IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 6 August 2013 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130006518 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 that she be granted the appropriate Medical Corps incentive pay contracts effective 24 September 2012, which was upon entry on active duty. 2. The applicant states, in effect, she was authorized incentive pay effective 24 September 2012; on the date she entered active duty. However, she was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas in a temporary duty (TDY) status; therefore, she was not offered special pay until she arrived at her first duty station which was West Point on 13 December 2012. She was then in a new fiscal year, which meant that she could not be authorized the specialty pay on the date she entered active duty. 3. The applicant provides a list of documents supplied with her application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was ordered to active duty as a medical corps lieutenant colonel on 24 September 2012 for a period of 24 months with instructions to report to Fort Sam Houston for TDY to attend the basic officer leadership course for a period of 79 days and then to report to the Medical Department Activity at West Point, New York. Her orders specified that she was eligible for appropriate medical corps incentive pay effective the date she entered active duty. 2. The applicant applied for specialty pay when she arrived in West Point in December 2012 and was advised that approval could not be granted for an effective date of 24 September 2012 because it was in a different fiscal year. She was advised to apply to this Board. 3. In the processing of this case a staff advisory opinion was obtained from the Office of the Surgeon General which recommends that based on the extenuating circumstances, the applicant’s request be approved and that she be granted a 1-year Medical Additional Special Pay (MASP) contract of $15,000 effective 24 September 2012 and a 2-year Multi-year Special Pay (MSP) contract at $13,000/year with a linked Multi-year Incentive Special Pay (MISP) contract at $20,000/year, both effective 24 September 2012. The advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for comment and she concurred with the opinion as written. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant was ordered to active duty on 24 September 2012 with instructions in her orders authorizing her medical corps incentive pay effective the date she entered active duty. 2. The applicant was sent on TDY prior to arriving at her first duty station and did not apply for her specialty pay until she arrived at West Point in December 2012. She was informed that she did not apply in September 12; therefore, her request could not be approved because it was in a different fiscal year. 3. It is not reasonable that a new accessed physician would know that she was required to apply for the specialty pay within the week she was accessed unless she was so informed and there does not appear to be any evidence to show that such was the case. 4. Accordingly, as a matter of equity, her request to be paid specialty pay effective the date she entered active duty (24 September 2012) should be approved. BOARD VOTE: ___x____ ___x____ ___x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by approving the following contracts for the applicant: * a 1-year MASP contract in the amount of $15,000 effective 24 September 2012 * a 2-year MSP contract at $13,000/year with a linked MISP contract at $20,000/year, both effective 24 September 2012 ____________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) AR20130006518 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130006518 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1