PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            25 August 2000    
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000036125

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ted S. Kanamine		Chairperson	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Member	
	Mr. John H. Kern		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 home of record (HOR) be corrected to reflect American Samoa vice Ewa Beach, Hawaii.  He states that his HOR should have been American Samoa where he was born and continues to maintain his driver’s license.  He notes that he was merely processed for enlistment in Hawaii because “everyone from American Samoa has to be processed through…Hawaii.”

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant was born and raised in Pago Pago, American Samoa.  He graduated from high school in American Samoa in 1993 and worked for the Government of American Samoa Tax Office until September 1997 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) and was assigned to a USAR Troop Program Unit in Hawaii.  In February 1998, following completion of basic and advanced individual training, the applicant returned to his USAR unit and assumed duties as a Military Technician with the unit.

4.  On 14 April 1998 the applicant enlisted in the active Army for a period of 3 years.  His enlistment contract reflects Ewa Beach, Hawaii as his HOR.

5.  Army Regulation 601-210 provides that the policies and procedures for the preparation of service contracts.  It states, in pertinent part, that the HOR address entered on the service contract will be the address declared by the applicant to be their permanent home or actual home at the time of their entry on active duty.  A temporary address will not be entered.

6.  The Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR) provides, in pertinent part, that the HOR is the place recorded as the home of the individual at the time of entry on active duty.  There is no authority to change the HOR as officially recorded at time of entry into the military service.  However, there is authority to correct a HOR if erroneously entered on the records at that time and then only for travel and transportation purposes.  Correction of the HOR must be based on evidence that a bona fide error was made and the HOR as corrected must have been the actual home of the individual at the time of entry into the relevant period of service.  It may not be a place selected for the convenience of the soldier.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although there are no provisions to change a HOR, there are provisions to correct a HOR if it can be determined that an error was made at the time the HOR was recorded.  The applicable regulations state that the HOR at the time of entry on active duty will be the actual home or permanent home and that a temporary address will not be entered.

2.  There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant’s permanent address was in American Samoa at the time he enlisted in the USAR.  Because of the distance between the applicant’s HOR and his USAR unit the Board notes that in order for the applicant to remain an active member of his unit he would have been required to temporarily reside in Hawaii where the unit was located.  In this particular instance the applicant’s service with the USAR as a troop program member and Military Technician paralleled that of other soldiers on active duty.  By virtue of the very nature of the military profession, an individual resides at or near a military installation on a temporary basis.  Under the circumstances it is not reasonable to presume that his address at the time of his entrance on active duty was a permanent address or his HOR.

3.  As such it is reasonable to conclude that the applicant’s address at the time of his entry on active duty was only a “temporary” address and that American Samoa remained the applicant’s permanent address.

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 showing that the applicant’s HOR at the time of his entrance on active duty in 1998 was American Samoa vice Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

BOARD VOTE:  

___tsk__  ____sk__  __jhk___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000036125	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000725	
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.