PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           21 December 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000048801

	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:

	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		Member	
	Ms. Gail J. Wire		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 she be authorized the $3,000.00 non-prior service bonus for which she enlisted.  

3.  The applicant states, through her unit, that the 324th Military Police (MP) Battalion underwent a major tier change in late spring of 1999.  It changed the unit to the highest priority for full-time unit support and enlistment bonuses.  In anticipation of the formal change, the Readiness Division of the U. S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) made the tier adjustment on 6 May 1999.  Further, in an 11 June 1999 email, the 99th Regional Support Command stated that the unit was a bonus unit as of 4 June 1999.  Whether the adjustment in priority was made on 6 May or 4 June 1999, the change was made before the applicant attempted to enlist in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR).  Although the emails were unofficial, they clearly show that attempts were underway to revise the unit’s prioritization to make it bonus-eligible.  In addition, the applicant’s recruiter already had information that the 324th MP Battalion was a bonus unit and that is why she was told she was eligible for the bonus. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she enlisted in the USAR on         10 June 1999.  Her Selected Reserve Incentive Program – Enlistment Bonus Addendum, DA Form 5261-R, shows that she enlisted for military occupational specialty (MOS) 95B with the 324th MP Battalion, a bonus MOS in a bonus ($3,000.00) unit. 

5.  On an unknown date, the applicant was informed that she was not eligible for the enlistment bonus.  Her unit requested she be authorized the enlistment bonus as an exception to policy and forwarded the request to the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve (OCAR).  (Although one of the endorsements requests she be granted the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) as an exception to policy also, there is no evidence that shows she enlisted for the SLRP.  In addition, the SLRP is MOS-related only, not unit-related.)  OCAR could not approve the request as the unit was not listed as a bonus unit on 3 June 2000.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board concludes that the applicant’s recruiters told her, in good faith and with the information they had on hand, that she was eligible for an enlistment bonus.  The applicant has served in good faith with the understanding that she would be eligible for the enlistment bonus.

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 she 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 enlistment bonus that would have been due her had her unit been included on the Selected Reserve Incentive Program list as of 10 June 1999.

BOARD VOTE:  

__kak___  __ewl___  __gjw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Karol A. Kennedy
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR200048801	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001221	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.05	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.