PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           23 August 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000049076

	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	
	M r. Edmund P. Mercanti		                       Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John H. Kern 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas Lanyi		Member	
	Ms. Paula Mokulis		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 her student loans be paid under the terms of the Health Professional Loan Repayment (HPLR) contract.

3.  The applicant states she accepted a commission with the understanding that her enlisted Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) would be continued under the HPLR.  

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she was commissioned as a second lieutenant, Army Nurse Corps, on 21 November 1997.  At that time she executed a properly authenticated HPLR agreement which states that her Area of Concentration (AOC), 66E, was eligible for the HPLR.

5.  On 27 May 1999 the applicant’s commander submitted a request for an exception to policy to have her loans paid under the HPLR.  In that request the applicant’s commander stated that the applicant was receiving the SLRP as an enlisted soldier prior to accepting her commission, and opined that the recruiter who offered the HPLR agreement to the applicant must not have had a current list of those AOC’s approved for the HPLR since the applicant’s AOC was on the prior year’s list.  That request was disapproved by the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve (OCAR) since that office did not have the authority to pay loans under the HPLR unless the AOC was on the list approved for that incentive.  The OCAR recommended to the applicant that she petition this Board.

6.  The HPLR provides for the repayment by the Government of a designated portion of any outstanding student loan(s) secured after 1 October 1975.  The loan amount to be repaid is $3,000.00 or the remaining balance of the loan, whichever is less, with a lifetime limit of $20,000.00 to be paid by the Army.  Payments will be made for each year of satisfactory service in the Selected Reserve.  To be eligible for the HPLR, an officer must be in good professional standing and have a current, valid medical/nursing license and, if required, a specialty certificate and must perform duties in the AOC which authorized the HPLR.  Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this HPLR agreement establishes an anniversary date.  By law (title 10, U.S. Code, section 2171), the Government cannot reimburse a soldier if he or she pays off a student loan.  The Government can only pay the lending institution.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the OCAR is correct in that the applicant is not eligible for the HPLR because her AOC was not on the list of those professions approved for that incentive, it is not fair or equitable to tell the applicant after she has been serving in a troop program unit for two years that she is not entitled to the HPLR.

2.  The applicant has bettered herself by completing a nursing degree and by taking the actions required to be commissioned.  The applicant’s hard work and dedication should not be rewarded by terminating the loan repayments she was receiving under the SLRP which she was told would be continued under the HPLR.

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 by:

	a.  showing that the AOC of the individual concerned, 66E, was on the list of those professions approved for the HPLR, in this case only as an exception to policy; and

	b.  paying to her the anniversary payments she is now entitled to as a result of this correction.

BOARD VOTE:  

____pm_  ____jhk__  ___pm__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________John H. Kern              CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000049076	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010823	
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.	128.05	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.