PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           1 March 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000043386

	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. John H. Kern		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		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 debt for his Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) obligation be cancelled.

3.  Counsel for the applicant states that it is unjust to require the applicant to reimburse the Government for his ROTC scholarship funds.  It is demonstrable that he would not have been able to serve his commitment due to an emotional disability.  In fact, he did attempt to serve in the U. S. Air Force but was unable to serve due to his disability.  His condition existed at the time he withdrew from ROTC and college and continues to this day.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 1 March 1993, the U. S. Army ROTC Cadet Command notified the applicant he had been selected for an ROTC 3-year advance designee scholarship.  (His expected graduation date was May 1997.)  On 29 March 1994, he was notified that he was being placed on academic probation for failure to maintain full time enrollment during Fall Semester 1993.  He enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) ROTC on           4 October 1994.  

5.  On 24 October 1995, the applicant was notified that his disenrollment from the ROTC program was being initiated due to his withdrawal from the academic institution.  On 25 October 1995, he waived his right to a hearing and declined expeditious call to active duty.  On 22 March 1996, the 4th Region (ROTC), U. S. Army Cadet Command authorized the educational institution’s Department of Military Science to discharge the applicant and disenroll him from the ROTC program as he had agreed to pay his debt to the Government.

6.  On 23 April 1996, the applicant enlisted in the U. S. Air Force.  On or about  26 August 1997, he was hospitalized for depression and suicidal thoughts.  On or about 11 September 1997, he was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with depressed mood and depressive and passive-aggressive traits.  He was found to have significant personality characteristics that would make it difficult for him to function in a military environment.  His current adjustment disorder was a direct result of his failure to adapt to a military environment.  No evidence was found that would indicate his personality characteristics would change and he would continue to have a difficult time in military environments.  On or about 7 October 1997, he was honorably discharged from the U. S. Air Force due to a personality disorder.

7.  In part I of his Army Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship Cadet Contract, DA Form 597-3, the applicant acknowledged that he understood and agreed that if he was disenrolled from the ROTC program for failing to complete the educational requirements for ROTC cadets the Secretary of the Army could order him to active duty as an enlisted soldier or, in lieu of being ordered to active duty, may require him to reimburse the Government through repayment of an amount of money, plus interest, equal to the entire amount of financial assistance paid by the Government for his advance education.

8.  Army Regulation 145-1 prescribes policies and general procedures for administering the Army’s Senior ROTC Program.  Paragraph 7-12a states that cadets disenrolled for medical disqualification will not be ordered to active duty or recommended for recoupment, unless the cadet failed to disclose a pre-existing medical condition on his entrance physical at the time of contracting.  Recoupment would be proper if the medical condition resulted from an act of misconduct; however, in that case the disenrollment will not be processed as a medical disqualification.

9.  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition    (DSM-IV) states that the essential feature of an Adjustment Disorder is the development of clinically significant emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an identifiable psychosocial stressor or stressors.  The subtype “with depressed mood” should be used when the predominant manifestations are symptoms such as depressed mood, tearfulness, or feelings of hopelessness.  A Personality Disorder is defined as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board concludes that it would be an injustice to require the applicant to repay his ROTC debt.  

2.  By the terms of his contract it was proper to require the applicant to repay his ROTC debt.  Active duty in the Army, not another Service, would have been an authorized alternative.  However, the Board has held that active duty in another Service has satisfied the contractual requirement.

3.  In addition, the applicant clearly had a medical condition that would have precluded his successful completion of his Army active duty requirement, whether in an enlisted or in an officer status.  The Board notes that the applicant had had problems, although not identified most likely adjustment problems, even in his freshman year in college.  His condition was discovered by military medical authorities only 3 months after he would have accepted an Army appointment had he completed ROTC.  The Board concludes that had the applicant managed to maintain his cadet status, his personality disorder would have manifested itself while still a cadet and that he would have been disenrolled anyway for this medical disqualification.  By regulation, cadets disenrolled for medical disqualification will not be ordered to active duty or recommended for recoupment.
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 accepted a call to active duty in lieu of repayment of his ROTC debt to the Government; and

     b.  showing that the applicant’s active duty obligation was completed upon his separation from active duty on or about 7 October 1997 and that he is not indebted to the Government for educational expenses incurred in conjunction with his ROTC undergraduate education.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jhk___  __clg___  __rtd___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			John H. Kern
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000043386	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010301	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	104.03	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.