MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           18 July 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999033442

	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. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. George D. Paxson 		Chairperson	
	Ms. Elizabeth Buchanon 		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson 		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 Incentive Special Pay (ISP) bonus payment be aligned with his Medical Additional Special Pay (MASP) bonus payment, so that both would be paid annually in July.   

APPLICANT STATES:  That he completed his primary residency training on       30 June 1995, and was assigned to Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  From                17 June 1996 through 15 July 1997 he was receiving fellowship training and was assigned to a student detachment.  He was never informed that he could align his ISP and his MASP bonus payments so that both would be paid annually in July.

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

The applicant was appointed from the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in 1985 and appointed as a Captain in the Medical Corps (MC) in June 1989.  He has served on continuous active duty since then.  

The applicant’s contracts are not available; however, it is apparent that he is receiving both ISP and MASP.  Officer evaluation reports show that he was an intern through 12 June 1990, a brigade surgeon thereafter until May of 1991, and in residency training at least through 4 May 1995.  He completed fellowship training in July 1997.

Incentive special pay is paid to specific MC officers based on board eligible/certified specialty and execution of a contract.  Payment starts 90 days after completion of civilian or military residency (approximately 1 October).  The contract is a one-year active duty obligation which runs concurrently with all other obligations.  An officer receives a lump sum payment minus taxes based upon rate for specialty.

Medical Additional Special Pay is paid to all MC officers upon completion of internship and execution of contract.  MASP is not paid during initial residency.  If officer starts an initial residency training program before end of the MASP contract, a recoupment will be made for the excess months of that contract.  The MASP can be received during a secondary residency or fellowship.  The contract is for a one-year active duty obligation, which runs concurrently with all other obligations.  Current lump sum rate is $15,000 minus taxes.

In the processing of this application, an advisory opinion (COPY ATTACHED) was obtained from the Office of The Surgeon General.  The Chief of the AMEDD Special Pay Branch of that office stated that the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) policy for ISP is that a Medical Corps officer may terminate an ISP agreement “only to enter into a new one-year ISP agreement if the new agreement results in a higher ISP rate than the agreement being terminated.”  Additionally, “this provision was not intended to allow Medical Corps officers to arbitrarily terminate an ISP agreement solely for the purpose of changing the anniversary date to coincide with an Additional Special Pay (ASP or MASP) agreement, or a retirement, resignation, or release from active duty.”  He stated that the applicant graduated from a fellowship in the same specialty pay category as his primary training, and there was no change in the ISP rate due to this training.  Consequently, he is not eligible to renegotiate into a new ISP agreement.  In effect, he recommended that the applicant’s request be denied.

The advisory opinion was forwarded to the applicant for his information and possible rebuttal on 1 December 1999.  He failed to respond.

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

1.  The applicant has submitted neither probative evidence nor a convincing argument in support of his request.   

2.  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.

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

___gdp__  ___mvt__  ___eb___  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033442	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000718	
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.  300	128.06	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.