PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           21 October 2003    
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2003084834

	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 L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Chairperson	
	Mr. William D. Power		Member	
	Mr. Frank C. Jones		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 his records be corrected to give him credit for being in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) from 4 September 1986 through 7 May 1989.

3.  The applicant states that he served in the SMP but he was not given credit for it since SMP time did not count before 1996.  After he came back in the Army in June 2001, he discovered that the time counted.  He worked as a cadet for          3 years in the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) because he took a leave of absence one semester (about January 1987 through January 1988) from the Reserve Officers' Training Program (ROTC) but continued to work for the 100th Division.  

4.  The applicant's military records show that he enlisted in the USAR on 2 July 1984.  On 4 September 1986, he enlisted in the USAR Control Group (ROTC).  A DA Form 4824 (Simultaneous Membership Agreement) is not available.

5.  The applicant provides several DA Forms 1380 (Record of Individual Performance of Reserve Duty Training) as supporting evidence.  One of the DA Forms 1380, dated 15 September 1986, indicates the applicant was a cadet in the SMP.

6.  The applicant provides Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) for the periods September through December 1986, January through October 1987 and December 1987, January through December 1988, and January through June 1989, which show he performed drills with his Troop Program Unit (TPU).  (The June 1989 LES shows he was separated on 7 May 1989 to accept a commission.)

7.  The applicant was discharged from the USAR on 7 May 1989 to accept a commission.

8.  The applicant entered active duty on 5 June 1989 and was discharged in the rank of captain on 14 June 1996.

9.  The applicant reentered active duty as a captain in the Medical Service Corps around June 2001.

10.  The ROTC/SMP is a voluntary officer training program designed to increase the number of ROTC officers available for Reserve Forces Duty.  Subject to limitations, it permits an ROTC cadet to train in the ROTC Advanced Course while simultaneously participating as an officer-trainee in paid training assemblies with a U. S. Army Reserve troop program unit.  To be eligible for ROTC/SMP participation, a cadet must be enrolled in the ROTC Advanced Course nonscholarship program; be assigned to a verified officer-trainee position in a TPU; meet the Army body composition/weight control standards; and agree to volunteer for commissioning under the provisions of the ROTC Early Commissioning Program on successful completion of the ROTC Advanced Course.

11.  Public Law 104-201, section 507, dated 23 September 1996, amended the provisions of the law to provide service credit for the SMP retroactive to 1 August 1979, when SMP actually began.  The revisions will result in no increase in pay, retired or retainer pay before the date of enactment, 23 September 1996.  If the credit results in a higher basic pay due to a change in the pay entry basic date (PEBD), the effective date of the increase will be 23 September 1996.

12.  Message 161200Z Jan 97, DA Washington DC//DAPE-MPO-S// Subject:  Service Credit for Senior ROTC Cadets and Midshipmen in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), provided policy guidance and authority to recompute the PEBD based on service credit under the SMP.

13.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from Headquarters, Department of the Army, G-1.  That office opined that, if the applicant were participating in a TPU prior to entering ROTC, he would have had to be transferred to ROTC then enrolled in the SMP in order to return to a TPU.

14.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment.  He, in effect, concurred with the advisory opinion.  He was not sure exactly when his leave of absence was but believed it ran from 10 January 1987 to 10 January 1988.  He restated, however, that he continued to drill with his TPU during the period of his leave of absence.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The applicant contends that he was in the SMP while he was in ROTC.  The evidence of record shows he was assigned to a TPU and actively participated with that unit during the entire period he was in ROTC.  One document, a DA Form 1380 dated 15 September 1986, shows the applicant was in the SMP.  However, a DA Form 4824 is not available.  

2.  Nevertheless, in accordance with the information provided by the advisory opinion, the Board accepts the evidence provided as sufficient to show the applicant served in the SMP the entire time he was in ROTC minus the period he was on a leave of absence.  The Board also notes, however, that the applicant was actively serving with his TPU even during his leave of absence and so that period of time should be creditable for pay anyway.  

3.  The Board accepts for the sake of computation (and in the absence of evidence of a more definite time frame) that the applicant was not in the SMP during the period 1 January 1987 through 31 January 1988.  As he was assigned to a USAR TPU during that time, adjustment of his PEBD should not be adversely affected.

4.  The applicant may have to provide a summary of retirement points history to his servicing finance office to accurately compute his PEBD.  

5.  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:

    a.  that the applicant was in the SMP for the entire period he was in ROTC     (4 September 1986 through 7 May 1989) and that his PEBD be adjusted accordingly; 

     b.  that if the applicant's period of service with his TPU while on leave of absence from ROTC has already been credited to him, that efforts be taken to ensure he does not receive double credit; and

     c.  that the applicant receive all back pay and allowances due him because of this adjustment.

BOARD VOTE:  

__mhm___  __wdp___  __fcj___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__Melvin H. Meyer_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2003084836	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20030121	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	Mr. Schneider	
ISSUES         1.	104.03.0003	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.