IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 19 November 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150003676 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, in effect, remission of a debt in the amount of $8,343.16 due to excess leave taken in conjunction with permissive temporary duty (PTDY) and transitional leave. 2. The applicant states, in effect, his transition leave plan was reviewed by the finance supervisor at Presidio of Monterey, CA, prior to his release from active duty. This official advised him that his plan was incorrect and told him that he must change his PTDY dates to 11-30 October 2012 and his transition leave dates to 31 October 2012-31 January 2013. He followed this guidance but later was informed by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) that his final pay would be reduced he had excess leave totaling 12 days. 3. The applicant provides: * Orders 154-1102 * Orders A-07-309512 * Notification of Personnel Action * Memorandum of Leave Record * two DA Forms 31 (Request and Authority for Leave) * DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) * email, Subject: Leave Debt, dated 30 December 2014 * Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) for the periods 1 August 2013 through 31 December 2014 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant is a retired Army National Guard officer. 2. His record contains a DD Form 214 which shows he was ordered to active duty on 15 July 2013. He was released from active duty on 14 July 2014. 3. The evidence provided by the applicant shows that during this period of service: a. The applicant completed a Memorandum for Leave Record dated 14 May 2014, which was signed by the applicant and his commander. He indicated on this form that he had completed the following periods of leave: * 23, 27, 30-31 December 2013 (4 days) * 3 January 2014 (1 day) * 18-19 March 2014 (2 days) * 13-19 April 2014 (7 days) * 15-18 May 2014 (3 days) * 18 June -2 July 2014 (15 days) TOTAL – 32 days b. The applicant’s commander approved the applicant’s DA Forms 31 dated 22 May 2014, authorizing: * 10 days of PTDY from 16-25 June 2014 * 19 days of transition leave from 26 June-14 July 2014 (this leave exceeded his 14 days of accured leave; therefore, he was required to take 5 days of advanced leave) 4. He also provided numerous LES statements which correspond to his active duty period of service. His LES for the period 29 August 2014 shows he was charged leave from 26 June through 14 July 2014 (11 days). His leave balance brought forward was 11.5 and his current leave balance was 0. 5. His LES for the period ending 13 December 2014 shows an unpaid total debt balance of $8,343.16. 6. In connection with the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was received from the Chief, Compensation & Entitlements Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1. This official, after review of the applicant’s debt and discussion with representatives in the Fort Sam Houston, TX, Finance Office, recommended the applicant be granted partial relief of the debt in the amount of $4,605.09, leaving a remaining Government debt of $3,708.07. The official stated that the applicant earned 29 days of leave during his 12-month period of active duty; however, he used 47 days. The excess leave usage was due to a delay in processing two leave forms totaling 8 days and he used of 10 days PTDY that he was not eligible to receive. Further, the applicant should have known that his LES leave balance was incorrect, based on the leave he had recently taken. Consequently, the 8 days excess leave used at separation remain a valid Government debt in the amount of $3,708.07. The fact that he was granted transition PTDY at separation appeared to have been an administrative error made by his unit. 7. He was provided a copy of this advisory opinion and did not submit a rebuttal within the time allowed. 8. Army Regulation 600-8-10 (Leave and Passes) prescribes the policies and mandated operating tasks for the leave and pass function of the Military Personnel System. It states in: a. Paragraph 2-3, Soldiers on active duty earn 30 days of leave a year with pay and allowances at the rate of 2 1?2 days a month; b. Paragraph 4-21, transition leave is a chargeable leave granted together with transition from the Service, including retirement. c. Paragraph 5, PTDY is a nonchargeable absence which can be authorized for several purposes to include house hunting incident to a permanent change of station move. 9. Army Regulation 600-4 (Remission or Cancellation of Indebtedness for Enlisted Members) states in pertinent part, that indebtedness to the U.S. Army may be remitted or cancelled if the debt is considered unjust, a hardship, or causes undue suffering. Further, it may be remitted or cancelled if the debt is the result of payments made in error, made in excess of authorized allowances, and the debt is acknowledged as valid. An injustice or hardship determination takes into consideration the Soldier's awareness of policy and procedures, past and present specialty, rank, years in service, prior experience, and the Soldier's contribution to the indebtedness by not having the situation corrected. A debt will not be remitted or cancelled under Title 10, United States Code (USC), section 4837, or under Title 32, USC, section 710(c), when a Soldier is retired, whether the debt occurred before or after retirement. 10. Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army, acting through the ABCMR. The regulation provides that the ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity. The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant requests remission of debt in the amount of $8,343.16 established as the result of excess leave charged to him in error. 2. Although the applicant provided leave documents and numerous LES’s, it is not possible to reconcile his leave balance without his DFAS records showing how much leave was actually charged and the dates this leave was processed. He contends that he had a sufficient leave balance at the time he requested PTDY and transition leave. However, a review of his leave history by the G-1 determined the applicant had excess leave in the amount of 8 days due to a delay in processing two leave forms and that his unit authorized him 10 days PTDY in error. 3. Based on the available evidence, it appears the applicant relied solely upon the leave balance reflected on his LES without confirming that all his leave days had been properly deducted from his accrued leave balance. His failure to account for this leave does not constitute an error or an injustice; therefore, the portion of his debt due in the amount of $3,708.07 is a valid debt. This review also found that the portion of the debt associated with his PTDY was due to his unit’s administrative error. The applicant should not be penalized for that portion of the debt amounting to $4,605.09. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ____X___ ____X___ ____X___ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by showing the applicant submitted a request for waiver of the debt associated with the 10 days of PTDY totaling $4,605.09 and his request was received in a timely manner and approved by the appropriate official. 2. The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief. As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to remission of the debt associated with the 8 days of excess leave in the amount of $3.708.07. __________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) AR20150003676 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150003676 5 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1