MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

		IN THE CASE OF:  

		BOARD DATE:            4 November 2003                  
		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2003086197

	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 L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Gail J. Wire		Member	
	Mr. Antonio Uribe		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 her Health Professions Pay Entry Date (HPPED) be adjusted to show she had 3 additional years of active duty and the rate of her Dental Additional Special Pay (DASP) and Variable Special Pay (VSP) be adjusted accordingly. 

APPLICANT STATES:  That she volunteered for active duty from the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR).  Her DD Form 214 from the USAR did not show she had over  3 years of creditable active duty as a dentist.  That incorrect DD Form 214 placed her at the wrong pay scale when she signed the DASP contracts and also reduced her monthly VSP payments.  For her exit DD Form 214, she produced documentation supporting active duty as a USAR dentist.  Fort Hood verified the documents and issued a correct DD Form 214 showing she had over 3 years of prior creditable active duty.  

As supporting evidence, the applicant provides her DD Form 214 for the period ending 5 July 2002; her signed DASP contracts from 1999, 2000, and 2001; a Dental Information Paper defining HPPED, DASP, and VSP; and an unsigned DA Form 1506 (Statement of Service for Computation of Length of Service for Pay Purposes) from the Dental Activity, Fort Hood, TX.  

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

She was commissioned a USAR, Dental Corps officer on 14 December 1985.  She entered active duty in the rank of major on 5 July 1999 as an obligated volunteer Dental Corps officer for a 3-year commitment.

The provided DA Form 1506 shows the applicant had a total of 74 active duty days prior to her entry on active duty on 5 July 1999.

A Statement of Retirement Points obtained from the U. S. Army Human Resources Command – St. Louis on 31 October 2003 shows the applicant had a total of 82 days of active duty prior to her entry on active duty on 5 July 1999. 

The Statement of Retirement Points (erroneously) shows that for retirement year ending (RYE) 13 December 1999 the applicant had only 17 days of active duty for that RYE but it cannot be determined if those 17 days were prior to her entry on active duty.  RYE 13 December 2000 erroneously shows she had only         162 days of active duty.

A DD Form 214 "from the USAR" is not available.

The applicant was released from active duty on 5 July 2002 upon completing her required active service.  Item 12d (Total Prior Active Service) of her DD Form 214 for the period ending 5 July 2002 shows that she had completed 3 years,      2 months, and 25 days of prior active service.
In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Office of the Surgeon General, Army Medical Department Special Pay Branch.  That office noted that the HPPED is calculated by adding total years, months, and days of all internships, residencies, and fellowships not performed on active duty and all periods of active duty as a Dental Corps officer [or other Army Medical Department officer), verified by official discharge documents (DD Form 214).  This period of time is creditable service and is subtracted from the entry on active duty date to establish HPPED.  That office noted that the applicant entered active duty on 5 July 1999 and was released from active duty on 5 July 2002.  Those were the same dates that the applicant submitted via the provided DD Form    214 for which she was requesting credit for increased special pay rates.  (That office did not address the fact the DD Form 214 indicated she had completed over 3 years of prior active service).  That office noted that the applicant had no HPPED credit upon entering active duty on 5 July 199 and therefore the credit for DASP and VSP rates was calculated with zero credit and paid correctly.

A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment or rebuttal.  The applicant stated that the 3 years, 2 months, and 25 days of active duty service as a Dental Corps officer she is asking for is the computation of active duty periods while a USAR Dental Corps officer from the time of her commission on 14 December 1985 to 5 July 1999.  She stated that the DA Form 1506 authenticated by the Fort Hood personnel records office supported all periods of active duty from 14 December 1985 through 5 July 1999.  

The applicant further stated that, unfortunately, when she came on extended active duty in 1999, all records from the USAR were lost, including a valid        DD Form 214.  Additionally, in the USAR, active duty periods are accounted for on DARP Form 249 [later a computer-tracking system was established] using the Retirement Points Accounting System.  Active duty is maintained as part of the calculation as a "good year" towards Reserve retirement and verification is usually done at retirement from the Reserves.  Active duty in the USAR is generally not significant for anything but retirement.  She doubts if it was correctly calculated and maintained by Reserve Records and probably did not show up on a Reserve DD Form 214.  

Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents prepared for soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service.  In pertinent part, it states that the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the soldier’s most recent period of continuous active duty.  It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement or discharge.  

In pertinent part, Army Regulation 635-5 states that a DD Form 214 will be prepared for all personnel at the time of their release from the Active Army.  Personnel included are members of the USAR separated after completing         90 days or more of continuous active duty for training, full time training duty, or active duty support and after completing initial active duty for training which resulted in the award of a military occupational specialty even though the active duty was less than 90 days.  In pertinent part, it states that separating members should be counseled that the DD Form 214 is the most vital document they will receive from the Army and that failing to obtain the original and the number         4 copy of the DD Form 214 at the time of separation may cause a long delay in obtaining certain benefits.

Army Regulation 140-185 (Training and Retirement Point Credits and Unit Level Strength Accounting Records), paragraph 3-6 states that the annual or terminal statements of retirement points give a permanent record of the total retirement points a soldier earns during a retirement year and give the soldier an opportunity to request correction of errors in the statement.  

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.  The evidence of record shows the applicant has always been a Dental Corps officer.  She states that she had a total of 3 years, 2 months, and 25 days of active duty between the time she was commissioned in December 1985 and the time she entered extended active duty in July 1999.  She provides her DD Form 214 for the period ending 5 July 2002 as evidence that she completed such prior active duty and a DA Form 1506 which she contends verifies the entry on her  DD Form 214.

3.  However, the DA Form 1506 provided by the applicant is not authenticated by an official's signature.  In any case, the form shows only that the applicant completed 74 days of active duty (not over 3 years) prior to her entry on active duty in July 1999.  

4.  There are obvious errors on the applicant's Statement of Retirement Points  as obtained from the U. S. Army Human Resources Command (e.g., RYE         14 December 2000 should show 365 days of active duty).  That statement as currently constituted shows the applicant completed only 82 days of active duty (not over 3 years) prior to her entry on extended active duty in July 1999. 

5.  It was/is the applicant's responsibility to ensure her Statement of Retirement Points is correct.  She is sent an annual statement of retirement points in part to give her an opportunity to request correction of errors in the statement.  She should contact the U. S. Army Human Resources Command to correct at least RYE 14 December 1998 and later and to reconstruct as well as possible her prior active duty retirement points.

6.  In the absence of official evidence to substantiate the entry of 3 years,            2 months, and 25 days of prior active service as shown on the applicant's        DD Form 214 for the period ending 5 July 2002, there is an insufficient basis on which to grant the relief requested.

7.  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

__fne___  __gjw___  __au____  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2003086197	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20031104	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	Mr. Chun	
ISSUES         1.	128.19	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.