DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS
2 NAVY ANNEX
WASHINGTON DC 20370~5 100

TRG
	Docket No:3609-06 
	5 July 2007

From:	Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records
To:	Secretary of the Navy

Subj:	REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD 

Ref:	(a) Title 10 U.S.C. 1552

End:	(1) Case Summary
(2)	Subject’s naval record

1.	Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner, a former enlisted member in the Navy, filed an application with this Board requesting, in effect, that his record be corrected in some manner to allow him to qualify for retirement.

2 The Board, consisting of Mr Mr - and Mr  reviewed Petitioner’s a1legation of error and injustice on 26 June 2007 and, pursuant to its regulations, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, naval records, and applicable statutes, regulations and policies.

3.	The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice, finds as follows:

a.	Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulations within the Department of the Navy.

b.	Although it appears that Petitioner’s application was not filed in a timely manner, it is in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and review the application on its merits.

c.	Petitioner enlisted in the Navy Reserve on 1 June 1972 at age 19 and subsequently extended that enlistment. During the period from 7 June 1972 to 21 January 1975, he completed three years of active duty. From January 1975 to 3 January 1980 he was a drilling reservist and earned 5 years, 7 months and 3 days of qualifying service for retirement. During this period he was advanced to petty officer second class (BU2; E-5).

•	d. on 4 January 1980 Petitioner enlisted in the Regular Navy for 4 years and subsequently extended that enlistment. At that time, he was required to accept a reduction in rate to seaman (SN; E-3). Subsequently he was trained as a corpsman and his rating was changed to hospitalman (HN; E-3). On 30 June 1983 he was advanced to petty officer third class (HN3; E-4). On 16 February 1987 he was honorably discharged for the purpose of immediate reenlistment. At that time, he had completed 7 years, 1 month and 13 days of active service.

e.	On 17 February 1987 Petitioner reenlisted in the Navy for four years. As a condition of his reenlistment, he was required to accept retaining into another rating. He completed that retaining and on 9 July 1987 his rating was changed to parachute rigger (PR3; E-4). Petitioner was unable to advance in rating and on 16 February 1991 he was honorably discharged at the expiration of his enlistment. Since he was still serving in pay grade E-4, he was assigned an RE-4 reenlistment code.

f.	Petitioner ended up with over 14 years of active service and over 5 years of qualifying service for reserve retirement. Therefore, his qualifying years for reserve retirement total 20 years, 2 months and 16 days. However, because he did not have the last eight years of service in the reserve component, he is not eligible for reserve retirement.

g.	• The Board did not request an advisory opinion in this case. However, the Board is aware that the Navy Personnel Command has routinely recommended corrective action when an individual is qualified for reserve retirement and circumstances resulted in discharge rather than retirement.

h.	The Board is aware that the Uniform Retirement Date Act, 5 U.S.C. 8301 requires that the effective date of any retirement be the first day of the month.

CONCLUSION:

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record the Board concludes that Petitioner’s request warrants favorable action. In it clear to the Board that Petitioner was unaware of the requirements for reserve retirement. Since he served many years in a satisfactory manner and accumulated over 20 years of qualifying service, the Board concludes that his record should be corrected to establish eligibility for reserve retirement.

Therefore, Petitioner’s record should be corrected to show that he reenlisted in the Navy Reserve on 4 January 1980 and 17 February 1987 vice the enlistment in the Regular Navy on those dates now of record. The record will then show that he was a reservist on active duty during that period, and completed the last eight years of qualifying service in the reserve component. Since the Uniform Retirement Date Act requires retirement to be effective on the first of the month, the record should be further corrected to show that he extended his last enlistment for a period of one month and then transferred to the Retired Reserve effective on 1 March 1991, vice the discharge of 16 February 1991.

Petitioner was advanced to BU2 early in his service and it
appears that the highest pay grade satisfactorily held is E-5.
However, the grade determination is left to the discretion of the
Navy Personnel Command.

The Board further concludes that this Report of Proceedings should be filed in Petitioner’s naval record so that all future reviewers will understand his status in the Retired Reserve.

RECOMMENDATION:

a. That Petitioners naval record be corrected to show that on 4 January 1980 and 17 February 1997 he reenlisted in the Naval Reserve vice the enlistments in the Regular Navy on those dates now of record.

b. That Petitioner reenlistment of 17 February 1987 be extended for a period of one month and that he was then transferred to the Retired Reserve effective on 1 March 1991.

C. That this Report of Proceedings be filed in Petitioner’s naval record.

4. It is certified that a quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board’s proceedings in the above entitled matter.

ROBERT D. ZSALMAN				ALAN E. GOLDSMITH			Recorder						Acting Roecorder

5.	Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section 6(e) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 723.6(e)) and having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the authority of reference (a), has been approved by the Board on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy.

								W. DEAN PFEIFFER
							    Executive Director