PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            7 December 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000038615

	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. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

	The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		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, that the Department of the Army (DA) Form 8029-R (Statement of Options-U.S. Army Reserve, Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Program) be transferred from the performance section (P-Fiche) to the restricted section (R-Fiche) of her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).  In addition, she requests that her records be reviewed by a Stand-By Advisory Board (STAB) for promotion consideration to staff sergeant/E-6 (SSG/E-6) using the criteria established by the 1997 and 1998 Reserve Component (RC) SSG/E-6 selection boards. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, under the provisions of the governing regulation, the documents related to a Qualitative Management Program (QMP) action should be moved to the R-Fiche upon successful appeal.  She claims that her QMP action was successfully appealed and that the DA Form 8029-R still on file on the P-Fiche of her OMPF should be moved to the R-Fiche at this time.  She also believes that she should be reconsidered for promotion by a STAB based on this material error in her OMPF.  She has provided the enclosed documents relating to the successful appeal of the QMP action against her.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she is currently serving as a member of the USAR on active duty in an AGR status.  She entered active duty in this status on 7 May 1990 and continues to serve currently as a member of the AGR.  She is assigned to Headquarters Company, 65th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM), Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.  

5.  A review of the applicant’s OMPF reveals that the DA Form 8029-R, she completed on 3 August 1996 electing the option to appeal the QMP action, is on file in the P-Fiche section of the record.  There was no R-Fiche made available to the Board for this review so it could not be determined what QMP related documents were on file in that section of the OMPF.

6.  The record contains a memorandum from the Chief of RC promotions at the Army Reserve Personnel Command (ARPERSCOM), dated 18 December 1996. This document shows that a STAB that convened on 21 October 1996, to consider appeals from members who had been identified under the RC AGR QMP, considered and approved the applicant’s QMP appeal action.  It also indicated that the applicant would be eligible for promotion consideration by the SSG/E-6 RC promotion selection board scheduled to convene in May 1997.

7.  On 30 December 1996, the ARPERSCOM Chief, Enlisted Management Division, published a 1st endorsement to the memorandum referred to in the preceding paragraph.  This endorsement informed the applicant’s chain of command of the favorable outcome to the applicant’s QMP appeal.  It also verified that DA bar to reenlistment imposed on the applicant, as a result of the QMP action, had been removed from her records. 
8.  Army Regulation 600-8-104 (Military Personnel Information Management /Records) prescribes the policies and mandates operating tasks for the Military Personnel (MILPER) Information Management/Records Program of the Military Personnel System.  Table 2-1 (Composition of the OMPF) contains filing instructions for documents being placed into the OMPF.  In effect, it states that any document published by a screening board that approves a QMP appeal will be placed on the R-Fiche, along with its allied papers.  It also goes on to state that, upon the approval of an appeal, the original QMP letter and allied papers will be transferred to the R-Fiche section of the OMPF.  

9.  Army Regulation 140-158 (Enlisted Personnel Classification, Promotion, and Reduction) prescribes policy and procedures governing the classification, advancement, promotion, reduction, and grade restoration of applicable USAR soldiers.  Chapter 4 provides guidance on the promotion of soldiers serving on AGR status.  

10.  Paragraph 4-18 (Enlisted Stand-By Advisory Board) prescribes the policy for STAB consideration based on material error in the records.  It states, in pertinent part, that the STAB will consider records from a primary zone that were not properly constituted due to a material error when reviewed by a regular board.  An error is material when, in the judgment of a mature individual familiar with selection board proceedings, a reasonable chance exists that had the error not existed, the soldier may have been selected.  In addition, in order for a record to reviewed by a STAB, it must also be concluded that the material error in the file may have contributed to a member’s nonselection.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The intent of the governing regulation is to file all QMP related documents on the R-Fiche if the QMP action is successfully appealed.  Given this, the Board concluded that relief is warranted in this case and that it would be appropriate to transfer the DA Form 8029-R, currently contained on the P-Fiche of the applicant’s OMPF, to the R-Fiche at this time.

2.  The Board also found that the DA Form 8029-R, on file in the P-Fiche of the applicant’s OMPF, had a negative connotation sufficient to establish that had it not been in the applicant’s record there was a reasonable chance she would have been selected for promotion and that it could have contributed to her nonslection.  In the opinion of the Board, this constitutes material error and meets the regulatory test for STAB consideration.  Therefore, the Board concluded that it would be appropriate for the applicant’s records to be referred to a STAB for consideration for promotion to SSG/E-6.

3.  The Board determined that STAB consideration should include reviews using the criteria established for all RC SSG/E-6 promotion selection boards held subsequent to the December 1996 approval of her QMP appeal.  These selection boards would have considered the applicant for promotion using records that contained a material error in the form of the DA Form 8029-R filed on the P-Fiche of the OMPF.

4.  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 transferring the DA Form 8029-R, contained on the P-Fiche of the OMPF of the individual concerned, to the R-Fiche. 

2.  That the corrected records of the individual concerned be referred to a RC STAB for promotion consideration to SSG/E-6.  STAB consideration should use the criteria established for all RC SSG/E-6 promotion selection boards, held subsequent to the December 1996, that had considered the individual concerned for promotion with the material error existing in her record. 

3.  That the individual concerned, if selected for promotion by the STAB, be provided all due back pay and allowances that result. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__jpi____  ___ewl __  __rvo ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000038615	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/12/07	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	N/A	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	N/A	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	N/A	
DISCHARGE REASON	N/A	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  281	126.0400	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.