MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            17 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999031219

	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.

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Sherri V. Ward		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Linda D. Simmons		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:  That his State of Alaska student loans and the interest on those loans be paid under the Loan Repayment Program (LRP).  He also requests that he be reimbursed for the money he has paid on those loans.

APPLICANT STATES:  That his LRP enlistment addendum specifically guaranteed that his student loans would be paid by the Army.  He has completed the terms of his enlistment and now expects the Army to honor its promises to him as outlined in his LRP addendum.  He explains that his student loans are from the state of Alaska.  Alaska loans are not made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965.  Since only loans which are covered under the Higher Education Act of 1965 are payable under the LRP, his student loans were not payable.  He has attempted to have his loans paid on numerous occasions through his military chain of command and his elected members of Congress, to no avail.

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

He enlisted in the Regular Army in pay grade E-4 for 3 years on 15 September 1993.  In conjunction with his enlistment he executed an LRP addendum.

He was awarded the military occupational specialties of fighting vehicle infantryman and anti-armor infantryman, and was promoted to pay grade E-5.

On 27 November 1995 the applicant made a sworn statement.  In that statement the applicant chronicled how when he enlisted for the LRP he questioned the eligibility of his Alaska student loans and was assured by his recruiter that they were payable.  The applicant also relates how his requests for payment of his loans under the LRP were denied based on statutory prohibitions, how he requested discharge due to defective enlistment, and how that request was denied.

He was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service on 14 September 1996.

The LRP is an educational enlistment incentive which provides for payment of 33 1/3 percent or $1,500.00, whichever is greater, of the unpaid principal of eligible student loans for each year of active duty a soldier completes.

Title 10, U.S. Code, section 2171, limits loans that are eligible for repayment under the LRP to those made, insured, or guaranteed under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1.  The applicant’s loans are not payable under the LRP, by law, because they were not made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

2.  The applicant has submitted some documents in which he stated that he was told by his recruiter that his loans were payable under the LRP.  In other statements he only says that he simply believed that his loans were payable under the LRP, that he had no reason to believe otherwise.  

3.  It was not uncommon at the time of the applicant’s enlistment for an enlistee to be given the LRP option without him or her bringing in his or her promissory notes.  The enlistee was informed in the LRP addendum that only loans made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965 would be paid under the LRP.

4.  The Army was and is willing to honor its contract with the applicant – to pay his student loans which were made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965, which are still outstanding and current.  The Board will presume that is why the applicant’s request for discharge was disapproved; there was nothing defective about his contract.

5.  Based on the statutory prohibition of paying loans which are not made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and the lack of evidence that the applicant was told that his Alaska student loans were payable under the LRP, the Board will not recommend any form of relief in this case.

6.  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

___svw__  ___mhm_  ___lds__  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031219	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000817	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.05	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.