BOARD DATE: 24 January 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013561 BOARD VOTE: ____x_____ __x_____ _x___ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 24 January 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013561 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 showing an exception to policy was approved authorizing the applicant to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) in conjunction with his enlistment on 27 March 2010 and paying the incentive in accordance with the SLRP policies in effect at the time of his enlistment. ___________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. BOARD DATE: 24 January 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013561 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, correction of his records to show entitlement to the $50,000 Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) incentive that he contracted for upon enlistment in the Army National Guard (ARNG). 2. The applicant states that he enlisted in the New Jersey ARNG (NJARNG) on Saturday, 27 March 2010, for a period of 6 years and he contracted for a $50,000 SLRP incentive option. a. The recruiter, Sergeant First Class (SFC) JAT, told the applicant he was eligible for the SLRP incentive provided he attained a score of 50 or more on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. He also told the applicant that they had to complete the enlistment documents that day (27 March 2010) otherwise they would have to return to complete them another day. b. He was processed that same day at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS), Fort Hamilton, NY, by the recruiter and SFC NP (MEPS Service Representative). The applicant chose a military occupational specialty (MOS) and a reporting date. He states he asked about the SLRP incentive. SFC JAT told him that he forgot to prepare the SLRP incentive contract documents, but they could return to the MEPS the following week (on Tuesday, 30 March 2010) to complete the documents. The applicant adds that he gave SFC JAT copies of his student loan information at that time. On 30 March 2010, SFC JAT informed the applicant that the SLRP incentive option had been added to his enlistment contract. c. He states that after attempting to get his chain of command to assist him in obtaining SLRP annual payments, he decided to give up. Then, during annual training in August 2013, he submitted SLRP documentation. A few months later he was told the documentation was being revised and he would be paid for the annual installments that were missed. Time passed without any new information. d. He completed a Power of Attorney to authorize his spouse to act on his behalf before he deployed to Bahrain in August 2014. While inquiring into the SLRP, she was informed that there was a discrepancy in the applicant's SLRP contract documents. Consequently, an exception to policy (ETP) was required in order to process the SLRP payments. His wife prepared an ETP and submitted it on behalf of the applicant. He redeployed in June 2015 and contacted the SLRP Incentives office. He was informed that his request for ETP for the SLRP was denied and that his SLRP was terminated. e. He states that he was taken advantage of by his recruiter and he is being penalized by being denied something he was assured was part of his enlistment contract. He also states that he was a new recruit at the time and was not aware of the administrative requirements or procedures. If he would have known that the SLRP could not be added to a signed contract, he would not have signed it at that time. f. He adds that he extended his original enlistment for a period of 1 year and his current expiration term of service is 26 March 2017. 3. The applicant provides copies of two memoranda pertaining to his SLRP. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. A DD Form 1966 (Record of Military Processing – Armed Forces of the United States) was prepared by an Army recruiter (SFC NP) on 27 March 2010 processing the applicant for his entrance into the ARNG. a. Item 32 (Specific Option/Program Enlisted for, Military Skill, or Assignment to a Geographical Area Guarantees), section a (Specific Option/Program Enlisted For), shows he was enlisting under a 6x2 year contract with assignment to Company A, 113th Infantry [Unit Identification Code] WPE6A0, Newark, NJ, for 6 Years; and MOS 11C1O (Indirect Fire Infantryman) ARNG Standard Training Program. b. The applicant and the MEPS official both signed the document. 2. A DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document – Armed Forces of the United States) shows the applicant enlisted on 27 March 2010 in the ARNG of the United States (ARNGUS) for a period of 8 years and in the NJARNG for a period of 6 years. Section B (Agreements), Remarks, shows the entry "None." a. Attached to the DD Form 4 are – * Guard Annex (Enlistment/Reenlistment Agreement ARNG Service Requirements and Methods of Fulfillment) * DA Form 5435 (Statement of Understanding – The Selected Reserve Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB)) * NGB Form 600-7-5-R-E, Annex L to DD Form 4 (SLRP Addendum ARNGUS), Revised 1 March 2009 * NJ National Guard Tuition Program Statement of Understanding b. The Guard Annex, Section VII (Addendums), shows the MGIB addendum is attached as part of the enlistment agreement. No other addendums are listed. The applicant and MEPS official both signed the document. c. Annex L to DD Form 4 (5 pages) outlines the terms and conditions governing the SLRP agreement. It shows the applicant was a non-prior service applicant enlisting for a term of at least 6 years in the NJARNG with a concurrent statutory military service obligation in the ARNGUS of 8 years. (1) It also shows, "I am Test Score Category I-IIIA (Armed Forces Qualification Test score 50 or higher). Score: '56'." (2) He acknowledged two (2) existing loans in the amount of $16,000.99 and that the total amount of repayment of qualifying loan(s) would not exceed $50,000. (3) Section III (Entitlement and Payments), in pertinent part, shows that payment will be processed on the anniversary date of the enlistment for each satisfactory year of service. (4) The applicant signed the form on an unspecified date. The ARNG recruiter (SFC JAT) and a witnessing official signed the form on 30 March 2010. It shows SLRP bonus control number (BCN) "S10030012NJ." The header information of the SLRP Addendum does not show a BCN on any of the five pages. 3. The applicant entered active duty for training on 19 May 2010. He completed training and was awarded MOS 11C1O. 4. He was ordered to active duty on 31 July 2014. He deployed to Bahrain from 24 September 2014 to 10 June 2015. He was honorably released from active duty on 29 July 2015. 5. On 23 September 2015, he extended the period of his enlistment for a period of 1 year. He was promoted to sergeant/pay grade E-5 on 14 October 2015 6. In support of his application the applicant provides: a. National Guard Bureau (NGB), Arlington, VA, memorandum, dated 29 June 2015, subject: Request for ETP for SRLP, that denied an ETP for the applicant to retain the $50,000 SLRP due to violations of the ARNG Chaplain, Health Professional, and Enlisted Loan Repayment Program (CHELRP), effective 1 October 2009. The Deputy, Personnel Programs, Resources and Manpower Division, ARNG, stated the reasons for the denial were the date of the applicant's signature is missing from the SLRP Addendum, the SLRP Addendum was signed after the date of the applicant's enlistment, the BCN was requested after the date of his enlistment, and the SLRP Addendum used was an obsolete document. (1) It was noted that the applicant's DD Form 1966 and DD Form 4 do not support the offering of the SLRP in connection with his enlistment on 27 March 2010. This is confirmed by the fact that the BCN was requested after the execution date of the enlistment contract. (2) The State Incentive Manager was instructed to terminate the SLRP incentive effective the contract start date. However, recoupment was not required as payments were not processed on the SLRP incentive. b. Joint Force Headquarters New Jersey, Fort Dix, NJ, memorandum, dated 27 August 2015, subject: Termination of Student Loan Repayment, shows the NJARNG State Incentive Manager notified the applicant that his request for ETP for the SLRP was denied and that his SLRP incentive was terminated. REFERENCES: Army Regulation 135-7 (Incentive Programs), in part, restricts the SLRP to those Reservists who either 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. This educational incentive may only be elected at the time of enlistment or reenlistment. a. Each complete satisfactory year of service performed under this SLRP agreement establishes an anniversary date. Any qualifying loan which is at least a year old may then be paid in accordance with the terms of this educational enlistment incentive. b. The incentive pays a limited sum of money to a lending institution on the anniversary date of an enlistment or reenlistment. These payments continue on a yearly basis unless the Soldier loses eligibility. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant contends that his military service records should be corrected to show entitlement to the $50,000 SLRP incentive. 2. Records show the applicant enlisted in the NJARNG on 27 March 2010 for a period of 6 years with entitlement to MGIB benefits and the NJARNG Tuition Program. The DD Form 1966, DD Form 4, and Guard Annex to his enlistment contract that he executed on 27 March 2010 do not show any evidence that he contracted for the SLRP incentive option. a. The applicant contends that he gave copies of his student loan information to his recruiter (SFC JAT) on 27 March 2010. However, the evidence of record is absent any student loan promissory notes. b. Records show an SLRP Addendum was prepared indicating the applicant had two student loans in the amount of $16,000.99. The document was signed by the applicant on an unspecified date, and by SFC JAT and a witnessing official on 30 March 2010. It also shows that SLRP payments will be processed on the anniversary date of the enlistment for each satisfactory year of service. c. The evidence of record is absent any student loan promissory notes or other student loan documentary evidence attached to the SLRP Addendum or the applicant's enlistment contract. d. The applicant states he submitted documentation for payment of an SLRP annual installment in August 2013 (i.e., five months after the third anniversary of his enlistment). The evidence of record does not include the documentation. It is not clear why the applicant did not request annual SLRP payments for the first and second anniversary payments. e. There is no evidence of record showing the applicant received any annual SLRP installment payments. f. On 29 June 2015, the NGB determined the applicant's SLRP incentive was in violation of the ARNG CHELRP, effective 1 October 2009, because the date of the applicant's signature is missing from the SLRP Addendum, the SLRP Addendum was signed after the date of the applicant's enlistment, the BCN was requested after the date of his enlistment, and the SLRP Addendum that was used was an obsolete document. g. His request for ETP was denied; however, recoupment of funds was not required as payments were not processed on the SLRP incentive. h. Accordingly, the NJARNG State Incentive Manager terminated the applicant's SLRP incentive. 3. The governing Army regulation shows the SLRP educational incentive may only be elected at the time of enlistment or reenlistment. The evidence of record clearly shows the SLRP was not part of the applicant's 27 March 2010 enlistment contract. In addition, there is no evidence of record showing the applicant provided any promissory notes to substantiate his eligibility for the SLRP incentive option at the time of enlistment. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160013561 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160013561 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2