PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           12 October 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000045534

	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 D. Miller		Chairperson	
	Ms. Carol Jo Suiter		Member	
	Mr. John E. Denning		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 that he be paid the bonus for which he reenlisted.  

3.  The applicant states that he was promised a $2,500.00 reenlistment bonus because his military occupational specialty (MOS) was high priority but the MOS was inadvertently excluded from the approved list.  He based his decision to reenlist in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) upon the promise of this bonus.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he reenlisted in the USAR on          9 February 1999.  His Selected Reserve Incentive Program – Enlistment Bonus Addendum, DA Form 5261-R, shows that he was qualified in MOS 57E, Laundry and Shower Specialist, which was approved as a bonus MOS. 

5.  On an unknown date, the applicant was informed that MOS 57E was not a bonus qualified MOS as it did not appear on the eligible skills list for November 1998 – March 1999.

6.  On 1 December 1999, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel informed the Board that the USAR, in error, had left the critical skill 57E off the critical shortage list the Assistant Secretary of the Army approves twice a year.  Although the MOS was not on the list, it was still on the computer and bonus control numbers were provided for this specialty.  The time line in question is from 1 November 1998 until 31 May 1999.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board concludes that had it not been for an administrative oversight, the applicant would have been eligible for and entitled to the reenlistment bonus for MOS 57E.

2.  As a matter of equity and in the best interest of the Army, it would be appropriate to show that the applicant is entitled to the bonus for which he enlisted.

3.  In view of the foregoing and as an exception to policy, 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 paying to the applicant, as an exception to policy, the reenlistment bonus that would have been due him had MOS 57E been included on the November        1998 – March 1999 critical shortage list.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jdm___  __cjs___  __jed___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			John D. Miller
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000045534	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001012	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.05	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.