BOARD DATE: 10 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001286 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: 10 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001286 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 Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by showing the former service member was placed on the retired list in the highest grade satisfactorily held (i.e., captain/pay grade O-3), effective 18 August 2015, and paying any back pay due as a result of this correction. ____________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: 10 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001286 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, correction of her records to show she was placed on the retired list in the rank of captain (CPT)/pay grade O-3 instead of staff sergeant (SSG)/pay grade E-6 as indicated in her retirement orders. 2. The applicant states, in effect, she served in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) and the Regular Army (RA) in an enlisted status from 21 August 1974 through 23 November 1977. She then had a break in military service until 8 February 1979. She enlisted in the Army National Guard (ARNG) on 9 February 1979 and was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer in the rank of second lieutenant (2LT)/pay grade O-1 on 26 June 1982. She attained the rank of CPT and served honorably until 29 August 1996. She reverted to enlisted status (SSG/E-6) in the ARNG of the United States (ARNGUS) and was transferred to the USAR (Retired Reserve) effective 15 June 1998. She states that her requests to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) and the Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS) to have her retired pay grade corrected have been unsuccessful. 3. The applicant provides a copy of her application for retired pay benefits, dated 7 October 2014, with enclosures. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. A review of the applicant's military personnel records shows the following: * born on 18 August 1955 * enlisted in the USAR Delayed Entry Program on 21 August 1974 * served in the RA (from 25 November 1974 through 23 November 1977) * break in service from 24 November 1977 through 8 February 1979 * enlisted in the ARNGUS/Connecticut ARNG (CTARNG) on 9 February 1979 * promoted to SSG (E-6) on 15 May 1981 * honorably discharged from the CTARNG/ARNGUS effective 25 June 1982 * appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer (2LT/O-1) in the ARNGUS/ CTARNG effective 26 June 1982 * served on active duty from 11 January 1983 through 8 May 1983 * promoted to first lieutenant/pay grade O-2 on 25 June 1985 * promoted to CPT/O-3 on 24 August 1988 * honorably separated from the CTARNG/ARNGUS on 29 August 1996 * enlisted in the ARNGUS/CTARNG (SSG/E-6) effective 30 August 1996 2. State of Connecticut, Military Department, Office of the Adjutant General, National Guard Armory, Hartford, CT, memorandum, prepared 6 August 1996, notified the applicant of her eligibility for retired pay upon application at age 60. 3. National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service) shows the applicant enlisted in the CTARNG on 9 February 1997, was honorably discharged on 15 June 1998, and transferred to the USAR Control Group (Retired Reserve). She had completed 1 year, 4 months, and 7 days of net service this period; 18 years, 3 months, and 4 days of prior Reserve Component service; 2 years, 11 moths, and 29 days of prior active Federal service; and 22 years, 4 months, and 6 days of total service for pay. 4. State of Connecticut, Military Department, Office of the Adjutant General, National Guard Armory, Hartford, CT, Orders 119-028, dated 24 June 1998, honorably discharged the applicant from the ARNG in the rank of SSG (E-6), effective 15 June 1998, and transferred her to the USAR Control Group (Retired Reserve). 5. HRC, Fort Knox, KY, Orders C08-597601, dated 27 August 2015, shows the applicant was placed on the retired list, in the retired grade SSG/E-6, effective 18 August 2015. The additional instructions show the applicant was authorized retired pay under Title 10, U.S. Code, section 12731. 6. In support of the application the applicant provides a copy of her application for retired pay benefits in the retired grade of rank of CPT/O-3, effective 18 August 2015, with enclosures. a. The enclosures include, in pertinent part, a DD Form 108 (Application for Retired Pay Benefits), dated 7 October 2014; DD Form 2656 (Data for Payment of Retired Personnel), dated 7 October 2014; ARNG Retirement Points History Statement (with a through date of 15 June 1998), prepared 18 September 2014; DD Form 1883 (Survivor Benefit Plan Election Certificate), dated 2 September 1996, Twenty-Year Letter, dated 6 August 1996; and orders transferring her to the retired reserve. b. There is no indication that the application for retired pay was acted upon by either HRC or DFAS. 7. Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA), Army Grade Determination Review Board (AGDRB), Legal Section, memorandum, dated 21 October 2016, subject: Grade Determination Case on [Applicant], shows the case was returned without action to the ARBA Case Management Division because the AGDRB did not have jurisdiction in the case. 8. A review of the HRC Integrated Web System shows, on 28 March 2017, the applicant's spouse reported the applicant's death. It also shows he inquired into the correction of the applicant's rank/grade (from SSG/E-6 to CPT/O-3) for purposes of retired back pay. 9. An Internet search revealed an obituary pertaining to the applicant that shows the applicant, a former service member (FSM), died on 25 March 2017. 10. A further review of the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Certificate, dated 2 September 1996, and the Data for Payment of Retired Personnel, dated 7 October 2014, shows the FSM listed Stanley P. L___ as her spouse and the designated beneficiary for her unpaid retired pay and SBP annuity. REFERENCES: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 12731 (Age and service requirements), in pertinent part, provides that a person is entitled, upon application, to retired pay computed under section 12739 of this title, if the person: (1) has attained the eligibility age applicable under subsection (f) to that person (i.e., is 60 years of age); and (2) has performed at least 20 years of service computed under section 12732 of this title. 2. Department of Defense (DoD) 7000.14-R (Financial Management Regulation), Volume 7B (Military Pay Policy and Procedures – Retired Pay), Chapter 1 (Initial Entitlements – Retirements), section 0105 (Rank and Pay Grade), paragraph 010501 (General Determination), shows in: a. subparagraph a (Grade at retirement), unless entitled to a higher grade under some other provisions of law, those Regular and Reserve members who retire other than for disability will retire in the Regular or Reserve grade they hold on the date of retirement; b. subparagraph b (Time in grade requirement), a commissioned officer, other than a commissioned warrant officer, of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, who voluntarily retires in a grade above major or lieutenant commander, must serve on active duty in that grade for not less than 3 years. The President may waive this requirement in cases of hardship or exceptional or unusual circumstances. The Secretary of the Military Department concerned (or designee) may reduce the service-in-grade requirement to 2 years. (This authority was made permanent under Public Law 108-136, section 506, dated November 24, 2003.); and c. subparagraph e (Reserve officers): (1) Unless entitled to a higher grade, or to credit for satisfactory service in a higher grade under some other provision of law, a member who becomes entitled to a non-Regular service Reserve retirement shall, upon application, receive credit for satisfactory service in the highest grade held in the Armed Forces, as determined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned (or designee). (2) To receive credit for satisfactory service in a grade below lieutenant colonel or commander, other than a warrant officer grade, a member must serve satisfactorily in that grade, as determined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned (or designee) as a Reserve commissioned officer in an active status, or in a retired status on active duty, for at least six (6) months. DISCUSSION: 1. The evidence of record shows the FSM was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer in the ARNGUS effective 26 June 1982. She attained the rank of CPT (O-3) on 24 August 1988 and served satisfactorily in that rank through 29 August 1996. This period of commissioned service met the criteria for placement on the Retired List as a CPT (O-3). 2. The FSM then served honorably in the ARNG in an enlisted status, in the rank of SSG (E-6), from 30 August 1996 through 15 June 1998 and was transferred to the USAR (Retired Reserve). 3. Orders issued by HRC placed the FSM on the retired list in the rank of SSG (E-6) effective 18 August 2015. 4. The governing statute and DoD regulation show that a Reserve officer who becomes entitled to a non-Regular service Reserve retirement shall, upon application, receive credit for satisfactory service in the highest grade held in the Armed Forces, as determined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned. To receive credit for satisfactory service in a grade below O-5, a member must serve satisfactorily in that grade, as determined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned (or designee) as a Reserve commissioned officer in an active status for at least six (6) months. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001286 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001286 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2