RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2013-04037 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ________________________________________________________________ THE APPLICANT REQUESTS: His mandatory separation date (MSD) be adjusted to account for the time he was discharged from the Air Force and unable to serve in the Air Force Reserve. ________________________________________________________________ THE APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 1. He believes it to be unjust that the Air Force forced him to retire due to his MSD of 1 June 2013. This MSD was calculated as a result of his reaching 30 years of total federal commissioned service after he received his initial commission in May 1983. If his service to the military had been continuous during this entire period he would agree that this is the proper date, but this does not account for the fact that between the time he was honorably discharged from all appointments in the Air Force until the time that this discharge was rescinded (from 1 Mar 06 to 22 Mar 07) he was not allowed to participate in any of the Air Force Reserve programs. This negatively affected his record in a couple of ways: a. he was not allowed to earn points for his retirement. b. he was not allowed to positively contribute to the Air Force mission thus limiting the impact of his officer performance report (OPR). He believes these factors reduced his competitive stature in front of the calendar years (CY) CY10 and CYl1, Colonel, O-6 promotion boards and could have been a contributing reason why he was not selected for promotion at those times. 2. Had he been selected for promotion by either of the earlier boards the negative consequences of the first injustice of not being selected by the original Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col), O-5 promotion board would have been minimized and he would have been able to accumulate enough time-in-grade at the O-6 level to retire in that grade. With an MSD of 1 June 2013, he was forced to retire at the rank of Lt Col as regulations stipulate that one must serve a minimum of 6 months’ time-in-grade as an O-6 to retire at that rank when the MSD is the reason for retirement. He respectfully requests that his MSD be recalculated to account for the 1-year and 21 days effective “break in service” during which time he was unable to contribute to the Air Force Reserves. In support of his request the applicant submits a personnel statement, a factual information list pertaining to his promotion history, copies of his promotion orders, his MSD letter dated 22 April 2011, email correspondence, and a copy of point credit summary/service history. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant served in the Air Force Reserve from 11 December 2002 until his mandatory separation date of 1 June 2013. On 2 June 2013 he was transferred from his, then, current assignment to the Retired Reserve Section awaiting pay at age 60 (15 July 2021). The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the letter prepared by the appropriate office of the Air Force at Exhibit C. _______________________________________________________________ THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 1. ARPC/DPTT recommends denial. DPTT states that mandatory separation dates (MSDs) are calculated from the Total Federal Commissioned Service Date (TFCSD). Since the applicant has not had a break in service, his TFCSD has not changed. As background, the applicant was commissioned on 15 May 1983. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve until his appointment as a Major (Maj) in the Air Force Reserve on 11 December 2002. While serving in the Air Force Reserve he met two promotion boards, however, he was not selected for promotion to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) by either board. Under Title l0 U.S.C. Section 14506, his MSD became 1 March 2006. Since he had less than 18 years of satisfactory service toward retirement, he was discharged on that date. When the ARPC, Separations Branch, was notified that a Special Selection Board had selected him for promotion to Lt Col, effective 1 October 2005, his discharge order, Reserve Order (RO) CB-122, dated 1 March 2006, was rescinded by RO CB-103, dated 22 March 2007. This transaction put him back into his Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) position with no break in service. He earned satisfactory years of service for the 2006 and 2007 Retirement/Retention years. 2. When the applicant was promoted to the rank of Lt Col, his MSD under Title l0 U.S.C. Section l4507(a) became 1 June 2011. Since he had completed 18 years and 16 days of satisfactory service, his MSD was adjusted by three years for Reserve Sanctuary under Title l0 U.S.C. Section 12646. This meant he could continue to participate until he reached 20 years of satisfactory service or 1 June 2014, whichever came earlier. On 1 April 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel (Col). Since his MSD became 1 June 2013, he was transferred to the Retired Reserve on 1 June 2013, with only two months’ time in grade. _______________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: In further support of his appeal, the applicant states he believes the ARPC/DPTT recommendation to disapprove his request is incorrect based upon the facts of his situation. Their rationale for disapproval, “because he did not have a “break in service” and therefore his TFCSD had not changed,” is factually incorrect. He was discharged from the Reserves on 1 March 2006, and reinstated on 22 March 2007. As he was no longer a member of the military during that period he was not able to contribute to the Reserve program, which, negatively affected his ability to earn points as well as limited the impact of his OPR. When he was reinstated, which HQ ARPC did by rescinding his previous discharge orders, “on paper,” it appeared he did not have a break in service. However, this was on paper only. In actuality, he did have a break in service of 1 year and 22 days. It is because of this “actual” break in service he requests that his TFCSD be recalculated to account for this lost time. AFI 36-2604, Service Dates and Dates of Rank, Table 1, Rule 3, lists a way to calculate the Total Federal Commissioned Service Date when there is a “break in service” by adjusting the TFCSD to be later than the original TFCSD by a period equal to the break in service. He considers himself very fortunate to have been deemed worthy to hold the rank of Colonel; nevertheless, with only two months’ time in grade, this promotion was ceremonial in nature, as he was never given the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Furthermore, the negative impact of this inability to retire at the rank of Colonel is financially significant and life-long. The applicant’s complete response, with attachments, is at Exhibit E. ________________________________________________________________ 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. We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission, to include his comments provided in his rebuttal to the Air Force evaluation and do not find that it supports a determination that the applicant was improperly separated from the Air Force Reserve in 2013. We noted the applicant’s contention that his Total Federal Commissioned Service Date (TFCSD) does not account for the time he was honorably discharged from all appointments in the Air Force on 1 March 2006, until the time that this discharge was rescinded on 22 March 2007. Additionally during that time, he was not allowed to participate in any of the Air Force Reserve programs that negatively affected his ability to earn points for his retirement and limited his ability to positively contribute to the Air Force mission thus limiting the impact of his officer performance report (OPR). However, we do not find these contentions sufficiently persuasive to override the rationale expressed by the Air Force. We note that when the Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC), Separations Branch, was notified that a Special Selection Board had selected the applicant for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with an effective date of 1 October 2005, his 1 March 2006, discharge order was rescinded and this transaction put him back into his Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) position with no break in service. Furthermore, he earned satisfactory years of service for the 2006 and 2007 Retirement/Retention years. We find no evidence showing that the applicant’s separation and retirement is contrary to governing policies. While we are not unsympathetic to the applicant’s circumstances, in the absence of evidence indicating he was treated differently than others who are similarly situated, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt the rationale expressed as the basis for our decision that the applicant has not been the victim of an injustice. In view of this determination, there exists no basis upon which to favorably consider the applicant's request. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; that the application was denied without a personal appearance; and that the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered this application in Executive Session on 22 April 2014, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2013-04037 was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 22 Aug 2013, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, ARPC/DPTT, dated 18 Sep 2013, w/atchs. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 10 Jan 2014. Exhibit E. Letter, Applicant, not dated, w/atchs. 1 2