PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           8 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999031577

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Gerald E. Vandenberg		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Chairperson	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		Member	
	Mr. Ronald E. Blakely		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 that her Health Professionals Loan Repayment (HPLR) eligibility be approved with retroactive entitlement to the earliest possible effective date.

3.  The applicant states she did attempt to comply with the requests for information following her ultimate assignment to a qualifying active reserve unit and that it was due to misunderstandings as to what and why items were requested that led to her appeal.  The applicant contends that she was misinformed as to how to correctly rectify the problem. 

4.  The applicant’s record shows she initially enlisted in the Connecticut Army National Guard on 15 March 1985.  She served a 6-month period of active duty during Operations Desert Shield/Storm, to include almost 4 months in Southwest Asia.  The applicant was discharged from the Army National Guard effective 16 August 1992, in pay grade E-5, to accept a U. S. Army Reserve commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps effective 17 August 1992.  

5.  On 15 September 1992, the applicant was assigned to the IRR due to the loss of availability of a Troop Program Unit (TPU) position within a reasonable distance.  On 26 March 1993, the applicant was assigned to an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) position pending assignment to a TPU.  On 20 April 1993, she was assigned to a TPU position with the 351st General Hospital.  This unit apparently was shortly thereafter deactivated.  On 15 August 1993, she was assigned to a TPU position with the 405th Combat Support Hospital where she served until 5 February 2000 when she transferred to the Connecticut Air Guard.

6.  The applicant was originally denied relief based on a determination that she failed to submit requested information in order to restart her eligibility between the time that she was deemed not eligible and her subsequent application in 1995.  On 18 August 1992, the applicant completed the original DA Form 
5536-R, Agreement Health Professionals Loan Repayment (HPLR).  The applicant submits a copy of a 1993 DA Form 5536-R; a copy was not in the record at that time.  

7.  The applicant submits a document that shows dual submission dates of 18 August 1992 and 15 August 1993.  This document shows differences in not only handwriting but also lists a different officiating officer.  She also submits a copy of the complete new packet to include the additional request for repayment of her 1994 – 1996 graduate school loan that was submitted in 1995.

8.  These documents were not available to the Board previously and constitute new evidence that requires Board review.

9.  Army Regulation 135-7, chapter 7, sets forth the policy and procedures for repayment of student loans for health care professionals.  In pertinent part, it states that the HPLR provides for the repayment by the Government of a designated portion of any outstanding student loan(s) secured after 1 October 1975.  The loan amount to be repaid may not exceed $3,000 for each year of eligible service.  The total amount that may be repaid may not exceed $20,000.  To be eligible for the HPLR incentive, a person must perform satisfactory service as an officer in the Selected Reserve and possess professional qualifications in a health profession that the Secretary of Defense has determined to be needed critically in order to meet identified wartime combat medical skill shortages.  Entitlement to the HPLR will terminate if, among other reasons, the officer becomes an unsatisfactory participant, is separated from the Selected Reserve, or enters the inactive National Guard or IRR.  Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this HPLR agreement establishes an anniversary date.  Any qualifying loan, which is at least a year old, may then be paid in accordance with the terms of this educational agreement.  Eligibility may be reestablished upon assignment to a qualifying Selected Reserve position and resubmission of a DA form 5536-R.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The additional information and documentation would normally have been referred back to the applicant’s administrative unit to allow the applicant to exhaust all administrative relief however, due to the applicant’s transfer to the Air Guard, it is now appropriate to resolve the issues at the Board level.

2.  The applicant became eligible for the HPLR program with her commissioning in August 1992.  She lost eligibility during the IRR period and regained her eligibility with assignment to the IMA on 26 March 1993.  She has continued to meet the service eligibility requirements for repayment of her first two loans and became eligible for repayment of her additional loan in 1995.

3.  The 15 August 1993 document shows that the applicant did attempt to comply with the requests from the Student Loan Repayment Program Team, Reserve Component Pay Support Office (RCPSO) for additional information and that it was due to administrative problems within her unit that the requisite information was not properly forwarded or associated with her loan repayment paper work.

4.  To continue to deny entitlement to and payment of the loans under the provisions of the HPLR program results in the creation of an unjust situation.

5.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by paying the loans of the individual concerned in accordance with the provisions of Army Regulation 135-7, chapter 7, effective upon her assignment to a unit of the ARNGUS, USAR, IMA, AGR on 26 March 1993 and terminating benefits upon the date of her transfer to the Connecticut Air Guard, 5 February 2000.

NOTE:  The applicant should file directly to the Connecticut Air Guard for consideration of any further repayment considerations.

BOARD VOTE:  

__SK___  __JEA___  __REB__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031577	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000808	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.14	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.