MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           16 March 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999029791

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson	
	Mr. Orville W. Troesch, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  In effect, that his Department of the Army bar to reenlistment under the Qualitative Management Program (QMP) be set aside.

APPLICANT STATES:  That QMP standards were not followed, that the federal statute of limitations was ignored, that there were material errors, and that Army regulations were ignored.

COUNSEL CONTENDS:  Counsel makes no additional contentions.  He states additional evidence will be presented at the hearing.  (On 24 February 2000, the DD Form 149 was returned to the applicant for his signature.  He was also informed that, since it was probable he would not receive a formal hearing, he should submit any additional evidence now.  No further evidence was provided with the returned DD Form 149.)

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He enlisted in the Regular Army on 26 November 1981.  He completed basic training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 75C (Personnel Management Specialist).  

On 16 June 1983, the applicant was convicted by a general court-martial of committing an assault with a means likely to produce bodily harm; to wit; a knife. His approved sentence was to be reduced to pay grade E-1, to be confined at hard labor for 3 months, and to forfeit $382.00 pay for 3 months.  In May 1984, his application for relief with respect to his conviction was denied by the U. S. Army Judiciary.  The court-martial orders are not filed in his field 201 file.          DA Form 20B, Record of Court-Martial Conviction is not filed with his Personnel Qualification Record (PQR) and item 29, Date DA Form 20B Prepared, of his PQR is not completed.

In September 1984, the applicant was notified that he was not favorably considered for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period November 1981 through November 1984 due to his court-martial conviction and that his new Army Good Conduct Medal qualifying period would be 3 years after the approval of his conviction.  He refused to sign acknowledging receipt of the notification.  In May 1985, he was notified that the new beginning period for the award of the medal would be 16 September 1983.

The applicant’s PQR shows he was promoted to Staff Sergeant on 18 July 1986; reduced to Sergeant on 5 September 1988 for an unknown reason; and promoted again to Staff Sergeant on 1 December 1993.

On 26 June 1995, the applicant accepted non-judicial punishment under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice for failing to go to his appointed place of duty, two specifications of disobeying a lawful order, dereliction in the performance of his duties, and wrongfully altering his leave form.  His punishment was a forfeiture of $896.00 and an oral reprimand.  He did not appeal the Article 15.

On 1 August 1996, the applicant was notified that he had been determined by the Calendar Year 1996 Sergeant First Class promotion selection board to be barred from reenlistment.  The three documents cited as the basis for the action were his general court-martial order, his disqualification for the Army Good Conduct Medal, and his 1995 Article 15.  He appealed the bar to reenlistment.  His appeal is not available.  On 11 March 1997 the U. S. Army Enlisted Records and Evaluation Center disapproved his appeal.

On 31 July 1997, the applicant was discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 16-8 with half separation pay.  He had completed 15 years, 8 months and 5 days of creditable active federal service.  His DD Form 214 does not reflect any lost time but his PQR shows he had 22 days time lost (imprisonment).  The Defense Finance and Accounting Service verifies this time lost.

Army Regulation 601-280, chapter 10, sets forth policy and prescribes procedures for denying reenlistment under the QMP.  This program is based on the premise that reenlistment is a privilege for those whose performance, conduct, attitude, and potential for advancement meet Army standards.  It is designed to (1) enhance the quality of the career enlisted force, (2) selectively retain the best qualified soldiers to 30 years of active duty, (3) deny reenlistment to nonprogressive and nonproductive soldiers, and (4) encourage soldiers to maintain their eligibility for further service.  The QMP consists of two major subprograms, the qualitative retention subprogram and the qualitative screening subprogram.  Under the qualitative screening subprogram, records for grades    E-5 through E-9 are regularly screened by the DA promotion selection boards.  The appropriate selection boards evaluate past performances and estimate the potential of each soldier to determine if continued service is warranted.  Soldiers whose continued service is not warranted receive a QMP bar to reenlistment.

Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  Paragraph 16-8 directs the early release of soldiers with a QMP bar to reenlistment when budgetary or authorization limitations require a reduction in enlisted strength.

Army Regulation 600-8-14 governs the maintenance of the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).  In pertinent part, it states that court-martial orders are filed permanently on the performance fiche when there is an approved finding of guilty on at least one specification.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement.

2.  The Board finds no evidence to show that QMP standards were not followed.  The federal statute of limitations does not apply to an administrative discharge.  (The Board presumes here that the applicant’s contention is that the court-martial order was too old a document to be considered by the QMP board.  However, since the regulation states that a court-martial order that results in a finding of guilty will be permanently filed in a soldier’s OMPF, it was properly considered by the QMP board).  The Board finds no evidence of material errors nor any evidence that Army regulations were ignored.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__jlp___  __owt___  __cjp___  DENY APPLICATION

Karl F. Schneider
Director, Army Review Boards Agency

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999029791	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000316	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	110.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.