RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2013-03653 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: YES ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: He be given a 3P071 (B) Combat Arms Training and Marksmanship (CATM) shred assignment or be allowed to retrain into another career field. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 1. He was drawn to the Air Force because the CATM job he was offered seemed like something he wanted to do and he wanted an assignment in the United Kingdom (UK) or Japan. The Air Force (AF) took a great interest in his varied background and equally pursued him. He believed that the AF was the way to go; however, it took almost a year to be released from the Army. He was slotted for a CATM position and was originally, slated for an assignment in the UK. He was later told that he could not go overseas and would lose rank despite his being prior Active Army and having a promotion line number to the rank of E-7, Specialist First Class (SFC). He accepted this and went forward with the transfer. 2. At the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS), he looked at his enlistment papers and noticed that there was no mention of CATM, only Security Forces. He inquired and was told that this was something that would be handled at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) not at MEPS. At Lackland AFB, he was told that MEPS was the place that it should have been addressed. He was also told that the calculation for his rank may have been wrong and he should have kept his E-6 rank. The representative at Lackland AFB told him to address his issues with his unit at Andrews AFB when he arrived. 3. At Andrews AFB they had no idea who or what he was and he was immediately sent to Bolling AFB. After four months of just straight confusion on all sides and not receiving pay of any kind, he resorted to living in a converted tool shack. When the mission support group commander (MSG/CC) found out, he was moved into the barracks. He was then sent to Afghanistan where he earned a Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) for his services. Upon his return, he was finally reunited with his family after almost a year because of the pay problems and job instability. 4. He interacted with the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), Assignment Management System (AMS), his base commander, unit commander, and military personnel flight (MPF) during the entire timeframe in order to rectify the issues as well as to obtain a new job. If he wanted to be a cop, he would have stayed with the Army and lost nothing. It has been almost four years. He has given and will continue to give his all as a noncommissioned officer (NCO) should, but he has never been able to do the job the AF promised him. As a promotion eligible E6, he never will be able to do the CATM instructor job the AF promised him. He requests to be allowed to retrain into another career field. In support of his request, the applicant provides a personal statement, and copies of email correspondence and an AMS job application transaction log. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant is currently serving in the Regular Air Force in the grade of Technical Sergeant, (TSgt), E-6. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AETC/AFRS does not make a recommendation; but provides an informational advisory. AFRS states the applicant began working with an AF recruiter in November 2007 to reenter the military as a prior service CATM member. During that time, the option for a CATM position was listed on the AF Prior Service reentry matrix so that previous military CATM specialists would be allowed reentry at any rank and years of service (YOS). Originally, the applicant's YOS and rank credit had him returning as an E-4. It was at that time that his original reentry request was made for the CATM job through AFRS to AFPC. The applicant's original assignment had him entering the AF on 23 April 2008, in the rank of E-4 as a CATM member. Due to his not being released in time from the Army Reserves, his original entry was cancelled and he was provided with a new date of 24 July 2008. While waiting for his new reentry date, his YOS rank credit was recalculated and his rank was upgraded to E-5; however, his promised job was not changed. It was only after the applicant, and others after him, reentered that Recruiting Service was notified by the Security Forces Chief Functional Manager that they were no longer accepting CATM reentries above the rank of E-4. The applicant entered the AF during a change in policy in reference to who could reenter as a CATM. It is clear that throughout his reenlistment process both Recruiting Service and the applicant's conversation and intention were for him to reenter active duty as a CATM member. The complete AETC/AFRS evaluation is at Exhibit C. AFPC/DPSIPE recommends denial. DPSIPE states that after a thorough review of the applicant’s military personnel record and other supporting documentation, there does not appear to be an error or injustice in the enlistment process. The complete AFPC/DPSIPE evaluation is at Exhibit D. AFPC/DPSOA recommends denial. DPSOA states that the applicant is assigned overseas in the Security Forces career field and applied for retraining on 18 June 2013. On 20 June 2013, he was notified of his ineligibility to retrain due to his 13 November 2016, Date Eligible to Return from Overseas (DEROS). Retraining opportunities are subject to the Airman's availability at the time of the application. Airmen must be available to attend training during the Fiscal Year (FY) applicable to the retraining program at the time the retraining request is processed. The applicant applied during the FY14 Noncommissioned Officer Retraining Program (NCORP) and was not eligible due to his DEROS. Additionally, Airmen are returned to 3POX1 upon promotion to Technical Sergeant and award of the 7- skill level; therefore, Technical Sergeants are not authorized to retrain to 3POX1B. The applicant is projected to meet retraining eligibility criteria when the FYl7 Enlisted Retraining Program is released. He can reapply at that time if there are retraining “out” quotas for his grade in the 3POX1 career field. The complete AFPC/DPSOA evaluation is at Exhibit E. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to the applicant on 24 April 2014 for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit F). To date, a response has not been received. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or an injustice. After careful consideration of the evidence of record and the applicant’s complete submission, we are persuaded that relief is warranted. We took note of AFPC/DPSIPE and AFPC/DPSOA recommendation to deny. However, due to the applicant entering the Air Force during a change in policy to who could reenter as a Combat Arms Training and Marksmanship (CATM) member, the applicant suffered an injustice by not being accessed in the Air Force as promised. Sufficient evidence has been presented that the Recruiting Service’s intention as well as the applicant’s was to enter active duty as a CATM member. Notwithstanding, we note the AFPC/DPSOA explanation that Airmen are returned to the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) 3POX1 (Security Forces) upon promotion to the rank of Technical Sergeant and award of the 7- skill level; therefore, Technical Sergeants are not authorized to retrain to the 3POX1B CATM AFSC thereby rendering the applicant ineligible. Therefore, since the applicant’s requested retraining in a CATM assignment is not possible, we believe he should be afforded the opportunity to retrain. Therefore, in order to resolve any potential injustice to the applicant, we believe correcting the record in the manner indicated below will provide the applicant proper and fitting relief. Accordingly, we recommend his records be corrected as indicated below. 4. The applicant's case is adequately documented and it has not been shown that a personal appearance with or without counsel will materially add to our understanding of the issue(s) involved. Therefore, the request for a hearing is not favorably considered. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that: a. He is eligible to apply for retraining under the Fiscal Year (FY) FY15 Noncommissioned Officer Retraining Program (NCORP). b. His Date of Return from Overseas is not to be considered as an eligibility factor and will be curtailed to accommodate the approved retraining class date he is selected for. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered this application in Executive Session on 12 June 2014, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2013-03653 was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 13 July 2013, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant’s Master Personnel Record. Exhibit C. Letter, AETC/AFRS, dated August 2013. Exhibit D. Letter, AFPC/DPSIPE dated 27 December 2013. Exhibit E. Letter, AFPC/DPSOA, dated 9 April 2014 Exhibit F. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 25 April 2014