PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:           15 November 2001                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001057442

	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	
	Ms. Stephanie Thompkins		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Member	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		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 promotion to major.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that she should be promoted and retained in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and the Mississippi Army National Guard (MS ARNG) due to graduation from a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at Graceland University, and due to her history as an excellent officer in the ANC and the MS ARNG. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were not provided to the Board.  Information herein was obtained from the Office of Promotions, Reserve Components, Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM) and the applicant, that shows she is a Reserve ANC officer serving with the MS ARNG in the rank of captain with a date of rank of 28 January 1993.

5.  Based on the required 7 years time in grade her maximum time in grade date for major was 27 January 2000.

6.  She was considered and not selected for promotion to major by the 1999 and 2000 Reserve Components Selection Boards (RCSB’s).  She was not qualified for promotion based on the lack of the required civilian education.

7.  On 28 February 2000, the Army Reserve Personnel Command advised the applicant that her request for adjustment to her current Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) End Date, which was scheduled to be 31 December 1999 was approved.  Since any change to the STRAP End Date necessitates a correction to the Service Obligation End Date, her Service Obligation End Date, previously as 30 December 2007, was also revised.  Her STRAP End Date was changed to read 31 May 2000 and her Contractual Service Obligation End Dated was changed to read 30 May 2008.

8.  On 24 October 2000, the Adjutant General, MS ARNG, advised the Chief, National Guard Bureau and the Office of Promotions, PERSCOM, he strongly recommended promotion reconsideration for the applicant by a special selection board (SSB).  He states that had she not experienced delays beyond her control, she would have completed her bachelor’s degree prior to the January 2000 RCSB and would have been selected for promotion.  He also states that he believes it would be an injustice to end her career simply because she was unable to complete her BA degree requirement six months earlier than she did.  He further states that with the officer strength declining in all components of the Army, the Army must find ways to mitigate some of the statutory and/or regulatory requirements provided the officer made an earnest attempt to comply with those requirements.

9.  On 14 November 2000, the Assistant Adjutant General of MS ARNG wrote the Army Review Boards Agency, strongly recommending retention and promotion of the applicant.  He stated that she is an invaluable asset to the MS ARNG in that she provides expertise in communicable disease and outbreak 
control, serves on a task force for State Bioterrorism Response and she participated in a medical mission in Belize.  If separated, she will not be able to fulfil her contractual service obligation for educational assistance through the 
Army STRAP Program.  He further stated that nurses are one of the most valuable assets of the MS ARNG and it cannot afford to lose one of this caliber, and that she is irreplaceable.  

10.  A review of her records did not reveal she had completed the civilian education requirement of a BSN degree prior to the convening date of the boards.  She completed her BSN degree effective 31 August 2000.

11.  Current promotion policy specifies that promotion reconsideration by an SSB may only be based on erroneous non-consideration or material error, which existed in the record at the time of consideration.  Material error in this context is one or more errors of such a nature that, in the judgment of the reviewing official (or body), it caused an individual’s non-selection by a promotion board and, that had such error(s) been corrected at the time the individual was considered, a reasonable chance would have resulted that the individual would have been recommended for promotion.  The regulation also provides that boards are not required to divulge the proceedings or the reason(s) for non-selection, except where an individual is not qualified due to non-completion of required military schooling.

12.  The policy further specifies that ANC officers appointed on or after 1 October 1986 are required to possess a baccalaureate degree in nursing prior to promotion to major.  Officers other than Army nurses appointed after 1 October 1986 are required to possess a degree prior to promotion to major.

13.  The Chief, Promotion and Notifications Branch, Office of Promotions, PERSCOM, expressed the opinion that a review of the applicant’s record revealed that she was considered but not recommended by the 1999 and 2000 Major Army Medical Department RCSB’s due to not meeting the required civilian education requirements.  The applicant was appointed as a second lieutenant in August 1987 with an associate’s degree in Nursing.  She began pursuing her bachelor’s degree on a part-time basis through an external degree program in 1991.  Her expected graduation date was December 1999; however, she experienced unusual delays and difficulties arranging some of her final clinical experiences (specifically her required four college 

hours or 142 hours of clinical experience).  She was granted a STRAP extension in December 1999 and did not complete the degree until August 31, 2000.  The applicant states that all other didactic program requirements were completed by December 1999.  She further states that the clinical hours could not be accomplished until contracts were in place and approved by both Graceland University and Mississippi medical facilities and nursing preceptors at the sites where the clinical experiences were planned.  In accordance with Title 10, United States Codes, 12205 and Army Regulation 135-155, an officer must meet the required educational requirement prior to the convening date of the promotion board.  Based on these facts, it was recommended the case be denied.

14.  The opinion was forwarded to the applicant for her acknowledgment/rebuttal on 26 June 2001.  In her rebuttal dated 14 July 2001, she states that she has a BSN and graduated Magna Cum Laude in August 2000 and she attended all unit drills and annual training while working 40 hours a week as a public health nurse.  She has maintained excellent officer evaluations throughout her career and received numerous awards.  She further states that she holds clinical skills and expertise in epidemiology, public health and biological terrorism.  She had planned to have her degree by December 1999 but due to difficulties arranging and finalizing four contracts for her clinical experience with the school and two different medical facilities and preceptors, the contracts were not finalized until February 2000.  She also states that she initiated the contract process in September 1999.  She completed all clinical experience by May 2000 but did not received her diploma until the next graduation class in August 2000.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s records should now be submitted to an SSB for promotion reconsideration to major under 2000 criteria.

2.  Notwithstanding the opinion rendered by the PERSCOM, the recommendations from the MS ARNG and the overall circumstances in this case strongly support the applicant’s contentions that through no fault of her own she was not allowed to complete her clinical experience to graduate 1 December 1999.  The Board notes that the applicant initiated contract processing for her clinical experience 3 months prior to her expected graduation date and those contracts were not successfully negotiated until February 2000.  It is also noted that her STRAP End Date was extended when difficulty arose establishing contracts with the University and local medical facilities for her clinical experience.  

3.  The Board concludes, as an exception to policy, that the applicant’s records should be corrected to show she was educationally qualified for promotion to major and should now be reconsidered under 2000 criteria.

4.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the individual concerned was educationally qualified for promotion to major under 2000 criteria.

2.  That following administrative implementation of the foregoing, her records be submitted to a duly constituted SSB for promotion reconsideration.

3.  That if selected, her records be further corrected by showing she was promoted to the next higher grade on her date of eligibility therefor, as determined by appropriate Departmental officials using the criteria cited, provided she was otherwise qualified and met all other prerequisites for promotion.

4.  That if selected for promotion and subsequently separated because of her previous non-selection, her record be further corrected to show:

	a.  that her discharge or transfer to the Retired Reserve, as applicable, is void, and of no force or effect; that she was credited with qualifying service for Reserve retirement for her respective retirement years, from the dates of her now voided discharge or transfer to the Retired Reserve to the date of her return to the active Reserve;

	b.  that an adequate explanation be placed in her records to show that the gap in her officer evaluation reports, from the dates of her now voided discharge or transfer to the Retired Reserve to the date of return to active Reserve status, was not caused by any fault on her part, and to insure that she is not prejudiced thereby in the consideration of any future personnel actions; and

	c.  that all documents related to her now voided non-selection for promotion, and her discharge or transfer be expunged from her records.

5.  That if not selected, the applicant be so notified.

BOARD VOTE:  

_sk_____  _inw_____  _kah___   GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Irene N. Wheelwright
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR200105744	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011115	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	131.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.