PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           08 AUGUST 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002072517

	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. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond J. Wagner		Chairperson	
	Mr. Lester Echols		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		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.  In effect, the applicant requests the full amount of $20,000.00 that she contracted for under the provisions of the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP).

3.  The applicant states that she initiated a SLRP contract for $20,000.00 as indicated in the DA Form 5261-4-R (Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum) she includes with her application.  The contract was reviewed by the [Reserve Component] career counselor prior to her signature on the contract.  She has served 21 months of the 36 months for which she contracted and is receiving [or due to receive] $10,000.00.  She requests that she be granted the original amount for which she contracted.  She states that she has been informed by the finance section at Fort McCoy that they will not pay either amount until the matter is resolved. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that the applicant was an Army Reserve soldier assigned to the 344th General Hospital at Fort Totten, New York.  She enlisted in the Regular Army on 12 November 1991 and was trained as a practical nurse, MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) 91C.  She remained on continuous active duty until her discharge in 2000, attaining the rank of sergeant.

5.  On 18 November 1999, prior to her discharge, she enlisted in the Army Reserve for three years in pay grade E-5 (sergeant).  Her discharge orders, which were published in July 1999, were amended to reflect assignment to a Reserve medical hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, with instructions to report to that Reserve unit within 30 days of her discharge.  At the time of her enlistment in the Army Reserve she executed a Student Loan Repayment Program Addendum.  Section III of that addendum shows two amounts which she could contract for - $10,000 and $20,000.  She initialed statements to the effect that she had previous military service and was contracting for 3 or more years in the Selected Reserve to serve in MOS 91C3, which HQDA has approved for a maximum of $20,000 in loan repayments.  

6.  Section V of that addendum shows her entitlements under the SLRP, and the conditions of the loan repayment program.  Paragraph 3 of that section states, in pertinent part, “For each year of satisfactory service in the Selected Reserve, the loan amount to be repaid will be as follows:  A maximum of $20,000 during my military career as I have acknowledged in Section III above, and that amount will not increase.”  She initialed that portion of paragraph 3.  The addendum was signed by the applicant and the career counselor, who stated that he had witnessed the reading and signing of the agreement and that he had verified that the applicant met the eligibility requirements of Army Regulation 135-7, and that the applicant’s MOS was currently eligible for the designated portion authorized for loan repayment shown in Section III.  

7.  In a 30 May 2001 memorandum the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) Office at Fort McCoy stated that although the applicant’s DA Form     5261-4-R was executed with an entitlement of $20,000, she was only eligible for a $10,000 entitlement and payments would be made for that entitlement.  That office stated that because the bonus contract was erroneously executed for the applicant, she had the opportunity to agree to the $10,000 amount, request discharge, or apply to this Board for relief.  A listing of MOSs and bonus entitlements for the first half of FY00, effective 1 October 1999, shows that the SLRP entitlement for MOS 91C was $10,000. 

8.  Army Regulation 135-7 prescribes policies and procedures for the administration of the Army Reserve incentive programs, to include repayment of student loans.  That regulation gives guidance for the administration of the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP), which authorizes student loan repayment for qualified Selected Reserve enlisted personnel.  The incentive is offered to qualifying personnel on signing a contractual agreement for a specified term of service in the Selected Reserve and executing DA Form 5261-4-R.  Selection of the SLRP incentive and execution of DA Form 5261-4-R must be made by the person when he or she signs a Selected Reserve contractual agreement.  The designated maximum portion authorized for loan repayment is $20,000 for a soldier who contracts for a critical MOS that has been established by HQDA for the SLRP increased incentive, or $10,000 for a soldier who contracts for an MOS that has been authorized by HQDA for the SLRP incentive. 
  
9.  DA Form 5261-4-R is a four page form whose principal purpose is to explain obligation and participation requirements for enlistment under the SLRP and to ensure that a person’s agreement to those conditions are a matter of record.  The form requires various data to be entered therein, initials of the person completing the form throughout, the signature of the person completing the form, and certification by the service representative.

 CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contracted with the government to serve three years in the Selected Reserve in exchange for payment of the authorized maximum amount of $20,000 of her student loans.  Although the career counselor verified that she met the eligibility requirements of the SLRP and that her MOS was currently eligible for the $20,000 designated portion authorized for loan repayment, he did not have the authority to commit the government to pay the amount requested, that is, he did not have the authority to alter the SLRP, a statutory and regulatory program.  There is, however, no evidence that the career counselor knowingly did the wrong thing.  The applicant made that contract in good faith.  Although the applicant is not entitled to relief as a matter of law, as a matter of equity the Army has an obligation to honor her contract.       

2.  Consequently, the SLRP office at Fort McCoy should establish the applicant’s account at the $20,000 level as a matter of equity and approve payments of her student loans up to that level, as an exception to policy.   

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That the applicant’s SLRP account be established at the $20,000 level in accordance with the provisions of the contract that she executed on                    18 November 1999, and payments of her student loans be approved up to the $20,000 level as an exception to policy. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__RJW__  ___LE  __  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__          _  ________  __MVT __  DENY APPLICATION

		__Raymond J. Wagner___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002072517	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020808	
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.	103	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.