BOARD DATE: 13 September 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005484 BOARD VOTE: ___x______ __x_____ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ____x____ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 13 September 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005484 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: a.  showing he applied for Board Certification Pay in a timely manner and his request was approved in a timely manner with an effective date of 1 October 2011 and b.  paying him Board Certification Pay for the period 1 October 2011 through 20 November 2014 at the appropriate pay rate level. ___________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: 13 September 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005484 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 retroactive Board Certification Pay (BCP) for the period January 2011 through November 2014. 2. The applicant states: a.  He is entitled to BCP as a board-certified physician. He has been board certified in family medicine since 2003 and he has maintained his board certification since that time with no break in certification. b.  He successfully passed the American Board of Family Medicine examination in 2013, which enabled him to renew his certification for another 10 years, conditional upon timely completion of required interim maintenance activities that he has completed and continues to do. c.  He should have been receiving BCP from the date he accrued 18 years of service on 2 July 2009 through December 2010. d.  His BCP was erroneously deleted in the midst of multiple changes to his Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Form 702 (DFAS Military Leave and Earnings Statement) due to other special pays he was receiving while deployed in Iraq. e.  He did not receive BCP in January 2011 and thereafter until he submitted a pay inquiry, dated 29 October 2015. He then received back pay for the previous 12 months plus December 2015, for a total 13 months. His BCP was reactivated to begin 1 October 2016. f.  He also discovered his BCP did not increase to $500.00 per month when he reached 18 years of service. g.  He was advised that the Army Medical Department Special Pay Branch was not empowered to authorize back pay for more than 12 months and to apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. 3. The applicant provides: * Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation, volume 7A, chapter 5 * three DFAS Forms 702 * DA Form 2142 (Pay Inquiry) * email * American Board of Family Medicine, Incorporated, letter, dated 21 August 2014, and physician verification webpage, dated 21 August 2014 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Having prior periods of honorable commissioned service in the Army National Guard, the applicant was commissioned in the Regular Army in the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps on 20 April 2005. 2. A letter from the American Board of Family Medicine, Incorporated, dated 21 August 2014, verified his certification with the American Board of Family Medicine and shows he was currently meeting requirements and his family medicine certification history as: * 11 July 2003 through 6 November 2013 * 7 November 2013 to a date to be determined (continuous as long as maintenance of certification for family physicians requirements are maintained) 3. On 29 October 2015, he submitted a DA Form 2142 regarding non-receipt of his BCP. 4. On 11 July 2016, the Chief, Army Medical Department Special Pay Branch, Office of the Surgeon General, provided an advisory opinion in which he stated: a.  A review of supporting documentation and available special pay and finance data indicated the applicant's BCP stopped on 21 December 2010 based on board certification expiration and non-receipt of renewal of secondary certification. Upon notification BCP was not being paid, retroactive BCP commencing 1 December 2014 was authorized. The missing BCP was verified as 1 October 2011 through 30 November 2014. b.  The applicant would have been eligible to receive BCP for the missing 47 months during the period 1 October 2011 through 20 November 2014, totaling approximately $23,100.00 prior to any withholding. The exact payment would be determined by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service utilizing a Health Professions Pay Entry Date or finance Medical Services-Pay-Date of 12 June 1993 for the correct pay rates. 5. On 12 July 2016, a copy of the advisory opinion was sent to the applicant for review and for an opportunity to provide a response. He did not respond within the suspense period. 6. On 31 August 2016, he retired. His DD Form 214 for this period shows his primary specialty in family medicine as 23 years and 3 months. REFERENCES: Title 37, U.S. Code, sections 301d, 302, 302f, and 303a, provide for multi-year retention bonuses and special pays for medical officers and health professionals of the Armed Forces. For Army Medical Corps officers (physicians), these special pays include BCP, which is paid monthly to all board-certified Medical Corps officers based upon their date of board certification and their creditable service used to establish the Health Professional Pay Entry Date. DISCUSSION: 1. Evidence from the American Board of Family Medicine and the Chief, Army Medical Department Special Pay Branch, Office of the Surgeon General, shows the applicant was board certified in family medicine. 2. The Chief, Army Medical Department Special Pay Branch, Office of the Surgeon General, verified his missing period of BCP eligibility as 1 October 2011 through 20 November 2014. 3. He is entitled to BCP for the period 1 October 2011 through 20 November 2014. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160005484 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160005484 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2