BOARD DATE: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000605 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: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000605 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: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160000605 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 item 26 (Separation Code) of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for the period ending 31 May 2015 to show a separation code that authorized her 6 months of Transitional Health Care. 2. The applicant states the additional instructions, paragraph (e) on Orders Number C-07-595735 indicate that she is eligible for Transitional Health Care under Title 10, U.S. Code (USC), section 1145 until 29 May 2016. Both she and her spouse need to use this benefit to follow up on their medical care. 3. The applicant provides her retirement orders and DD Form 214. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was born in October 1957. Having had prior enlisted service, the applicant was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer of the Army and executed an oath of office on 10 May 1987. She completed the Adjutant General Officer Basic Course. 2. She served in a variety of troop program units of the U.S. Army Reserve. On 5 March 2003, U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Command, St. Louis, MO, issued her a Notification of Eligibility for Retired pay at Age 60 (20-Year Letter). 3. She entered active duty in an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) status on 4 May 2003. She served in a variety of assignments and was promoted to lieutenant colonel (LTC) in December 2007. 4. U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) published Orders C-07-510079 attaching her to Fort Myer for separation processing with a scheduled date of separation of 31 May 2015. 5. She was honorably released from active duty on 31 May 2015. Her DD Form 214 for this period of service shows she was released from active duty by authority of Army Regulation 600-8-24 (Officer Transfer or Discharges), paragraph 2-23 (involuntary release from active duty due to maximum service). It also shows: * she was assigned separation code LBC * she completed 12 years and 27 days of active service (during this period) * she was separated due to maximum service or time in grade * does not show in item 18 (Remarks) any entry related to Transitional Health Care 6. On 6 July 2015, the U.S. Army HRC published Orders C-07-595735 "Corrected Copy" releasing her from active duty effective 30 November 2015 and transferring her to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement). Paragraph (e) of this order reads "Soldier is eligible for Transitional Health Care under Title 10, USC, section 1145 until 29 May 2016." 7. On 6 July 2015, U.S. Army HRC published Orders C-07-510171 reassigning her from the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to the Retired Reserve effective 1 December 2015. 8. She was transferred to the Retired Reserve on 1 December 2015 by reason of completion of maximum authorized years of service. REFERENCE: 1. Army Regulation 635-8 (Separation Processing and Documents) prescribes policy and procedural guidance relating to transition management. It consolidates the policies, principles of support, and standards of service regarding processing personnel for transition. Chapter 5 provides for preparing the separation document. The DD Form 214 is a summary of the Soldier’s most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of all current active, prior active, and prior inactive duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge. Block 18 is used for mandatory Department of the Army requirements when a separate block is not available, or as a continuation to selected entries, or for conditional entries. . 2. Army Regulation 600-8-24 prescribes policies and procedures governing the transfer and discharge of Army officer personnel. Paragraph 2-23 provides the rules for processing involuntary release from active duty due to maximum service. It states, a Reserve Component (RC) officer, to include warrant officers, will be released from active duty when they complete 20 years of active service. Commissioned officers, other than warrant officers, may request voluntary retirement under Title 10, USC, section 3911, provided that they have 10 years of active service as a commissioned officer. An RC LTC not recommended for promotion to colonel will be separated not later than the last day of the month in which he or she completes 28 years of commissioned officer service (Title 10, USC, section 14507(a)). 3. Army Regulation 635-5-1 (Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes) prescribes the specific authorities, reasons for separating Soldiers from active duty and the SPD codes to be entered on the DD Form 214. The SPD codes are three-character alphabetic combinations that identify reasons for, and types of, separation from active duty. The SPD code is primarily used to provide statistical accounting. These codes are intended exclusively for the internal use of Department of Defense to assist in the collection and analysis of separation data. This regulation provides that SPD code LBC applies to persons who were involuntarily released from active duty for maximum time service or time in grade, in accordance with Army Regulation 600-8-24. 4. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1145 (Health Benefits) states in sub-paragraph(s): a. Transitional Health Care: (1) For the time period described in paragraph (4), a member of the armed forces who is separated from active duty as described in paragraph(2) (and the dependents of the member) shall be entitled to receive (A) except as provided in paragraph (3), medical and dental care under section 1076 of this title in the same manner as a dependent described in subsection (a)(2) of such section; and (B) health benefits contracted under the authority of section 1079(a) of this title and subject to the same rates and conditions as apply to persons covered under that section. (2) This subsection applies to the following members of the armed forces: (A) A member who is involuntarily separated from active duty; (B) A member of a reserve component who is separated from active duty to which called or ordered in support of a contingency operation if the active duty is active duty for a period of more than 30 days; (C) A member who is separated from active duty for which the member is involuntarily retained under section 12305 of this title in support of a contingency operation; (D) A member who is separated from active duty served pursuant to a voluntary agreement of the member to remain on active duty for a period of less than one year in support of a contingency operation; (E) A member who receives a sole survivorship discharge (as defined in section 1174(i) of this title); (F) A member who is separated from active duty who agrees to become a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of a reserve component. (3) In the case of a member described in paragraph (2)(B), the dental care to which the member is entitled under this subsection shall be the dental care to which a member of the uniformed services on active duty for more than 30 days is entitled under section 1074 of this title. (4) Except as provided in paragraph (7), transitional health care for a member under subsection (a) shall be available for 180 days beginning on the date on which the member is separated from active duty. For purposes of the preceding sentence, in the case of a member on active duty as described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (2) who, without a break in service, is extended on active duty for any reason, the 180-day period shall begin on the date on which the member is separated from such extended active duty. (5) (A) The Secretary concerned shall require a member of the armed forces scheduled to be separated from active duty as described in paragraph (2) to undergo a physical examination immediately before that separation. The physical examination shall be conducted in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense; and (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a member of the armed forces scheduled to be separated from active duty as described in paragraph (2) has otherwise undergone a physical examination within 12 months before the scheduled date of separation from active duty, the requirement for a physical examination under subparagraph (A) may be waived in accordance with regulations prescribed under this paragraph. Such regulations shall require that such a waiver may be granted only with the consent of the member and with the concurrence of the member’s unit commander. (6) (A) The Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, ensure that appropriate actions are taken to assist a member of the armed forces who, as a result of a medical examination under paragraph (5), receives an indication for a referral for follow up treatment from the health care provider who performs the examination; and (B) Assistance provided to a member under paragraph (1) shall include the following: (i) Information regarding, and any appropriate referral for, the care, treatment, and other services that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may provide to such member under any other provision of law, including, (I) clinical services, including counseling and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions; and (II) any other care, treatment, and services; (ii) Information on the private sector sources of treatment that are available to the member in the member’s community; and (iii) Assistance to enroll in the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care benefits for which the member is eligible under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. (7) (A) A member who has a medical condition relating to service on active duty that warrants further medical care that has been identified during the member’s 180-day transition period, which condition can be resolved within 180 days as determined by a Department of Defense physician, shall be entitled to receive medical and dental care for that medical condition, and that medical condition only, as if the member were a member of the armed forces on active duty for 180 days following the diagnosis of the condition; and (B) The Secretary concerned shall ensure that the Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System is continually updated in order to reflect the continuing entitlement of members covered by subparagraph (A) to the medical and dental care referred to in that subparagraph. b. Conversion Health Policies (not applicable). c. Health Care For Certain Separated Members Not Otherwise Eligible: (1) Consistent with the authority of the Secretary concerned to designate certain classes of persons as eligible to receive health care at a military medical facility, the Secretary concerned should consider authorizing, on an individual basis in cases of hardship, the provision of that care for a member who is separated from the armed forces, and is ineligible for transitional health care under subsection (a) or does not obtain a conversion health policy (or a dependent of the member). (2) The Secretary concerned shall give special consideration to requests for such care in cases in which the condition for which treatment is required was incurred or aggravated by the member or the dependent before the date of the separation of the member, particularly if the condition is a result of the particular circumstances of the service of the member. DISCUSSION: 1. The evidence of record shows the applicant was involuntarily released from active duty on 31 May 2015 due to reaching maximum service. She served more than 12 years of active service from 4 May 2003 to 21 May 2015. She was assigned separation code LBC which is consistent with Army Regulation 635-5-1 and Army Regulation 600-8-24. She was eligible for Transitional Health Care under Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1145 until 29 May 2016, as her transition orders clearly indicate. 2. There are several separation codes in Army Regulation 635-5-1 authorizing a Soldier Transitional Health Care based on their reason for separation and length of service. Separation code LBC is one of them, as she was involuntarily separated and had served for more than 180 days of active federal service. The separation code is primarily used to provide statistical accounting. These codes are intended for the internal use of the Department of Defense for collection and analysis of separation data. There is no requirement in Army Regulation 635-8 to add a separate entry on the DD Form 214 showing a Soldier is authorized Transitional Health Care. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160000605 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160000605 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2