BOARD DATE: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000492 BOARD VOTE: ____x____ ____x____ ____x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000492 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all State Army National Guard and Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. showing he was assigned a valid Bonus Control Number on 1 April 2008, for an Officer Accession Bonus (OAB) in the amount of $10,000; b. showing he is eligible for payment of the OAB in accordance with the terms of his Written Agreement – OAB Addendum; and c. paying him the OAB as specified in his Written Agreement – OAB Addendum, less taxes. _____________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: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000492 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 correction of his records to show he is authorized payment of an Officer Accession Bonus (OAB) in the amount of $10,000.00 2. The applicant states: a. He signed a written agreement for a $10,000.00 OAB on 1 April 2008. He completed all requirements of the agreement but the OAB was never paid. He filed a request for exception to policy (ETP) as an administrative remedy for the failure of payment; however, his request for an ETP was disapproved. b. He enlisted in the Arizona Army National Guard (AZARNG) in 2006 and signed an enlisted incentive contract for $15,000.00 He received the first half payment of $7,500.00 after completing initial entry training. c. He attended the Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) and the Initial Entry Rotary Wing course to become a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot. During this process, he worked with Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) D__ from the AZARNG officer recruiting office. He assisted him with his Federal recognition packet and other paperwork, including an OAB Addendum. He signed the OAB Addendum on 1 April 2008. A bonus control number (BCN) was not placed on the OAB Addendum; therefore, the payment was never processed. d. In the fall of 2013, he inquired about why his OAB was not paid. He was told he could submit a request for an ETP to pay the bonus despite the lack of a BCN on his OAB Addendum. He submitted the request for ETP through his chain of command on 4 February 2014. On 25 November 2015, a memorandum disapproving his ETP request was signed at the National Guard Bureau (NGB) and he was notified of the disapproval on 8 December 2015. The ETP was disapproved for the following two discrepancies: (1) Serving on an enlisted incentive obligation on the date of commission and contracted for an OAB without the enlisted incentive being terminated, which violates ARNG Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) 07-06; (2) BCN was requested after the date of accession, which violates ARNG SRIP 07-06. e. In regards to discrepancy (1) above, ARNG SRIP 07-06 does exclude an OAB being paid to a Soldier who received an enlisted incentive contract. However, the NGB, Education and Incentives Operations Message 07-51, change to SRIP Policy Number 07-06 states, "Officer candidates and warrant officer candidates who are currently serving on an enlistment bonus contract will have their bonus terminated without recoupment action effective the date of commissioning/appointment provided they have served at least 12 months of their enlisted bonus contract. These Soldiers will be eligible for the OAB." He served over 18 months as an enlisted Soldier prior to attending WOCS. f. In regards to discrepancy (2), when the applicant asked CW3 D__ about the blank BCN when signing the OAB Addendum, he stated it would be filled out when he processed the paperwork. The applicant signed the OAB in good faith, believing the BCN would be added and the payment processed at the appropriate time. g. He is continuing to serve in the AZARNG beyond the 6 years required by his OAB and will soon be deploying overseas again. He kindly requests the Board's consideration to correct this injustice and grant him payment of the OAB. 3. The applicant provides: * Written Agreement-OAB Addendum * AZARNG memorandum, subject: Notification of Incentive Discrepancy and ETP Process, dated 17 January 2014 * ETP Transmittal Record * Applicant's ETP request memoranda * NGB Form 337 (Oaths of Office) * appointment order * Federal recognition orders * DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report) * NGB ETP denial memorandum * Enlistment incentive pay record CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant enlisted in the AZARNG on 15 June 2006 for training in military occupational specialty (MOS) 15P (Aviation Operations Specialist). 2. His Enlistment Bonus Addendum shows he was authorized an enlistment bonus in the amount of $15,000.00 payable in two 50 percent installments. The first installment was to be paid upon completion of initial active duty for training (IADT) and award of the MOS for which he enlisted and the second installment upon his third year anniversary of enlistment. The bonus addendum also shows that his bonus eligibility would be terminated, without recoupment, if he accepted an appointment as a warrant officer and had served at least 12 months of the incentive contract following the date of the bonus payment eligibility. 3. He was released from IADT on 8 January 2007. His enlistment incentive pay record indicates he received the first installment of his enlistment bonus on or around 13 April 2007. 4. On 1 April 2008, he was appointed in the AZARNG in the rank of warrant officer one. On the same date, he signed a Written Agreement-OAB Addendum, agreeing to serve in the Selected Reserve for a period of 6 years. The addendum shows that he was eligible for a $10,000.00 OAB payable in two 50 percent installments. The first installment payable upon completion of Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC) and second installment payable on the third anniversary of his appointment date. The addendum does not include a BCN. 5. His enlistment incentive pay record also indicates his enlistment bonus was terminated based on his transfer to the officer corps. 6. A DA Form 1059 shows the applicant completed WOBC on 5 August 2009. 7. By memorandum dated 17 January 2014, the applicant was informed by the AZARNG, Special Actions Branch, that a discrepancy had been discovered regarding his OAB eligibility. Specifically, that he was never issued a BCN and never signed a written agreement. He was also informed that he could submit a request for ETP in order to retain the OAB. 8. By memorandum dated 25 November 2015, the NGB denied the applicant's request for an ETP to retain the OAB. The NGB cited the following as the reasons for their denial: a. Serving on an enlisted incentive obligation on the date of commission and contracted for an OAB without the enlisted incentive being terminated, which violates ARNG SRIP 07-06. b. BCN was requested after the date of accession, which violates ARNG SRIP 07-06. 9. The applicant is currently serving in the AZARNG in the rank of CW3. REFERENCES: 1. Title 37, U.S. Code, section 308j(b), states the Secretary concerned may pay an accession bonus under this section to an eligible person who enters into an agreement with the Secretary to: (a) accept an appointment as an officer in the Armed Forces, and (b) to serve in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve in a skill designated under paragraph (2) for a period specified in the agreement. Paragraph (2)(a) states that for an Armed Force under the Secretary's jurisdiction, the Secretary concerned shall designate the officer skills to which the authority under this subsection is to be applied. Paragraph (2)(b) states a skill may be designated for an Armed Force under subparagraph (a) if, to mitigate a current or projected significant shortage of personnel in that Armed Force who are qualified in that skill, it is critical to increase the number of persons accessed into that Armed Force who are qualified in that skill or are to be trained in that skill. Paragraph (b) states an accession bonus payable to a person pursuant to an agreement under this section accrues on the date on which that agreement is accepted by the Secretary concerned. 2. National Guard Regulation 600-7 (Selective Reserve Incentive Programs (SRIP)), paragraph 2-5, provides that enlistment bonus contracts are valid only with BCNs which will be issued from the State Incentive Management Office to Military Entrance Processing Station counselors and reported to NGB on a monthly basis. The State Incentive Manager will verify accession packets as prescribed by state policy for BCNs, accuracy of enlistment contract and bonus addendum, critical skill and bonus unit eligibility, valid position vacancy, and required educational level. 3. ARNG SRIP Policy Number 07-06, date 10 August 2007, provides that newly commissioned officers and newly appointed warrant officers who retained an enlisted bonus (meaning there was no recoupment action) after serving more than 1 year of their enlisted incentive contract term may not receive the OAB. 4. ARNG Education and Incentives Operations Message 07-51 (change to SRIP Policy Number 07-06) states that effective 18 September 2007, officer candidates and warrant officer candidates who are currently serving on an enlistment bonus contract will have their bonus terminated without recoupment action effective the date of commissioning/appointment provided they have served at least 12 months of their enlisted bonus contract. These Soldiers will be eligible for the OAB. 5. DOD Financial Management Regulation, volume 7A, chapter 2, section 0202 (Repayment and Non-repayment Conditions), provides that, as a general rule, repayment action will not be pursued in situations in which the member's inability to fulfill specified service conditions related to a pay or benefit is due to circumstances determined reasonably beyond the member's control. In addition, the Secretary of the Military Department concerned has the discretion to, at some point in the process, render a case-by-case determination that the member's repayment of, or the Military Department's full payment of an unpaid portion of, a pay or benefit is appropriate based on one or more of the following: * contrary to a personnel policy or management objective * against equity and good conscience * contrary to the best interest of the United States DISCUSSION: 1. The available evidence clearly shows that the SRIP guidance changed the OAB policy, effective 18 September 2007, to permit newly appointed warrant officers who had previously received an enlistment bonus to receive the OAB provided they had completed at least 1 year of their enlisted incentive contract. The applicant completed over 21 months of his enlisted incentive contract. Therefore, he met the eligibility criteria for the OAB. 2. In reference to the issue pertaining to the BCN, the evidence shows he signed a Written Agreement-OAB Addendum in good faith and he was authorized a $10,000.00 OAB; however, the official responsible for the processing of his accession documents failed to obtain a BCN in a timely manner. 3. It was not the applicant's responsibility to obtain a BCN. He simply relied on the expertise of those officials appointed to conduct officer accession matters. He should not be penalized for the administrative errors committed by his unit and/or the State Incentive Office. Had his paperwork been submitted in a timely manner, a BCN would have been properly assigned. 4. The only place the applicant can obtain relief is through this Board. There are provisions within the DOD Financial Management Regulation that allow for payment of an unpaid portion of a benefit based on equity or in the best interest of the United States. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160000492 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160000492 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2