PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           18 June 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002067578

	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	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Karol A. Kennedy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Mr. Allen L. Raub		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 paid a cash bonus for her enlistment in the Army Reserve (USAR).

3.  The applicant states that her recruiter did not include the bonus addendum with her enlistment contract, and efforts by her unit to get her the bonus have been unsuccessful.

4.  In support of her application she submits a memorandum from the recruiting battalion with responsibility for the recruiter who processed her enlistment.  The recruiting battalion states that the applicant was entitled to a cash bonus of $3000.00, but the bonus addendum was not completed by her recruiter in error. 

5.  The applicant’s military records show that she enlisted in the USAR with no prior service on 6 September 2000.  She did not complete an addendum for a cash bonus at that time.  She completed her initial entry training, was awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS) of automated logistical specialist, and was serving as a drilling reservist at the time she submitted her application.

6.  Army Regulation 135-7, Incentive Programs, paragraph 2-3, authorized a cash bonus for nonprior service Reservists who enlist in either a critical MOS or a critical unit, as designated by the Department of the Army.  This paragraph requires that a Reservist execute a DA Form 5261-R, Selected Reserve Incentive Program - Enlistment Bonus Addendum, at the time of his or her enlistment. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Soldiers just entering into the service cannot be expected to know what incentives are available to them, and must rely on their recruiter for that information and for their recruiters to give them the appropriate forms to qualify for those incentives.

2.  While the applicant has no inherent right to a bonus, to deny her a bonus when her contemporaries (enlisted in the same MOS and unit) all received a bonus would be inherently unjust.

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 showing that the individual concerned executed a DA Form 5261-R, Selected 

Reserve Incentive Program - Enlistment Bonus Addendum, for enlistment in a bonus MOS in a bonus unit, for a bonus amount of $3000.00.

BOARD VOTE:  

____kak_  ____alr__  ____mhm____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Karol A. Kennedy________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002067578	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020618	
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.	128.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.