IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 8 December 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150005758 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, in effect: * reconsideration for promotion to the rank of captain (CPT) by a special selection board (SSB) under the criteria for 2013 * adjustment of her promotion date of rank (DOR) and effective date for CPT to 2013 2. The applicant states: a. On 8 July 2013, she was not selected for promotion to CPT due to not being educationally qualified. b. She received a bachelor's degree on 10 May 2003 and her transcript was loaded into her records in the integrated Personnel Electronic Records Management System (iPERMS) during her deployment. c. After the promotion board for 2013 convened and she was not selected, she contacted her branch manager on 18 July 2013. Her branch manager informed her that she was able to see her transcript in iPERMS but it was not legible, which was an oversight because she had returned from deployment months prior to the board convening. d. Once the error was discovered, the transcript for her degree was reloaded into iPERMS. She requested SSB consideration and backdating her promotion due to the error. e. Her request for SSB consideration was denied and she was not given a valid reason. She was promoted to CPT by the next promotion board with a date of rank of 3 March 2014. f. Her DOR is unjust because she would have been promoted had her transcript been legible for review by the first board the prior year. 3. The applicant provides: * email * Headquarters, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), memorandum, dated 8 July 2013 * DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) * five-page Albany State University transcript, dated 6 February 2013 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in pay grade E-4 on 26 June 2008 for a period of 8 years. 2. On 25 June 2009, she was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer in the rank of second lieutenant. 3. On 16 December 2010, she completed the Adjutant General Basic Officer Leaders Course. 4. On 24 December 2010, she was promoted to first lieutenant. 5. 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Orders 11-207-00006, dated 26 July 2011, ordered her to active duty on 4 September 2011 for mobilization in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 6. Headquarters, III Corps and Fort Hood, Orders HO-262-0039, dated 19 September 2011, deployed her in a temporary change of station status and assigned her to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 821st Transportation Battalion, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Arifjan, Kuwait, for a period not to exceed 382 days. 7. On 14 August 2012, she was released from active duty. 8. On 29 October 2012, the Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) promotion board for CPT Army Reserve Active Guard Reserve, Army Reserve Non-Active Guard Reserve, and Army National Guard of the United States, convened to consider first lieutenants for promotion to the next higher grade. The board recessed on 8 November 2012. 9. She provided email, dated 18 July 2013, showing she was notified of her non-selection for promotion to CPT due to not being educationally qualified; however, the transcript for her bachelor's degree was filed in iPERMS. The email shows she contacted CPT T____ W____ concerning her non-selection for promotion to CPT. CPT T____ W____ advised her that her transcript was illegible and she may have to request an SSB. 10. She also provided: a. email from M____ D. H____, dated 18 July 2013, subject: Forward: Promotion Education Status, showing she was advised that she was educationally qualified for the next promotion board; and b. email from CPT T____ W____, dated 16 October 2013, subject: RE: RE: RE: Transcripts, wherein she was advised that her Bachelor of Science Degree from Albany State University was placed in her iPERMS records on the same date and that her Columbus State University transcript did not award a degree and would not be placed in her iPERMS records. 11. On 3 March 2014, she was promoted to CPT. 12. On 30 July 2015, the Chief, Officer Promotions, Special Actions, HRC, provided an advisory opinion in which he stated the applicant's request for SSB consideration to CPT under the FY13 criteria did not have merit. He further stated: a. The exact reasons for the applicant's prior non-selection for promotion are unknown because statutory requirements set forth in Title 10, U.S. Code, section 613a, prevent disclosure of board proceedings to anyone who was not a member of the presiding board. Therefore, any presumptions, suspicion, comments, conjuncture, or hearsay for non-selection are purely speculative. Although there is no guarantee that she would have been selected under the FY13 criteria had her record been coded as Civilian Education Qualified (EQ), there is definitive proof that candidates deemed not educationally qualified are not automatically non-selected for Reserve Component promotions. b. On 3 February 2014, she received a full explanation for the denial of her initial SSB request. In addition, a further review of her FY13 board file affirms that she did not review or validate, per instruction, her My Board File prior to the convening date of the promotion selection board, nor did she submit a showing of proof of "due diligence" with her SSB request. 13. On 20 August 2015, a copy of the advisory opinion was forwarded to the applicant for review. She was given an opportunity to respond and/or provide further corroborating documentation, but she failed to do so. 14. A review of her iPERMS records shows a two-page transcript from Columbus State University was added to her records on 27 June 2008. Her Interactive Web Services records show a five-page transcript from Albany State University awarding her a Biology Bachelor of Science Degree on 10 May 2003 was added to her records on 17 October 2013. 15. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 14104, prevents disclosure of board proceedings to anyone who was not a member of the presiding board; therefore, any comments, remarks, or statements from non-board members or any third-party personnel are purely speculative. 16. Army Regulation 135-155 (Promotion of Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers Other Than General Officers) prescribes policy and procedures used in the selection and promotion of commissioned officers of the Army National Guard and commissioned and warrant officers of the U.S. Army Reserve. a. Paragraph 3-19f(2) states the HRC Office of Promotions will normally not determine that a material error existed when an administrative error was immaterial; or the officer, in exercising reasonable diligence, could have discovered and corrected the error or omission in the official personnel file; or when the officer could have taken timely corrective action, such as notifying the Office of Promotions of the error and provided any relevant documentation that he or she had. b. A material error is defined as one or more errors of such a nature that, in the judgment of the reviewing official (or body), may have caused an individual’s non-selection by a promotion selection board. Had such errors been corrected at the time the individual was considered, a reasonable chance would have resulted that the individual would have been recommended for promotion. 17. Military Personnel (MILPER) Message 12-283 announced the convening date of the 2013 CPT Army Reserve Active Guard Reserve and Army Reserve Non-Active Guard Reserve Promotion Board with specific instructions for eligible officers to ensure their records were complete and met the requirements. The message warned that failure to comply with the instructions could be viewed as the lack of due diligence on the officer's part. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The evidence of record shows a copy of her Columbus State University transcript, which does not show an awarded degree, was filed in her records on 26 June 2008. 2. She was awarded her Biology Bachelor of Science Degree on 10 May 2003; however, her transcript for this degree was not added to her iPERMS records until 17 October 2013 after the convening date of her FY13 promotion selection board. 3. Officers are largely responsible for their own careers. An officer exercising due diligence knows when he or she is eligible for promotion consideration and is alert for when that promotion board will be held. The evidence shows she did not review or validate her My Board File prior to the convening date of the promotion selection board. 4. Her failure to ensure her promotion file was complete despite the clear instructions in the MILPER message regarding deadlines and documents does not justify consideration by an SSB. The reason for her earlier non-selection is unknown since promotion boards do not disclose the reason for selection or non-selection of an officer. 5. In view of the foregoing evidence, there is an insufficient basis upon which to grant the requested relief. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ____x___ ____x____ ___x____ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _____________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) AR20150005758 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150005758 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1