PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:             6 July 2000                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2000040965

	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. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		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 reconsideration of his request to be issued a 20-year letter qualifying him for retired pay at age 60.

3.  The applicant states he has evidence that he was only missing 18 days to qualify for retired pay for non-regular service.  He also states that it should be emphasized to the Board that he had attempted to earn additional retirement points through correspondence courses, but his unit technician didn’t submit his enrollment documents.

4.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in a memorandum prepared to reflect the Board's original consideration of his case on 30 July 1997 (COPY ATTACHED).

5.  The applicant resubmits a statement from his former unit’s training NCO which states that the applicant had “tried a number [of] time[s] through Unit Training to obtain more subcourses to complete his 20yrs.  To my knowledge the subcourses were never ordered for the individual . . .”

6.  He also submits an ARPC Form 249-3, Chronological Record of Military Service, which shows that he has 19 years, 11 months and 12 days of creditable service.  During his last year of service he was only a member of the USAR for 3 months and only earned the three membership points that affiliation required.

7.  Army Regulation 135-180 implements the statutory authority governing what constitutes qualifying service for retired pay for non-regular service in the Reserve Components.  Chapter 2, in pertinent part, states that to be eligible for retired pay, an individual must have attained the age of 60 and completed a minimum of 20 years of qualifying service, the last eight of which are served in a reserve component.  A qualifying year is defined as a full year of service (365 or 366 days, as applicable) during which a Reservist earns at least 50 retirement points.

8.  Army Regulation 601-210, Table 3-1, Rule A, states that a prior service applicant for enlistment must not have reached his or her 55th birthday and must be able to qualify for retired pay by age 60.  

9.  Army Regulation 140-111, Table 4-2, Note 2, states that when the Commander, Army Reserve Personnel Command (AR-PERSCOM) determines that there is an implied or actual moral obligation by the USAR to permit a member to remain in the Ready Reserve to qualify for retired pay, based on long service in the USAR, the member may be reenlisted.

10.  In the processing of this case the AR-PERSCOM was contacted.  The 
AR-PERSCOM stated that their data base still shows that the applicant has only one qualifying year of service in a reserve component.  The AR-PERSCOM also stated that since the applicant had only earned three retirement points during his last year, he would have had to serve the remaining 9 months of that year in order to make that year qualifying for retired pay, regardless of whether he only lacked 18 days.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  When the applicant initially enlisted into the ARNG he was almost 53 years old.  He was not, therefore, able to earn the 9 years of creditable service and the 8 years in a reserve component needed to qualify for retired pay at age 60.  

2.  As such, he either should not have been enlisted or he should have been required to sign a form acknowledging that he could not complete 20 qualifying years of service for retired pay prior to his mandatory removal at age 60.

3.  It would appear that, if the applicant does in fact have 19 years, 11 months and 12 days of creditable service, the USAR had a moral obligation to allow him to qualify for retired pay.  Since that did not occur, it would be in the interest of justice to issue the applicant a 20-year letter certifying his eligibility for retired pay and to give him the retired pay this correction would necessitate.

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:

a.  re-computing the retirement points of the individual concerned; and

b.  if the recalculation establishes that the individual concerned does in fact have 19 years, 11 months and 12 days of creditable service, issuing to him a 20-year letter certifying his eligibility for retired pay based on that service.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

___cmf__  __emw__  ___jpi ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		________Calvin M. Fowler______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000040965	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000706	
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.	135.02	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.