PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            16 March 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999030437

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

	Mr. Joseph A. Adriance		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 applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

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

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests, in effect, that his New Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) debt be forgiven.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that the Army was in error when it terminated him from the STRAP without cause.  He claims that the Army did this to several people in his unit and many have already had their debts forgiven after it was found the Army was at fault.  He goes on to indicate that the Army terminated the STRAP while he was still a member in good standing.  He contends that he still had several months left to complete his specialized training when he was terminated.  

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 1 November 1992, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army National Guard (ARNG) as a member of the Army Nurse Corps.  

5.  On 1 June 1993, he signed a STRAP service agreement, which was witnessed by the Army Nurse Recruiter.  On 30 July 1993, this contractual agreement was approved by the Chief of the Incentives Branch at the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC).  In this agreement, the applicant stipulated that he had been accepted for, or was attending in good standing, the approved course of specialized advance training in the critical medical or nursing specialty listed in the agreement at the designated institutions.  The listed training was a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and the designated institution was the Metropolitan State College of Denver.  

6.  The STRAP service agreement also specified that the applicant was scheduled to commence participation in the STRAP on 1 June 1993 and that he was scheduled to complete his specialized training and his STRAP participation on 15 December 1996.  It further indicated that if he received a stipend during this period, he would incur a service obligation which would end on 15 December 2004.  

7.  The termination provisions of the STRAP agreement stipulated that termination could be effected if the applicant failed to successfully complete the specialized training program, if he was released from the training program, or if he voluntarily stopped training.

8.  On 1 August 1996, a letter was published by Headquarters, United States Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, which terminated the applicant from the STRAP effective 1 August 1996.  The sole reason given for this action was the applicant’s failure to successfully complete his specific academic training program and there is no indication that the applicant failed to meet any of the other eligibility requirements of the program.  

9.  On 24 October 1996, Orders Number D-10-691314 was issued by the United States Army Reserve Personnel Command (ARPERSCOM) which discharged the applicant from the USAR, effective 24 October 1996.  

10.  On 20 February 1998, in reply to an inquiry from the applicant, a claims examiner from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), Denver, Colorado advised the applicant that his debt of $28,583.00 was due to payments for a STRAP stipend program between 1 June 1993 and 31 March 1996, based on his failure to complete the program. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  After carefully examining the evidence of record and the independent evidence submitted by the applicant, the Board concluded that the applicant was erroneously terminated from the STRAP prior to reaching the contracted completion date of 15 December 1996, which had been agreed to in the initial STRAP agreement. 

2.  The Chief of the USAREC Incentives Branch approved the applicant’s STRAP agreement, which established 15 December 1996 as the date the applicant was required to complete his specialized training.  The 1 August 1996 action taken by UASREC to terminate the applicant from the STRAP, based on his failure to complete his specialized training program, was obviously a violation of this agreement.  

3.  Based on applicant being terminated from the STRAP over 5 months prior to specialized training completion date documented in the original STRAP agreement, the Board concluded, in the interest of justice and equity, that it would be appropriate to forgive the debt he incurred as a result of this erroneous action. 

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by forgiving the debt incurred by the individual concerned as a result of his termination from the STRAP.  

2.  That the individual concerned be reimbursed any portion of the debt already collected as a result of his being terminated from the STRAP.  
BOARD VOTE:  

___owt__  ___cjp __  ___jlp____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Jennifer L. Prater____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999030437	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/03/16	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	N/A	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	N/A	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	N/A	
DISCHARGE REASON	N/A	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  283	128.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.