RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2015-02282 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: He be granted recoupment of lost pay associated with 10 days of lost leave upon his retirement. APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He was assured by his local finance office on 1 Oct 14, that he would not lose the contested leave given his terminal leave crossed over into Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15). According to the local finance office, once the leave was approved and processed, it would not be lost. He carried 75 days over from 2013 to 2014, earned an additional 37.5 days between 1 Oct 14 and 31 Dec 14, and used four days in FY14 leaving a balance of 108.5 days going into retirement before terminal leave and Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY). His final paycheck was considerably less than expected and when he inquired with his finance office customer service, he was told he had lost 10 days of leave when the FY ended. Either he was given incorrect information by the finance office or LeaveWeb incorrectly drops use-or-lose leave even if the leave is terminal and is already scheduled. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. STATEMENT OF FACTS: On 7 Jun 91, the applicant entered the Regular Air Force. According to DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, issued in conjunction with his retirement, block 16, Days of Accrued Leave Paid, reads ‘0’. On 31 Dec 14, the applicant was relieved from active service and retired, effective 1 Jan 15. He was credited with 23 years, 6 months, and 24 days of active service. The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the memorandum prepared by the Air Force office of primary responsibility (OPR), which is attached at Exhibit C. AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPSIM recommends disapproval of the applicant’s request of restoration for 10 days of lost leave. The member’s closing leave balance as of 30 Sep 13 was 75 days of leave. He took 19 days of non-chargeable PTDY leave. During FY14, the applicant earned 30 days and used 20 days of leave bringing his leave balance to 85 days at the end of the FY. Since the member’s terminal leave crossed into FY15 and he was not approved for Special Leave Accrual in the Military Master Pay System, he lost 10 days of leave. The applicant was informed by the local finance office on two different occasions that he would not lose any leave. He included emails from local finance acknowledging the miscounseling. Though he was able and willing to take the additional leave days, he did not due to the miscounseling. AFI 36-3003, Military Leave Program, paragraph 10.1, Special Leave Accrual (SLA) allows members who are faced with circumstances that prohibit them from taking leave to accumulate leave in excess of 60 days (75 days until September 30, 2015). The situation preventing members from using leave must have been caused by a catastrophe, national emergency and/or crisis or operations in defense of national security. Furthermore, it should be a result of the members’ inability to take leave or to reduce their leave balance to 60 days (75 days from 1 Oct 08 through 30 Sep 15) before the end of the FY while being assigned to said activities. SLA shall not be used as a means to authorize the accumulation of leave in excess of 60 days (75 days from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2015) that is a result of members’ failure to properly manage their leave balance. A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSIM evaluation is at Exhibit C. APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 30 Oct 15 for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit D). As of this date, no response has been received by this office. 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 injustice. After a thorough review of the evidence of record and the applicant’s complete submission, we believe the applicant is the victim of an error or injustice. While we note the comments of AFPC/DPSIM indicating that relief should be denied because the applicant’s terminal leave crossed into FY15 and he was not approved for Special Leave Accrual, we believe a preponderance of the evidence substantiates corrective action is warranted. In this respect, we note the applicant has provided copies of his leave request/authorization forms as well as email correspondence indicating that he was miscounseled regarding losing the subject leave. In our deliberations of this case, it appeared the applicant was diligent in asking questions regarding potentially losing leave and was wrongly advised on two separate occasions by his local finance office. Therefore, we recommend the applicant’s records be corrected as indicated below. THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that 10 days of lost leave is restored. All members voted to correct the records as recommended. The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2015-02282 was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 6 Apr 15, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Memorandum, AFPC/DPSIM, dated 20 Aug 15. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 30 Oct 15.