RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2014-02497 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: A date of separation be established under the rules of involuntary separation or in accordance with the Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP) force management program. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He was twice passed over for promotion and was continued in lieu of separation with pay due to the needs of the Air Force. At the same time of his continuation, the Air Force was planning the FY14 force reduction. United States Code (U.S.C) 10 section 632 states that a twice passed over officer should be separated involuntarily with pay. The only exception is the needs of the service; in accordance with 10 USC 611.b which states when retaining the officer is critical to national security. He was continued under this pretense. This has deprived him of compensation dictated by law. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant is a former member of this Air Force. On 13 March 2013, he was notified of his non-selection for promotion to the grade of major. He was also notified that he had been selected for continuation. He was honorably discharged on 18 January 2015 in the grade of captain. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPSOR recommends approval. A review of applicant's personnel record reflects he applied for VSP on 6 February 2014. Based on his 2003 year group and Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC), his eligibility to apply was confirmed and his application was held for adjudication. In accordance with PSDM 14-08, dated 23 January 2014, HQ AF/A1 authorized AFPC limited approval authority for members who had no active duty service commitment (ADSC) or who had an ADSC that AFPC was authorized to waive and approve (i.e. tuition assistance). All other applicants who had an ADSC that could not be approved by AFPC had to be held until the Secretary of the Air Force (SecAF) approved granting the expanded ADSC waiver authority to AFPC. The applicant had an ADSC for Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) which was not within the purview of AFPC to waive and approve; therefore, it needed to be held pending further authority from SecAF. Only a small handful of applications were approved during the late March, early April adjudication and none requiring waiver of the UPT ADSC. The next phase of adjudication of VSP applications occurred in May 2014. Prior to this phase, HQ AF/A1 determined that the officer's AFSC/year group was no longer eligible for the VSP program. Although AFPC was granted expanded waiver authority by this time, HQ AF/A1 determined that the applicant's year group and AFSC had already sustained enough losses to close out the AFSC and not allow any additional approvals for VSP. Therefore, the applicant's application along with all other applicants in his year group and AFSC were disapproved. Although the applicant's UPT ADSC precluded AFPC from approving his VSP application, it appears the applicant submitted a request for date of separation (DOS) that would have consummated after the completion of his ADSC. Therefore, in hindsight, AFPC should have considered his VSP application and recommended approval since the ADSC would not have been a factor. The procedures for processing VSP applications were conducted in accordance with the instructions provided by HQ AF/Al; however, in the interest of justice, the Board should consider granting the applicant's request to have his VSP application reconsidered for approval. The complete DPSOPR evaluation is at Exhibit C. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: He whole-heartedly agrees with the advisory opinion recommendation to allow him to separate with pay. He notes that while AFPC did not have the authority to waive his UPT ADSC; this was not an issue as his requested date of separation was after his ADSC would have expired. His case did not need a waiver and should have been considered in the first round of approvals. The applicant’s complete response 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. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice. After a thorough review of the evidence, we believe correction is warranted. Therefore, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion that his VSP application should have been considered and subsequently approved since his requested date of separation was after his ADSC expired. Therefore, we recommend that the applicant’s record be corrected as indicated below. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that he applied for separation under the Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP) program and under the guidelines set forth in PSDM 14-08 was approved for VSP separation which entitles him to voluntary separation pay and all benefits associated with VSP. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2014-02497 in Executive Session on 5 February 2015, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2014-02497 was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 16 Jun 14, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant’s Master Personnel Record Excerpts. Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSOR, dated 7 Oct 14. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, 17 Nov 14. Exhibit E. Letter, Applicant’s Response, dated 24 Nov 14.