PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            17 October 2000   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000043382

	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. Raymond V. O’Connor		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Ms. Linda D. Simmons		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 his records be referred to a Standby Advisory Board to reconsider him for promotion to the grade of major.  He states that he was scheduled to attend his advanced course but the course was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions which prevented him from meeting the educational requirements for promotion to major.  He indicates that under the circumstances he should have been granted a waiver for the education requirements.

3.  The only records available to the Board were the applicant’s enlisted service records from an active duty period during the 60’s.  Records associated with his U.S. Army Reserve service were not available.

4.  However, in the processing of this case an advisory opinion was provided by the Deputy Chief, Office of Promotions, Reserve Components at the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command in St. Louis, Missouri.  The opinion indicated that the applicant had been considered by the 1994 and 1995 Reserve Component Selection Boards and not selected for promotion “because he was not educationally qualified.”  The opinion went on to note that the applicant was scheduled to attend phase two of the officer advanced course from 21 March 1993 through 3 April 1993 but the course was cancelled due to inclement weather.  The opinion stated that “normally” the applicant would have been considered for a waiver of education requirements for the 1994 board.  However after reviewing the applicant’s “overall record” it was noted that “his record may not even merit fully qualified” and that it was “doubtful that he would have been selected had he completed the required education.”  They recommended his request be denied.  On 20 September 2000 the applicant, in response to the advisory opinion, requested that the Board consider his request based on available evidence and grant him a “waiver for promotion reconsideration as every other officer would receive.”

5.  The applicant successfully completed the Armor Officer Advanced Course in October 1994.  The 1994 USAR selection board recessed on 1 April 1994.

6.  Army Regulation 135-155 states, in pertinent part, that Standby Advisory Board will be formed to prevent any injustice to an officer or former officer.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s inability to complete his officer advanced course was not his fault and as such the fact that he did not meet the education requirements for promotion to major should not have been a basis to deny him that promotion by the 1994 selection board.  He should, as the Deputy Chief, Office of Promotions, Reserve Components noted, have been considered for a waiver of the education requirement.  Regardless of the opinion that it was “doubtful that he would have been selected” the fact remains he should have been given the opportunity for the 1994 promotion board to make that determination.

2.  The Board concludes that it is likely, based on the fact that he had completed the advanced course prior to the 1995 board, that he was not selected for promotion by the 1995 board for reasons other than lack of education requirements (as implied in the advisory opinion).  However, the Board also concludes that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the applicant an education waiver and refer his records to a Standby Advisory Board for promotion reconsideration under the 1994 criteria.

3.  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:

a.  by granting the individual concerned an education waiver for completion of the advanced course at the time his records were reviewed by the 1994 promotion selection board; and

b.  by placing his records before a Standby Advisory Board for the year 1994 for consideration for promotion to major under the criteria then in effect.

BOARD VOTE:  

___rvo__  ___bje__  ___lds__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000043382	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001017	
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.