IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 11 July 2013 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130008613 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests that his records be corrected to show entitlement to a $15,000.00 Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) bonus. 2. The applicant states as a member of the Florida Army National Guard (FLARNG), he extended his enlistment on 21 September 2011. At the time of the extension, he was told that he was authorized a $15,000.00 bonus. He is now being told that because the personnel office did not properly process the necessary documents, he is not entitled to the bonus. In his sworn statement, the applicant lays out his and the retention noncommissioned officer's (NCO) actions. 3. The applicant provides: * a 9 February 2013 National Guard Bureau (NGB) Memorandum * a sworn statement from his retention NCO * his sworn statement * a DA Form 4836 (Oath of Extension of Enlistment or Reenlistment) * 15 pages of emails CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. On 19 September 2011, the applicant, as a FLARNG sergeant, signed a 6-year extension of his enlistment in military occupational specialty (MOS) 35L (Counterintelligence Specialist). 2. The applicant's interactive Personal Electronic Record Management System (iPERMS) does not contain any of the information about his extension except for a copy of a DA Form 4836. 3. Item 8 (Provisions and Computation of this Extension) of his DA Form 4836, dated 21 September 2011, includes the statement "I understand that I am eligible for SRIP bonus incentives and I accept," followed by his initials. No DA Form 5261-R (SRIP - Enlistment Bonus Addendum) is attached to the DA Form 4836. 4. On 10 September 2012, Staff Sergeant E--------, his retention NCO, submitted a sworn statement related to his processing of the applicant's extension of service. He stated the applicant's MOS was an NGB critical skills MOS that authorized a $15,000.00 bonus. When he went to request processing information on the applicant's bonus he found it had not been loaded into the Installation Management Application Resource Center (IMARC) database. He contacted the State Incentive Manager to resolve the issue and he was told the applicant qualified for the bonus, but a bonus control number had not been issued. The Incentive Manager advised that an exception to policy needed to be submitted. The exception to policy was requested, but as of the date of his statement the bonus issue had not been resolved. 5. A 9 February 2013 memorandum from the NGB Deputy G1 states the exception to policy requesting an entitlement to a $15,000.00 bonus was being denied. He stated no incentive addendum could be found; therefore, no incentive could be authorized. Although an incentive statement is listed on the DA Form 4836 it cannot be substantiated if the incentive was being offered at the time of extension. Further, item 9 (Authority and Reason for this Extension) contains an improper rule and the bonus control number was not requested until a month after the form was signed. It was recommended the applicant apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to determine if the incentive was offered in connection with the extension and to allow for an incentive addendum to be completed if the ABCMR found in his favor. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The retention NCO handling the applicant's extension submitted a sworn statement outlining his actions in regard to the applicant's extension. In that statement he affirmed he had told the applicant of the entitlement to a bonus if he extended in his MOS which was on the critical MOS list. However, there is no evidence that the staff sergeant submitted the required addendum to the enlistment contract at the time of the extension. 2. The lack of the addendum to validate and clarify the incentive and the late request for a bonus control number are the reasons the NGB states that they are unable to grant an exception to policy. 3. Despite the fact that there is no separate addendum the extension contract does show he was extending with entitlement to a SRIP bonus. Combining this fact with the sworn statement from the retention NCO supports the applicant's contention that he was entitled to the SRIP bonus. 4. In view of the foregoing, the applicant's FLARNG record should be corrected to reflect that a proper bonus addendum was completed in a timely manner and a bonus control number was issued entitling him to receipt of a SRIP bonus based on the duration of his enlistment in a critical MOS. BOARD VOTE: ____X___ ____X___ ___X__ _ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that the state Army National Guard records and the Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. showing the applicable documents were properly and timely prepared and that he received a valid bonus control number upon his reenlistment/extension in the FLARNG for the SRIP bonus in the amount of $15,000.00; b. showing he is eligible for payment of the bonus in accordance with the terms of his reenlistment/extension contract; and c. paying him, out of Army National Guard funds, the specified bonus amount as a result of these corrections. _______ _ X ______ ___ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130008613 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130008613 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1