PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            30 January 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000045701

	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. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Ms. Brenda F. Hirschi		Member	
	Mr. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy, Jr.		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 her discharge from the United States Army Reserve (USAR) be voided and that she be reinstated into the USAR Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and that she be paid all Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) payments due as a result. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that she was discharged from the USAR and her VSI payments terminated as a result of signing an address verification form in the wrong signature block.  She claims that she never indicated in this form that it was her desire to be discharged and states she was never notified in advance that this would occur.  She immediately contacted the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) when she did not receive her annual VSI payment, which is how she discovered her VSI payments were terminated because she had been discharged from the USAR.  She then contacted an Army Reserve Personnel Command (ARPERSCOM) official, who advised her she had been discharged as a result of her signing the address verification form in the wrong block.  She adamantly claims that it was never her intent to request discharge and this was only a mistake on her part.  In addition, she comments she was not contacted by anyone at ARPERSCOM to verify that it was really her intent to be discharged or to inform her that VSI payments would be terminated as a result.  Finally, she states that it was only after she investigated the missing VSI payment that she discovered that she had been discharged from the USAR.  Enclosed is her expanded statement which contains a more thorough explanation of the circumstances of her case. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 2 July 1986 she was appointed a second lieutenant in the USAR and entered active duty in that status on 
17 October 1986.  She continuously served on active duty for 7 years, 8 months, and 15 days until being honorably separated, in the rank of captain/0-3 (CPT),
and transferred to the USAR Control Group (Reinf), St. Louis, on 1 July 1994.

5.  The DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty) issued to the applicant on her separation shows that she was honorably separated, under the provisions of chapter 3, Army Regulation 635-100, by reason of the Early Separation Program-VSI.  The remarks section of the form confirms that the applicant was authorized VSI annual payments of $6,713.99 for 15 years.  

6.  The record also includes Order Number 169-00031, dated 18 June 1994, issued by the United States Army Transportation Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia, which directed the applicant’s reassignment to the Transition Point for transition processing.  This document authorized her separation on 1 July 1994 and her reassignment to the USAR Control Group (Reinf).  The additional instructions portion of this order indicated that the applicant was authorized VSI and that her VSI USAR commitment would end on 1 December 2009.  
7.  On 1 July 1994, the day of her separation from active duty, the applicant was transferred to the IRR, in order to satisfy the Ready Reserve service requirements of the VSI program.  On 14 June 2000, Order Number 
D-01-002411 was published by ARPERSCOM, which discharged the applicant from the USAR effective 14 January 2000.  The record is void of any information in regard to the applicant’s discharge processing from the USAR. 

8.  Army policy and Department of Defense Military Pay and Allowances Entitlements Manual (DoDPM), based on Public Law 102-190, 5 December 1991, as amended, prescribes the qualifications for entitlement to readjustment benefits for certain voluntary separated members.  The VSI was one of the monetary benefits associated with this incentive program.  The voluntary incentive program was designed to support the Army’s drawdown.  

9.  Headquarters, Department of the Army message 281802Z January 1992, clarified issues associated with the VSI program via a question and answer format.  It stated that soldiers approved for VSI would be paid in annual installments commencing on their departure date from active duty, and on each anniversary date thereafter for twice the number of years on active duty, provided the soldier continues to serve in the Ready Reserve.  It further indicated that VSI annual payments would be discontinued if the member is separated from the Ready Reserve, unless the individual becomes ineligible to continue to serve due to medical or age limitations in which case the soldier will be transferred to the Standby Reserve or the Retired Reserve. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The record shows that the applicant took immediate action to resolve the problem once she discovered that her VSI payments had been stopped and she had been discharged.  It is clear that she was discharged from the USAR as a result of an administrative error and that this was never her intent.  Further, it is also evident that her discharge was accomplished without her having any prior knowledge of the action or benefit of counsel in regard to its negative effects, which included her losing her VSI entitlement.

2.  The Board finds it unreasonable to believe that an eligible individual would intentionally take action to be discharged from the USAR knowing this action would suspend his or her annual VSI payments.  Therefore, the Board concludes that it is highly unlikely that the applicant’s discharge was a voluntary action accomplished with her knowledge and full understanding of its effects on her VSI entitlement.  

3.  The applicant’s record confirms that she served honorably on active duty for over 7 years and was entitled to the VSI payments for 15 years upon her separation from active duty in 1994.  It would be unjust to now uphold an action that was taken without her knowledge, full understanding of the consequences, and which ultimately affected her eligibility to continue to receive her earned VSI payments.

4.  Therefore, in the interest of justice and equity, the  Board concludes that the applicant’s discharge from the USAR should be voided and she should be reinstated to the IRR; and that it is appropriate to resume the annual VSI payments to which the applicant is entitled and to retroactively pay any VSI payments lost as a result of the USAR discharge. 

5.  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 voiding the 14 January 2000 USAR discharge of the individual concerned, thereby reinstating her in the IRR and her entitlement to VSI annual payments; and by providing any VSI payments lost as a result of the voided USAR discharge. 

BOARD VOTE:  

___ao___  __bfh ___  __teo ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Arthur A. Omartian____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000045701	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2001/01/30	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	2000/01/14	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 135-175	
DISCHARGE REASON	Resignation	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  283	128.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.