MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            17 September 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002072783

	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	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Elzey J. Arledge, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		Member	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		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:  In effect, that he be granted Reserve Retired Pay at age 60 or provided an official reason why he is not eligible to receive it.

APPLICANT STATES:  In effect, that he has attempted over the years to receive his United States Army Reserve (USAR) Retired Pay at age 60 and has never been able to get an official reason why he is not eligible.  He continues by stating that he has been told that there are no records of his separation from his last USAR unit and he believes that it is an insufficient reason.

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

He was born on 2 June 1939 and enlisted in the Air Force on 21 August 1957.  He served on active duty until he was honorably released from active duty on 11 May 1961 and was transferred to the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) to complete his statutory service obligation.  He was honorably discharged from the AFRES on 21 August 1963.

On 28 January 1978, he enlisted in the USAR for assignment to a USAR Military Police Company in Vermont.  He continued to serve through a series of continuous reenlistments.  He was promoted to the pay grade of E-6 on 11 May 1981. 

On 11 June 1991, the Army Reserve Personnel Command (ARPERSCOM) published a Chronological Statement of Retirement Points (DARP Form 249-2-E) which reflected that the applicant had 16 years, 8 months and 21 days of creditable qualifying service for retirement purposes.

On 13 June 1991, the applicant submitted a request to be transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).  He cited as the reason for his request that his civilian job required his presence and he could no longer devote the time necessary to the USAR and maintain his civilian job and livelihood.  His chain of command supported his request and he was released from the Troop Program Unit (TPU) on 1 September 1991, due to employment conflicts and was transferred to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement).

On 15 June 1995, he was honorably discharged from the USAR due to the expiration of his term of service.  The discharge order was addressed to the same address that is contained on his application to the Board.

On 11 June 1999, in response to the applicant’s application for Retired Pay at age 60, the ARPERSCOM informed the applicant that in order to be eligible for USAR Retired Pay, he must have completed a minimum of 20 qualifying years of service in which he must have earned at least 50 retirement points per year and that the last 8 years must have been in a Reserve component.  He was also informed that as of the date of his discharge from the USAR, he had only 17 years, 8 months and 20 days of qualifying service for retirement.  He was provided a Chronological Statement of Retirement Points at the time to show how his points were computed.  The last qualifying year in which he accrued 50 or more points for retirement was the Retirement Year Ending (RYE) on 27 January 1992.  That letter was also addressed to his current address.

Army Regulation 135-178, in effect at the time, established the policies, standards, and procedures governing the administrative procedures governing the administrative separation of enlisted soldiers from the Reserve Components. Paragraph 1-3 states, in pertinent part, that orders discharging a soldier would not be revoked or the effective date changed after the effective date of discharge unless there was a manifest error or fraud.  After the effective date of discharge, orders could not be amended by the separation authority only to correct manifest errors such as the wrong character of service or correct administrative errors such as errors concerning rank, social security number, or misspelled name.

Title 10, United States Code, section 1331(d) provides, in pertinent part, that each Reserve component soldier who completes the service required to be eligible for Retired pay at age 60 will be notified in writing within 1 year after he or she has completed that service.  This notification will be issued by the ARPERSCOM or the National Guard Bureau as applicable at the time 20 satisfactory years of service is completed.  

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.  The applicant’s honorable discharge from the USAR was accomplished in accordance with law and regulations applicable at the time.

2.  The applicant’s contentions have been noted by the Board; however, they are not supported by the evidence submitted with his application or the evidence of record.  The applicant clearly requested to be released from his TPU and to be transferred to a control group.  While in the control group he only earned the 15 membership points and consequently did not earn the minimum 50 points per year to qualify as a retirement year.  Consequently, because he took no action to extend his enlistment, he was honorably discharged at his expiration of term of service.  

3.  Accordingly, he was properly denied USAR Retired pay when he applied at age 60 because he had never attained the minimum qualifying years of service.

4.  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.

5.  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

__eja ___  ___kh___  ___tbr___  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002072783	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/09/17	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1995/06/15	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR135-178	
DISCHARGE REASON	ETS	
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  342	136.0400/USAR RET	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.