BOARD DATE: 28 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150018503 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING _____x___ ____x____ ____x____ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 28 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150018503 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. BOARD DATE: 28 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150018503 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 his retirement year ending (RYE) date be changed from 19 June to 25 October for the purpose of calculating his retirement points. 2. The applicant states: a. His RYE date was changed from 25 October to 19 June. b. When he left active duty in 1998, he went into the Individual Ready Reserve. When he joined his unit, he printed his ARPC Form 249-2-E (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points) and it showed 25 October as his RYE date. c. October has been used as his RYE date by the Army and all of his units for the last 15 years to award retirement points/good years. d. When his points were corrected to show his active duty service in 2015, the RYE date was changed from 25 October to 19 June and he lost 4 years of service. e. When he spoke with Human Resources Command (HRC) officials he was told his RYE date should have been 19 June, according to the regulation. A mistake was made and continued for 15 years. f. He should not be required to serve an extra 4 years due to an administrative error for which he had no responsibility or control. 3. The applicant provides his DA Form 5016 (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points), date 14 October 2016. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. On 19 June 1992, the applicant accepted an appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer in the rank of second lieutenant (O-1). He was ordered to active duty on 25 October 1992. He was released from active duty (REFRAD) on 14 July 1998 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement). He was released from the USAR Control Group and he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 841st Engineer Battalion, on 29 September 1999. 2. He served in an active duty status from 19 November 2001 to 15 May 2004, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom until he was released from active duty and returned to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement). 3. On 17 October 2006, he was released from the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement) and he was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Southern Command. 4. The applicant served in an active duty status from 2 February 2009 to 2 May 2010 and he was assigned to the Headquarters, U.S. Army, Element, U.S. Southern Command. 5. A review of the available records shows the applicant is currently a member of an Army Reserve Troop Program Unit. 6. The applicant provides a copy of his DA Form 5016 listing his retirement points earned in the previous completed anniversary years. It shows his beginning date as 19 June 1992 and his anniversary year ending (AYE) date as 18 June 2016. The DA Form 5016 is dated 14 October 2016 and it shows as of that date, he had 17 years, 00 months, and 00 days of qualifying service for retirement. Additionally, this form shows the applicant was credited with active duty points each year between 1992 and 1998. In fact, the only years he did not receive active duty points were 2000, 2001, and 2012. 7. During the processing of this case an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Personnel Actions Branch, HRC. He states the following: a. The applicant's AYE was corrected on 13 November 2014 to read 18 June when a request to correct retirement points was submitted to that office by the applicant. b. Per Department of Defense Instruction (DODI) 1215.07, the date to determine the anniversary years is established by the date the service member entered into active service or active status in a Reserve Component (RC). c. The month and day of the start date for each successive anniversary year will not be adjusted unless the service member has a break in service. There were no breaks in service, therefore the AYE date of 18 June is correct. 8. The applicant was provided a copy of the advisory opinion for his information and/or possible rebuttal. He provided a response stating: a. He does not believe that the HRC advisory opinion takes any of the history of his case into account and should be rejected by the Board. b. Due to no fault of his own, 4 years of previously good service has been taken away from him due to the administrative error not identified and corrected in 15 years. c. HRC failed to credit retirement points for his active duty time upon his transition to the Reserve in 1998. At the time, a Personnel Action Center (PAC) noncommission officer in the engineer unit he was assigned to established that his RYE date was 24 October. He is not an HR professional, therefore he did not question it. d. The RYE date was maintained through the next 15 years despite moves to two other commands and several periods of active duty and subsequent transition back into the RC. It was caught only when he requested credit for his active duty time, which 15 years later HRC had not yet credited. e. DODI 1215.07 (Jan 2014) states that the anniversary date will be "established by the date the service member entered into active service defined as 'service on active duty' by Title 10 U.S.C. or active states in an RC." It does not say which one takes precedence, so it should be whichever is in the best interest of the Soldier. As he will be significantly harmed by changing the RYE date, it should be allowed to remain the date he entered active service (24 October). f. Changes in Army policy may impact his ability to retire if he is not selected for colonel, even after serving a total of 24 years. The best case scenario if the error is not correct is that he will serve 27 years for a 20-year retirement. g. The potential negative impacts of these different policy decisions are enormous for a service member who has performed honorable service for over 20 years. REFERENCES: 1. DODI 1215.07 states that the date to determine the anniversary years is established by the date the service member entered into active service or active status in a Reserve Component. The month and day of the start date for each successive anniversary year will not be adjusted unless the service member has a break in service. 2. Army Regulation 140-185 (Training and Retirement Point Credits and Unit Level Strength Accounting Records), paragraph 1-4, states the retirement year, once established, will not change as long as the Soldier has continuous service in an active status in a Reserve and/or Regular Component. It will change when there is a break in active status. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant's contentions have been noted. His DA Form 5016 dated 14 October 2016 has been considered. 2. All of his available records show that he accepted his appointment as a Reserve commissioned officer on 19 June 1992. That was the first day of his continuous service in a Reserve Component. He had no break in service, therefore his AYE date is 18 June. 3. He states that due to no fault of his own, 4 years of previously good service has been taken away from him because of an administrative error not identified and corrected in 15 years. A review of the available records fails to show that he was ever erroneously assigned a 25 October AYE date. The advisory opinion does state that the AYE date was corrected, however, it does not specify a date. 4. The available records do show that as of 14 October 2016, he had a total of 17 years of qualifying service for retirement and an AYE date of 18 June. There does not appear to be any error or injustice in this case. 5. The applicant was credited with active duty points every year that he served except 2000, 2001 and 2012. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150018503 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150018503 5 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2