IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 28 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005026 BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 :X :X : GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : :X DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration 1. IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 28 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005026 APPLICANT'S REQUEST AND STATEMENT: 1. The applicant requests an exception to policy to receive non-prior service enlistment bonus (NPSEB). 2. The applicant states: a. When she enlisted she signed for a bonus of $5000 for a critical military occupational specialty (MOS). She received her first payment after she completed basic training and advanced individual training (AIT) but did not receive another payment after that. According to her contract, the bonus should have been paid in three installments. When she followed up, she was told that due to the amount of the bonus it should have been paid in two installments, making her second and final payment due on the 3rd year of her contract. b. She was told that she had to write a memo for an exception to policy. She wrote the memo and sent it in but did not hear back. When she followed up on the request she was told it was waiting on approval. Again, she did not hear anything back and followed up once more. She was then sent a denial letter that stated that because she had become a dual status technician, she had forfeited her bonus. She reviewed her contract and nowhere does it state that she would be suspended/terminated from receiving her bonus upon becoming a technician. More importantly, her bonus payment was due to her 2 years before she became a technician. For these reason, she believes the bonus is still owed to her. THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records with supporting document(s): * National Guard Bureau (NGB) FORM 600-7-1-R-E (Annex E to DD Form 4 – NPSEB Addendum – Army National Guard (ARNG)) Enclosure 2 * New Mexico ARNG (NMARNG) Notification of Incentive Discrepancy and Exception to Policy Process * related emails 2. Evidence from the applicant’s service record and Department of the Army and Department of Defense records and systems. REFERENCES: 1. ARNG Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) Guidance for Fiscal Year 2010, 1 October 2009 - 30 September 2010 (Policy Number 10-01) states: paragraph 7(b) NPS Critical Skill Bonus ($5,000): (2) Payment. This bonus is paid in two installments; Installment 1: fifty percent installment will be processed for payment upon successful completion of initial active duty for training (IADT) and verification of MOS qualification. Installment 2: fifty percent installment will be processed on the third-year anniversary of the Soldier's enlistment date. 2. Department of Defense Instruction (DODI) 1205.21 (Reserve Component Incentive Programs Procedures), states: a. Termination and Recoupment. If entitlement to an incentive is terminated for any reason before the fulfillment of the service described in the member's written agreement, that member shall not be eligible to receive any further incentive payments, except for payments for service performed before the termination date. Unless granted relief, the member must refund a prorate amount to the Government. b. Recoupment is not required when an incentive is terminated. Paragraph 6.9.3. provides that if accepting an Active Guard Reserve position or a military technician position where membership in a Reserve component is a condition of employment, and member has served at least 6 months of the incentive contract following receipt of the initial incentive payment. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant enlisted into the NMARNG on 8 October 2010, in MOS 88M (Motor Transport Operator) for a critical skill bonus. 2. In conjunction with her enlistment, the applicant signed an Annex E to her DD Form 4. a. This form states: 2 The enlistment option that I have selected provides that I will be a member of an ARNG unit for a period of 6 years and a member of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) or the Inactive National Guard (ING) for the balance of my eight year service obligation unless I elect to remain with the ARNG unit, or unless I am completely discharged from this enlistment agreement. b. The form shows: * she enlisted for not less than 6 years in the Selected Reserve for receipt of NPSEB in the amount of $5,000.00 * payment of the bonus was to occur in three installments of: * 50% upon completion of IADT and verification of MOS * 20% on the third anniversary of the date of enlistment * 30% on the fifth anniversary * she was subject to termination from bonus eligibility if she voluntarily transferred out of the Critical Skill or Critical Unit for which the bonus was approved 3. The NMARNG notified the applicant on 27 May 2015 that she was eligible to request an exception to policy (ETP) to continue receiving her $5,000.00 NPSEB. 4. NGB denied her ETP request on 3 December 2015, stating the disapproval was based on: a. The Soldier became a military technician (MILTECH), in violation of DODI 1205.21, paragraph 6.9.3.; and b. The contract/bonus addendum is incorrect, in violation of ARNG SRIP 10-01. 5. The available records do not contain any information as to the specific date the applicant potentially transferred to a dual status position or what her MOS was at that time. The most current documentation indicates that as of 6 July 2016, she held the MOS 88M. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 28 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160005026 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the overall merits of this case are sufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned to show that she requested and was granted an Exception to Policy to retain her eligibility for the entire amount of her Non–Prior Service Enlistment Bonus per the Non-Prior Service Enlistment Bonus Addendum dated 8 October 2010. 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.