PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           19 July 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001058008

	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. Mark D. Manning		Chairperson	
	Mr. Lester Echols		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 her mandatory removal date (MRD) be extended.

3.  The applicant states that she had submitted her MRD extension in December 2000.  She was informed by Captain M___ at the Army Reserve Personnel Command (AR-PERSCOM) that she was extended to 31 December 2000 and she should resubmit in January 2001.  In January 2001, she was informed by Captain M___ that her extension was approved.  She continued to drill.  In April 2001, she was notified that her request had been denied and she was then told to stop drilling.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that she was born on 28 June 1940.  She was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, U. S. Army Reserve on 14 February 1989.  She was promoted to Captain on 13 February 1994.  On 30 September 2000, she was notified that she had been promoted to Major effective 25 June 2000.

5.  On 15 November 2000, the applicant apparently learned for the first time that her MRD had been 30 June 2000.  She submitted a request for an extension.  Health Services Division, AR-PERSCOM recommended approval for a 4-year extension of her MRD to 30 June 2004 due to a critical shortage of her specialty, 66C (Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse).  She continued to drill apparently based   upon this proposed recommendation.  Transition and Separations Branch,      AR-PERSCOM disapproved her request because she was 8 months beyond her maximum authorized age without an approved extension.  That Branch recommended the applicant apply to this Board to receive credit for the retirement points earned after her MRD.

6.  The applicant’s Summary of Retirement Points Statement shows that she earned 48 inactive duty retirement points during retirement year ending        (RYE) date 13 February 2001; 51 inactive duty retirement points during RYE     13 February 2000; 44 inactive duty retirement points during RYE 13 February 1999; and similar amounts during her prior RYEs.  It appears that AR-PERSCOM has already credited her with at least most of the retirement points she earned during RYE 13 February 2001 after her MRD.  

7.  Title 10, U. S. Code, section 14702(b) provides that an officer may not be retained in an active status after the last day of the month in which the officer becomes 60 years of age.  Section 14703(a)(1) provides that the Secretary of the Army may, with the officer’s consent, retain in an active status any reserve officer assigned to the Medical Corps…the Army Nurse Corps, or the Army Medical Specialist Corps.  Section 14703(b) provides that an officer may not be retained in an active status under this section later than the date on which the officer becomes 67 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board concludes that an injustice has occurred in this case.  Through no fault of her own, the applicant was unaware of her actual MRD until it had already passed.  She immediately requested an extension and her branch had 
recommended approval of her request based upon a critical shortage in her specialty.  She continued to drill based upon a presumption that this recommendation assured approval of her request.  However, because her MRD had already passed AR-PERSCOM, Transitions and Separations Branch disapproved her request.

2.  Although AR-PERSCOM, Transitions and Separations Branch recommended that the Board grant the applicant credit for the retirement points earned after her MRD, the Board finds that this recommendation is insufficient for the applicant’s desires and, more importantly, for the best interests of the Army.  It would be more appropriate to show that the applicant requested an extension of her MRD in a timely manner, to show that the recommended 4-year extension was approved prior to her MRD of 30 June 2000, and to grant her the retirement point credit she had earned/would have earned had her request been submitted and approved on time.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the applicant requested an extension of her MRD on   1 May 2000, that Health Services Division recommended a 4-year extension to   30 June 2004, and that her request and the recommendation were approved by the appropriate office on 1 June 2001.

2.  That if the applicant has already been discharged or transferred to the Retired Reserve, that such action be voided.

3.  That the applicant retain any and all retirement points she may have earned between the date of her original 30 June 2000 MRD and the date the corrective action directed herein is taken.

4.  That the applicant be awarded no less than 48 inactive duty retirement points for RYE 12 February 2002, the average of her last three RYEs, so as not to 

penalize her for the drilling points she was unable to earn after her request for MRD was disapproved and the date the corrective action directed herein is taken.  

BOARD VOTE:  

__mdm___  __le____  __gjw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Mark D. Manning
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001058008	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010719	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	135.03	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.