IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 13 August 2013 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130009316 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 an adjustment of her initial appointment date to first lieutenant (1LT) in the Alaska Army National Guard (AKARNG) from 9 July 2010 to 20 December 2007. 2. The applicant states she was commissioned as a 1LT on 20 December 2007 after completing the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP). Due to an error on her unit's part, she was never federally recognized by her state. This error was discovered in January 2010 while she was deployed to Iraq. She was told to sign an oath of office and the error would be fixed upon completion of her deployment. When she returned in July 2010, the paperwork was completed and her date of rank (DOR) was backdated to 20 December 2007. She was then told she would have to submit an application to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in order to receive credit for serving as an officer during those years for retirement purposes. 3. She states there has been no error in pay. 4. The applicant provides a: * scroll list from the Secretary of Defense, dated 26 November (year unreadable), for appointments to captain, 1LT, and second lieutenant * DA Form 71 (Oaths of Office - Military Personnel), dated 20 December 2007 * National Guard Bureau (NGB) 337 (Oaths of Office), dated 20 December 2007 * DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) with a separation date of 4 January 2008 * DA Form 71, dated 1 May 2009 * DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report), dated 24 November 2009 * Headquarters, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, GA, Orders BN-011-0001, dated 11 January 2010 * a memorandum, dated 16 April 2010, from the Consolidated Legal Center, Joint Base Balad, Iraq * a memorandum, dated 7 June 2010, from Headquarters, Task Force 807 Medical Command, Camp Victory Base, Baghdad, Iraq * DD Form 214 with a separation date of 6 July 2010 * DA Form 71, dated 9 July 2010 * NGB 337, dated 9 July 2010 * NGB Special Orders Number 16 AR, dated 27 January 2011 * email dated between 8 March and 15 April 2010 * certificate for completion of the IPAP * an affiliation certificate from the Surgeon General, U.S. Army * NGB Form 82 (Proceedings of a Federal Recognition Examining Board), dated 23 June 2011 * NGB Special Orders Number 273 AR, dated 27 October 2011 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. She previously served 2 years, 6 months, and 20 days in the Air National Guard and 4 years, 8 months, and 3 days in the AKARNG in an enlisted status. 2. An Academy of Health Sciences U.S. Diploma shows she attended IPAP from 3 January 2006 to 4 January 2008. 3. An NGB 337, dated 20 December 2007, shows she was commissioned a 1LT in the AKARNG and granted temporary Federal Recognition on 20 December 2007. 4. A DA Form 71, dated 20 December 2007, shows she was commissioned a 1LT in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 20 December 2007. 5. A DA Form 71, dated 1 May 2009, shows she commissioned a 1LT on 1 May 2009 in the USAR. This form was sworn and subscribed at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. 6. A DA Form 1059, dated 24 November 2009, shows she attended the Army Medical Department Officer Basic Leaders Course from 30 October to 24 November 2009. 7. Headquarters, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence Orders BN-011-0001, dated 11 January 2010, ordered her to active duty in the rank of 1LT in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 8. A memorandum, dated 16 April 2010, from the Consolidated Legal Center, Joint Base Balad, Iraq clarifies the date discrepancies in the applicant's oaths of office, dated 20 December 2007 and 1 May 2009. 9. A memorandum, dated 7 June 2010, from Headquarters, Task Force 807 Medical Command, Baghdad, Iraq approved the applicant's request for release from theater and redeployment to Fort Benning, GA due to mission being complete. 10. An NGB 337, dated 9 July 2010, shows she was commissioned a 1LT in the AKARNG and granted temporary Federal Recognition on 9 July 2010. 11. A DA Form 71, dated 9 July 2010, shows she was commissioned a 1LT in the USAR on 9 July 2010. 12. NGB Special Orders 16 AR, dated 27 January 2011, extended her permanent Federal recognition for her initial appointment as a 1LT, effective 9 July 2010. 13. National Guard Regulation 600-100 (Commissioned Officers - Federal Recognition and Related Personnel Actions) provides procedures for processing applications for Federal recognition. a. Paragraph 2-1 states commissioned officers of the ARNG are appointed by the several States under Article 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. These appointments may be federally recognized by the Chief, NGB under such regulations as the Secretary of the Army may prescribe and under the provisions of this regulation. Officers who are federally recognized in a particular grade and branch shall be tendered an appointment in the same grade as Reserve commissioned officers of the Army with assignment to the ARNG of the United States if they have not already accepted such appointment. b. Paragraph 2-2 states the effective date of Federal recognition for original appointment is that date on which the commissioned officer executes the oath of office in the State. Paragraph 2-3a states that temporary Federal recognition upon initial appointment establishes the authorized grade to be used by all officers in their federally recognized status. c. Paragraph 2-13 states temporary Federal recognition may be extended to an officer who has been appointed in the ARNG of a State and found to be qualified by an Federal Recognition Examination Board (FREB) pending final determination of eligibility and appointment as a Reserve commissioned officer of the Army. If not sooner withdrawn or replaced by the granting of permanent Federal recognition, temporary Federal recognition will automatically terminate six months after the effective date of State appointment. However, should the initial period of temporary Federal recognition expire due to administrative processing delays, through no fault of the member, a subsequent FREB should be convened to consider the request again and grant another new period of temporary Federal recognition if warranted. d. Paragraph 10-15b states temporary Federal recognition may be granted by an FREB to those eligible when the board finds that the member has successfully passed the examination prescribed herein, has subscribed to the oath of office, and has been appointed by a State order for assignment to a position vacancy in a federally recognized unit of the ARNG. The FREB will forward the NGB Form 89 (ARNG Proceedings of a FREB) and allied documents to the Adjutant General. When the member is favorably recommended, the Adjutant General will endorse the packet to the NGB. If the member meets the qualifications and requirements for Federal recognition, the Chief, NGB extends permanent Federal recognition to the member in the grade and branch in which the member is qualified. 14. Title 32 (U.S. Code (U.S.C.)), section 308, (Federal recognition of officers: temporary recognition) allows the Secretary of the Army to extend temporary Federal recognition as an officer of the Army National Guard to any person who has passed the examination prescribed in Title 10, U.S.C., section 307(b), pending his or her appointment as a Reserve officer of the Army. The statute allows for temporary Federal recognition to be extended up to a year. The statute does not expressly prohibit extension of additional periods of temporary Federal recognition. 15. Title 10, U.S.C., section 12211(b), states when an officer granted temporary Federal recognition in the ARNG is appointed in the USAR, his or her appointment date will bear the date of the temporary Federal Recognition. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contention that her Federal recognition appointment date should be 20 December 2007 instead of 9 July 2010 was carefully considered. 2. It is clear that an administrative error denied her Federal recognition effective 20 December 2007. Based on applicable law and regulation, she is entitled to have her Federal recognition orders amended to show the effective date of permanent Federal recognition in the rank of 1LT as 20 December 2007. 3. Therefore, her record should be corrected to show she received successive additional periods of extension of temporary Federal recognition to 19 December 2007 and amend NGB Federal Recognition Special Orders Number 16 AR, dated 27 January 2011, to show she was extended Federal recognition in the rank of 1LT effective 20 December 2007. 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 all Army National Guard and Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. showing successive periods of extension for temporary Federal recognition were granted to 19 December 2007; and b. amending NGB Federal Recognition Special Orders Number 16 AR, dated 27 January 2011, to show she was extended Federal recognition in the rank of 1LT effective 20 December 2007. ___________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) AR20130009316 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130009316 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1