RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-03925 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: The 17.5 days of leave she lost in fiscal year (FY) 2010, be reinstated with 15 of those days being tax exempt. _______________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: She requested 20 days of Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY) for the period 13 Sep 2009 through 22 Oct 2009. In addition, she requested terminal leave for 89 days, which left a leave balance of 15.5 days. She requested to sell back 15 days of tax exempt leave. No one from the local Comptroller Squadron (CPTS) ever contacted her regarding whether her requests were correct or not. After receiving final pay in Jan 2010, she patiently waited for her leave settlement. In mid Feb 2010 she contacted Capt O. at the Pentagon CPTS who recalled her retirement. He advised her she should be paid $3112.00 for 15 days of tax exempt leave. He contacted the 11th CPTS at Bolling AFB and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and was told the leave settlement was processed late due to a one month extension to Dec 2009, to allow for her retirement date of l Jan 20l0. This extension was completed, signed, and approved in Mar 2009; however, the local personnel office said they could not update the system until 1 Dec 2009, which was the first day of her extension. Capt O. advised her she should receive her leave settlement shortly. In Mar 2010, she again contacted Capt XXXXX to advise she had not received the lost leave. He again contacted DFAS and was told her leave was being processed. In Apr 2010, she received a $933.00 check from the Department of Treasury, with no explanation. She did not receive a final Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), nor did she have access to “My Pay” since she was no longer on active duty. Consequently, she again contacted Capt XXXXX, who referred her to the 11th CPTS, Bolling AFB. However, after numerous phone calls she was unable to make contact with them. Admittedly she gave up after being disappointed and frustrated. However, she was reminded of the unjust leave error after going through her documentation and decided to submit a request to the Board. She could only assume the $933.00 check was for her incorrect leave payment. The 17.5 days of leave were never restored which would have corrected her leave balance to 104.5 days, and reinstated the correct leave balance of 15 days, which equated to $3112.00. In support of her request, the applicant provides copies of her Leave and Earnings Statements, AF IMT 988, Leave Request/Authorization, and a Memorandum from the 11th CPTS/FMFC. Her complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: On 30 Dec 2009, the applicant retired from the Regular Air Force in the grade of chief master sergeant (CMSgt, E-9). She served a total of 30 years and 27 days. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: HQ AFPC/DPSIM recommends denial due to the lack of supporting documentation. DPSIM states, the applicant’s LES reflects 79.5 days was her protective leave balance going into fiscal year (FY) 2011 [sic]; however, at the beginning of FY 2011 [sic], her leave balance went from 94 days of leave to 54 days of leave with 6.5 days of leave as use or lose. DPSIM states, on 14 Nov 2011, they sent a letter to the applicant requesting additional documentation to support her claim. Specifically, the signed extension by the 11th CPTS verifying the leave settlement was worked through DFAS. The applicant failed to provide the extension paperwork requested. Without the additional documentation, DPSIM is unable to give a sound recommendation. The complete DPSIM evaluation is at Exhibit B. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 20 Mar 2012, for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit C). As of this date, this office has not received a response. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice to warrant granting 15 days of tax exempt leave. In this respect, we note DoDI 1327.06, Leave and Liberty Policy and Procedures, states Combat Zone Tax Exclusion (CZTE) leave is applied to the first leave taken after departure from the combat zone regardless of when it was earned. Once the applicant used the first 15 days of her leave, she was no longer entitled to tax exempt leave. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend approval of her request. 4. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice to warrant restoring 17.5 days to her leave account. In this regard, we note that DPSIM initially recommended disapproval of the applicant’s request; however, after reviewing the extension paperwork, DPSIM now recommends 17.5 days of leave be restored to her leave account and we agree. Accordingly, we recommend her records be corrected to the extent indicated below. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that seventeen point five (17.5) days of leave were restored to her leave balance. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered this application in Executive Session on 22 May 2012, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-2011- 03925: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 24 Sep 2011. Exhibit B. Letter, AFPC/DPSIM, dated 8 Mar 2012. Exhibit C. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 20 Mar 2012.