the EOBC were revoked.  On 23 March 1999 she finally received her security clearance and accepted her commission.  At this time, she was advised that she would probably attend the May 1999 EOBC but that changed again to a January 2000 start date.  On 29 July 1999 she received the last change to her EOBC start date with instructions to report on 15 August 1999.  She contends that the volatility of her situation made it impossible to get a job or an apartment and she had to rely on her parents for support.  She believes that she should be credited with the time and back pay for events that were due to the Army’s errors.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she was an ROTC Scholarship recipient who graduated from North Greenville College, South Carolina on 8 December 1998.  She is currently a second lieutenant serving a 4-year active duty commitment.

5.  Orders 12-11-A-60, dated 12 January 1999, directed the applicant to report to the EOBC not later than 24 January 1999.  These orders show the applicant’s date of appointment as a second lieutenant was 8 December 1998.

6.  On 19 January 1999, Orders 16-2 were published amending Orders 12-11-A-60 which changed the date of the applicant’s appointment to 21 January 1999.

7.  Orders 53-11, dated 22 February 1999 revoked the applicant’s assignment announced in the above mentioned orders.

8.  On 23 March 1999 the applicant accepted her appointment  as a Reserve commissioned officer by completing DA Form 71 (Oath of Office - Military Personnel).  

9.  Orders 208-3-A-1018 dated 27 July 1999 directed the applicant to report to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for attendance at the EOBC commencing 15 August 1999.

10.  In an attempt to ascertain the reason for the delay in granting the applicant’s security clearance, a member of the staff of the Board contacted the ROTC Cadet Command.  It was determined that the applicant accepted a 2-year ROTC scholarship in the fall of 1996.  The Cadet Command stated that approximately 60 days after her acceptance into the program a request should have been made for her security clearance; however, the record reveals that it was not initiated until 21 May 1998.  The record does not show why the requested clearance was delayed.  Cadet Command believes that the backlog of such requests at the central clearance facility probably contributed to the delay in completing the applicant’s security clearance.

11.  Army Regulation 145-1, Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program, provides in pertinent part that the date of rank (DOR) for ROTC cadets commissioned in May or June will be the same as the graduation date of the U.S. Military Academy in the same year.  The date of rank for all other ROTC commissionees will be the date that they executed the oath of office.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant graduated from college on 8 December 1998 but did not execute her oath of office until 23 March 1999.

2.  Under normal circumstances a cadet who has successfully completed the ROTC Advance Course Program and earned a baccalaureate degree will be appointed a second lieutenant upon graduation.  However, because of a delay in submitting her security clearance she was unable to accept her commission until 23 March 1999.  

3.  The evidence shows that the applicant was initially ordered to active duty following graduation.  However, the many amendments and revocations of her orders show that she was delayed from entering active duty through no fault of her own.  It would be appropriate and equitable therefore to correct her date of appointment to coincide with the date she graduated from college and would ordinarily have been commissioned – 8 December 1998.  

4.  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: 

a.  showing that the individual concerned executed the oath of office in the grade of second lieutenant effective 8 December 1998; and

	b.  paying to her any pay and allowances that may be due as a result of this adjustment to her appointment date.

BOARD VOTE:  

__lls____  ____teo _  ___wtm _  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________Luther L. Santiful______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000036112	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010123	
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.  102.01		
2.  104.03		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.