BOARD DATE: 7 June 2012 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110022976 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests to be paid the final 50-percent installment of his Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) bonus based on the Board's previous ruling in his case. 2. The applicant states the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) previously informed him that he had to repay his bonus payment because he was not a member of a troop program unit (TPU). However, the Board determined on 30 June 2011 that he should be allowed to retain the bonus and directed that recouped funds be returned to him. Accordingly, he desires to be paid the remainder of his bonus at this time. 3. The applicant provides a copy of the previous Board proceedings and a copy of his reenlistment contract. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was serving in a U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) TPU in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, in pay grade E-8 on 16 November 2008 when he reenlisted for an indefinite period of service and a $15,000.00 SRIP reenlistment bonus. His contract specified that his bonus would be paid in an initial payment of 50 percent and in increments of 25 percent at the end of the second-year anniversary and fourth-year anniversary. He also acknowledged that if he were involuntarily transferred because of a unit transition, his entitlement to bonus payments would continue. 2. On 23 June 2009, the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, dispatched a memorandum for SRIP Policy Guidance through 30 September 2009. Paragraph 2d provides that Soldiers assigned to IMA positions are not authorized a reenlistment bonus and Soldiers transferring to an IMA position who have previously received a bonus are subject to termination and recoupment policies. 3. The applicant volunteered for and was subsequently ordered to active duty in October 2009 as a drilling individual mobilization augmentee (DIMA) at the Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. 4. The applicant subsequently received a notice from DFAS notifying him that he was not entitled to his SRIP bonus because he was no longer a member of a TPU and that recoupment of the bonus was required. 5. The applicant requested that the Board reverse the decision to recoup his bonus and on 30 June 2011 the Board determined that the current Army policy regarding the termination and recoupment of bonus funds was that Soldiers should not be penalized when they transferred from one uniformed element of Department of Defense to another. The Board determined that it would be in the interest of equity to terminate the collection of his bonus and return any recouped funds. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contention that the remainder of his SRIP bonus payments should be made based on the previous decision of the Board to allow him to retain his previous bonus payments has been noted and appears to lack merit. 2. At the time the Board approved his request to retain his previous bonus payments, it was the intent of the Board that he be allowed to keep the monies he had already received, not to grant him additional SRIP payments. 3. The applicant reenlisted for the bonus under the SRIP in which he agreed to serve in a USAR TPU as a condition of receiving the bonus. However, less than a year later he volunteered for reassignment to the USAR Control Group (Individual Mobilization Augmentee) and was subsequently ordered to active duty as a DIMA. 4. While it is not intended to suggest that his service as a DIMA is any less important as that of his duties in a TPU, the fact remains that he contracted for duty in a TPU and served only a year before voluntarily transferring from his TPU to a DIMA position which is not authorized to receive a reenlistment bonus. 5. Accordingly, it does not appear that he should receive any additional payments of his SRIP bonus because the policy in effect at the time specified that individuals transferring to the IMA Control Group were subject to recoupment and termination of a previously-authorized bonus. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING __X___ ____X____ ___X_____ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ___________X______________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110022976 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110022976 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1