MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           1 November 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001062287

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration 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. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That his records be corrected to show he was selected for promotion to captain while he was in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was never notified that he was being considered by a promotion selection board.  He transferred to the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MAARNG) in 1998 and found out that he should have been discharged in 1996 but was never informed.  He provides a letter from the  MAARNG, in which the Director of Personnel informed him that the MAARNG could not help him as the correction concerned his service prior to his appointment in the ARNG, as supporting evidence.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 20 May 1989.  He was promoted to first lieutenant in the USAR on 23 May 1992. 

The applicant was first considered for promotion to captain by the 1995 promotion selection board.  By letter dated 1 March 1996, the U. S. Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM) informed him that he had been considered for promotion to captain but not selected.  

The applicant was next considered for promotion to captain by the 1996 promotion selection board.  By letter dated 7 May 1998, PERSCOM informed him
that he had been considered for promotion to captain but not selected and as a result of his second failure to be selected he must be discharged.  His discharge orders are not available.  (PERSCOM, Office of Promotions, Reserve Components has stated that the 1996 board took 18 months to get approved.)

Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3 is intended as a professional development guide for individual officers.  In pertinent part, it states that officers in many respects are ultimately their own career managers.  The key is to be involved in career development by making informed logical decisions and acting on them.  One important element of an officer’s involvement is the accurate reflection of capabilities in the official military personnel file (OMPF) maintained by Headquarters, Department of the Army.  The OMPF contains the data from which important career development decisions are made for selection, advancement, assignment and retention.  Officers should review, update and maintain these records throughout their careers.

Army Regulation 135-155 provides policy for the selection and promotion of commissioned officers of the Army National Guard and the USAR.  Paragraph   2-1 states that a first lieutenant is eligible for promotion to captain upon completion of 6 years of commissioned service.  Paragraph 3-4 states that the Chief, Office of Promotions, Reserve Components will notify each USAR officer in the zone of consideration by a mandatory selection board.  This notice will be dispatched at least 30 days before the convening date of the board.  Lack of notification to an officer does not provide an independent basis for the officer to be considered by a standby board.

Title 10, U. S. Code, section 14504 states that a first lieutenant on the reserve active-status list of the Army who has failed of selection for promotion to captain for the second time shall be separated not later than the first day of the seventh month after the month in which the President approves the report of the board which considered the officer for the second time.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

2.  As a commissioned officer, the applicant should have known approximately when he was due for consideration for promotion to captain.  If he did not receive official notification of when the board was scheduled to convene in a reasonable amount of time prior to his expectation of that board convening, he should have contacted his manager for assistance.  As Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3 states, an officer’s career is largely in his or her own hands.  Reasonable diligence should have led the applicant to request a copy of his OMPF months prior to his expectation of the board convening, review his OMPF and correct it as necessary, and keep in touch with his manager to ensure any necessary corrections were made.  There is no evidence the applicant did anything of this sort.  The lack of notification to the applicant alone is insufficient reason for the Board to grant the relief requested.

3.  The applicant’s discharge orders are not available.  However, considering the promotion board which considered him for promotion to captain the second time was not approved until around 1998, it appears that a discharge date around 1998 would have been appropriate.  

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__wtm___  __aao___  __clg___  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001062287	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011101	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	131.10	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.