IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 3 December 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150013785 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 correction of her records to show entitlement to a Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) incentive in the amount of $45,000.00. 2. The applicant states: a.  The following errors occurred in processing her SLRP incentive: (1)  The SLRP incentive being offered should have been listed in block 8 of her National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 600-7-5-R-E (Annex L to DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document – Armed Forces of the United States) – SLRP Addendum – Army National Guard (ARNG) of the United States); however, her recruiter listed her student loan amounts. (2)  Her recruiter should have listed the SLRP in block 32a (Specific Option/Program Enlisted for, Military Skill, or Assignment to a Geographical Area Guarantees) of her DD Form 1966 (Record of Military Processing – Armed Forces of the United States), but listed her unit information instead. (3)  The witnessing official failed to sign and date her Annex L. b.  Mistakes to her enlistment contact made by the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) and her recruiter led NGB to deny her SLRP incentive. c.  She contracted for the incentive at the time of her enlistment and she was given a bonus control number. Due to execution of her enlistment on a Saturday, the bonus control number was not entered into the system until the following Monday. d.  She is coming up on 3 years into her enlistment term and, despite her despair over the unfortunate situation, she has continued to be positive and successful in the West Virginia ARNG (WVARNG). e.  Her Readiness Noncommissioned Officer, Sergeant First Class (SFC) J____ S____, had her sign a request for an exception to policy (ETP) during her December 2013 drill. After a period of time and no word on the status of the ETP request, she filed an Inspector General (IG) complaint. f.  The IG findings make it clear that she qualified for the SLRP incentive and administrative errors occurred due to a lack of experience on behalf of her recruiter and MEPS personnel. 3. The applicant provides: * ETP request letter, dated 20 December 2013 * ETP denial letter, dated 6 March 2014 * second ETP denial letter, dated 11 April 2014 * DA Form 2823 (Sworn Statement), dated 29 April 2014 * IG findings, dated 23 May 2014 * email * Annex L, dated 28 July 2012 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant completed a DD Form 1966, dated 25 July 2012, which shows in: * item 32a – 6 years, Forward Support Command, 1092d Engineer Battalion, unit identification code (UIC) WP15A0, paragraph 201/line 06 * Section VI (Remarks) – Student Loan Repayment with her initials 2. Having prior honorable enlisted service in the Regular Army, she enlisted in the WVARNG on 28 July 2012 for a 6-year period. 3. In connection with her enlistment, she executed an Annex L, dated 28 July 2012, which shows: * she was enlisting in a military occupational specialty (MOS) for the duty position to which she was being assigned that matched the authorized military grade and skill qualification commensurate with the position by skill level into a critical skill vacancy * she must fill a valid top-loaded Automated Unit Vacancy System (AUVS) position in the Recruit Quota System (REQUEST) and enlist in a valid modified table of organization and equipment (MTOE) or medical table of distribution and allowances (TDA) unit only * she had 12 disbursed loans existing in the amount of $51,929.00 and the total amount of repayment for qualifying loans would not exceed $45,000.00 for a 6-year enlistment * she was a prior service applicant enlisting in MOS 92Y (Unit Supply Specialist), UIC WP15A0, and assigned unit vacancy control number 8942140 * anniversary SLRP payment would not exceed 15 percent or $500.00(whichever was greater) – the maximum annual payment would not exceed $7,500.00 * the SLRP anniversary payment was not processed automatically – she must continue to meet all requirements each year * her qualification was verified by the State Incentive Manager * the witnessing officer did not sign or date the form 4. On 20 December 2013, an ETP request was submitted to the Chief, Guard Strength Education, NGB. The request shows: * she was already duty qualified and met the qualifications for the SLRP incentive * her recruiter did not enlist her as required for the incentive * her recruiter had the MEPS counselor complete the SLRP addendum, but her DD Form 4 and DD Form 1966 were processed by the recruiting office * her DD Form 4 and DD Form 1966 do not indicate the SLRP incentive was offered at the time of her enlistment as required – however, the Guard Annex lists the SLRP as being offered on the date of her enlistment 5. On 6 March 2014, the NGB ARNG Deputy G-1 denied the ETP request and stated: * the applicant did not contract for the incentive at the time of her enlistment which violates ARNG Selective Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) Policy Number 12-01 * her control number was requested after the date of her enlistment which violates ARNG SRIP Policy Number 12-01 6. On 11 April 2014, the NGB ARNG Deputy G-1 completed a second ETP review and denied her request. NGB stated the applicant did not contract for the incentive at the time of her enlistment which violated ARNG SRIP Policy Number 12-01. This review superseded the 6 March 2014 review. 7. The applicant provided a DA Form 2823 from SFC D___ C. E___, dated 29 April 2014, who stated: * the applicant enlisted in the WVARNG on 28 July 2012 as a prior-service member * she was authorized the SRLP incentive at the time of her enlistment and she provided all the required documentation * she was given a control number prior to her enlistment because she took advantage of a Saturday processing day at the MEPS 8. On 23 May 2014, the WVARNG Assistant IG determined the applicant met the eligibility criteria for a prior-service SLRP incentive; however, due to administrative errors through no fault of hers, she was denied the incentive. The findings also stated: a.  When an enlistment is processed electronically, the REQUEST printout automatically generates an Annex L, DD Form 4, and DD Form 1966 with the Soldier's information. b.  Her recruiter did not annotate an incentive being offered in block 8 of her DD Form 4; however, Annex L was signed and given a bonus control number at the MEPS on the same date she cleared her medical examination and took the Oath of Enlistment. Due to being a Saturday enlistment, her bonus control number was not entered into the Military Entrance Processing Command's Integrated Resource System. c.  Her Annex L, DD Form 4, and DD Form 1966 were produced manually. Her manual DD Form 4 was scanned into the Electronic Records Management (ERM) on 28 July 2012 at 11:01 hours and the REQUEST printout was electronically generated on 28 July 2012 at 11:05 hours. The manual Annex L was scanned into the ERM on 28 July 2012 at 11:19 hours. d.  She was directed to apply to the ABCMR. 9. ARNG SRIP Policy Number 12-01, dated 17 April 2012 and effective 5 June 2012, stated, in part: a.  A Soldier must enlist for a critical skill vacancy in the grade of E-4 or below for a minimum 6-year enlistment. b.  A Soldier must enlist in a qualifying valid, top-loaded AUVS position in REQUEST in an MTOE or medical TDA unit and must not be filling excess, overstrength, or manually-loaded vacancies. Exceptions were not authorized. c.  Under no circumstances should a MEPS guidance counselor, recruiter, or readiness noncommissioned officer execute an SLRP contract without the State SLRP Manager/Incentives Manager approval of the applicant's/Soldier's eligibility for SLRP. 10. Department of Defense Instruction 1205.21 (Reserve Component Incentive Programs Procedures) prescribes procedures for incentive programs. Section 6.2 (Written Agreements) states, in part, as a condition of the receipt of an incentive covered by this instruction, each recipient shall be required to sign a written agreement stating the member has been advised of and understands the conditions under which continued entitlement to unpaid incentive amounts shall be terminated and which advance payments may be recouped. That agreement shall clearly specify the terms of the Reserve service commitment that authorizes the payment of the incentive to the member. 11. Army Regulation 135-7 (Incentive Programs) restricts the SLRP to those Reserve members who enlist or reenlist for a skill or unit approved by the Department of the Army and disseminated to the field by a list of MOSs and units which is updated every 6 months. 12. To be eligible for the SLRP incentive, a person must contractually obligate himself/herself to serve satisfactorily, must serve in a Reserve unit for the full term of the contractual agreement, and must further obligate himself/herself to continue to serve in the same component and the same MOS unless excused for the convenience of the government. Each completed satisfactory year of service performed under this SLRP agreement establishes an anniversary date. Any qualifying loan that is at least 1 year old may then be paid in accordance with the terms of this educational enlistment incentive. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The evidence of record shows the applicant contracted for MOS 92Y and an SLRP incentive for $45,000.00 in good faith. 2. IG findings show that due to execution of her enlistment on a Saturday, her Annex L, DD Form 4, and DD Form 1966 were produced manually. The documents were scanned into the ERM and her REQUEST printout was not generated until 28 July 2012. 3. Although all of her enlistment documents were not completed on the same date, her recruiter provided a sworn statement showing she was provided a SLRP control number prior to her enlistment. 4. In view of the facts of this case, it would be appropriate and serve the interest of justice and equity to correct her records by showing the Army authorized her to receive the SLRP incentive as an ETP and paying the SLRP incentive in the contracted amount based on authorized qualifying student loans. BOARD VOTE: ____x___ ____x___ ____x___ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army and State ARNG records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. amending her SLRP Addendum, dated 28 July 2012, to include the statement, "If you enlist for the SLRP and the government fails to verify that you meet the eligibility criteria for entitlement to the SLRP, and such failure results in nonpayment of the loan by the SLRP or the repayment or default of the loan, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records may pay the loan, at its sole discretion, in accordance with Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552"; and b. showing she is authorized the SLRP incentive as written in her SRLP Addendum, dated 28 July 2012, as amended by this correction and paying the incentive in accordance with this SLRP Addendum the amount of the loans up to the amount of $45,000.00. _____________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) AR20150013785 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150013785 7 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1