PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           8 November 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001063908

	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. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Ms. Karen Y. Fletcher		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, recoupment of tuition assistance funds collected prior to his release from the active Army.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that upon his release from the active Army he immediately entered the Army National Guard (ARNG) in the Active/Guard Reserve (AGR) program with no break in service.  Therefore, he claims that he should be reimbursed the tuition assistance funds that were collected from him prior to his release from active duty in the active Army. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 2 May 1996, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve (USAR).  On 3 June 1996, he entered active duty and served in the active Army until 
30 June 2001 when he separated.  

5.  The available evidence includes a letter provided by the Chief, Retirements and Separations Branch, U.S. Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM), dated 4 September 2001, which was addressed to the applicant’s Member of Congress.  It states that the applicant entered into an agreement to receive tuition assistance on the following three separate occasions during his tenure on active duty with the active Army:  10 August 2000; 2 October 2000; and 
12 January 2001, and that each agreement carried with it an active duty service obligation (ADSO) of 2 years.  The applicant’s ADSO for participating in the Tuition Assistance Program was to end on 11 January 2003; however, he was released from his obligation approximately 18 months early due to the medical condition of his son.  

6.  This PERSCOM official further indicated that at the time of the applicant’s separation from the active Army, he repaid the government the pro-rated amount of tuition assistance monies owed for time not served on active duty in accordance with the existing Army policy.  However, since that time, PERSCOM had been advised by their Command Judge Advocate that officers leaving the active Army and being accessed, without a break in service, into the active ARNG need not repay the tuition assistance monies used.  Therefore, they advised, since the applicant had already separated from the active Army, that he apply to this Board for relief. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board notes the applicant’s contention that he should be reimbursed the tuition assistance money he was required to repay at the time of his separation from the active Army because he immediately entered the ARNG AGR program with no break in service and it finds this claim has merit. 

2.  The Board takes special note of the PERSCOM Command Judge Advocate’s determination that officers leaving the active Army and being accessed, without a break in service, into the active ARNG need not repay the tuition assistance monies used.  Based on this legal determination, the Board concludes it would serve the interest of equity to reimburse the applicant any tuition assistance monies collected from him at the time of his separation from the active Army.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by canceling the debt incurred by the individual concerned as a result of his not completing the ADSO connected with his tuition assistance agreements and by reimbursing him any tuition assistance monies he repaid at the time of his separation from the active Army. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__FNE __  __BJE__  __KYF __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

	___Fred N. Eichorn  __
		   CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001063908	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2001/11/DD	
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.  293	128.1000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.