PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           12 September 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000042045

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Fred Eichorn		Member	
	Ms. Carol Jo Suiter		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 previous request for 4 years of constructive service credit for longevity pay purposes for his attendance at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) from August 1983 through May 1987, Class of 1987.

3.  The applicant states that the Board granted relief to thirteen members of the United States Military Academy (USMA) Class of 1983 who had been erroneously advised in a briefing by the USMA Surgeon and Chairman, Medical Program Advisory Committee, that they would receive constructive service credit during their years at USUHS.  He graduated from the USMA class of 1980 and had considered entering medical school immediately upon graduation.  However, he was advised that his decision to go in the Infantry would not penalize him financially should he decide to go to medical school at a later date.  When he decided to apply to medical school after his two Infantry assignments, he returned to West Point for advice.  He met informally with the new USMA Surgeon as well as many of the prospective medical students from the Class of 1983 at a medical program meeting.  He was advised that nothing had changed with regard to pay or benefits.  Furthermore, the official Bulletin of the School of Medicine:  Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences 1983 – 1984 which he was given stated “Longevity credit for pay purposes accrues for students for time spent in school…”

4.  In support of his application for reconsideration, the applicant submits:  a copy of a 29 September 1998 letter from the USUHS General Counsel to the Office of The Secretary of Defense admitting that the university may have misinformed students of the Class of 1987 concerning the issue of constructive service credit; a copy of a 26 December 1985 letter from the Dean of the Medical School to the Air Force Corrections Board admitting that the USUHS School of Medicine Bulletin for 1983 – 1984, which was written in December 1982, did not include revisions concerning constructive service credit which were mandated by the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) and that certain briefing officials did not clarify the issue for prospective students; a copy of a 5 December 1986 letter from the Dean of the Medical School to the Board for Correction of Naval Records reiterating his belief that applicants from the Class of 1987 who either were not informed, or misinformed, about constructive service credit be given constructive service credit for attendance at USUHS; a copy of an 18 April 1985 letter from the Director of Admissions/Registrar of the Medical School admitting that segments of the Class of 1987 which he did not personally brief could have been misled on the issue of constructive service credit; and a copy of the pertinent pages of the Bulletin of the School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 1983 – 1984 which states, “Longevity credit for pay purposes accrues for students for time spent in school…”  He also provides a statement from the former USMA Surgeon mentioned in paragraph 3 above.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he graduated from the USMA in May 1980.  He was assigned to the USUHS in August 1983 and graduated in May 1987 with a Doctor of Medicine degree with the Class of 1987.  He is currently a lieutenant colonel serving on active duty as an orthopedic surgeon in the Army Medical Corps.

6.  In his statement, the former USMA Surgeon states that he does remember meeting with the applicant previously and does remember his name.  Although he does not recall which specific meeting, he is sure that the applicant was at one of the presentations at which erroneous information was passed out. 

7.  After enrolling in the USUHS, the applicant and his classmates were informed that constructive service credit would not accrue for time spent in school.  Students appealed to their respective services’ Boards for Correction of Military Records.  This Board granted relief to all USUHS students who graduated from the USMA, Class of 1983, based upon a briefing presented at the USMA in which prospective students were told that constructive service credit would accrue for attendance at the USUHS.  The Board reasoned that the cadets were misinformed concerning the issue of constructive service credit; that each cadet then made a career decision (to resign a Regular Army commission and accept a U. S. Army Reserve commission) based upon erroneous information; and that it would be unjust to withhold constructive service credit after the cadets had been told they would receive it.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  In addition to providing a copy of the official Bulletin of the Medical School which emphatically stated that students accrued constructive service credit for attendance at the USUHS, the applicant provides a statement from the former USMA Surgeon who substantiates his claim that he was provided erroneous information concerning the DOPMA change to constructive service credit for attendance at the USUHS.

2.  The applicant was a member of the USMA Class of 1980, not the Class of 1983 as were the other members of the USUHS Class of 1987 who were granted relief.  However, the evidence shows that he was just as misinformed about the issue of constructive service credit as they were and used that misinformation to make a career decision as his other classmates did.  Only after he had made his irrevocable decision to attend the USUHS did he discover that he would not receive constructive service credit.  

3.  Although the applicant’s USUHS classmates who have been granted relief by this Board graduated from the USMA in 1983, the Board believes he received similar misinformation.  The written misinformation he received, in the official Bulletin of the Medical School, was exactly the same.  The former USMA Surgeon states that he received the same erroneous briefing.  It would, therefore, be unjust and inequitable to deny the applicant the same level of relief.

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 applicant was enrolled in the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences on 14 September 1981; and

     b.  showing that he was awarded constructive service credit for longevity pay purposes only while attending the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at Bethesda, MD from 15 August 1983 to 16 May 1987.

BOARD VOTE:  

__cmf___  __fe____  __cjs___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Calvin M. Fowler
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000042045	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000912	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.14	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.