BOARD DATE: 25 January 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013671 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: 25 January 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013671 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. 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 amending her ROTC/SMP scholarship contract to show she would satisfy the ROTC/SMP service obligation under the original terms of her RA enlistment contract. 2. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service shall determine if she has been paid or is due to be paid an enlistment bonus. In the event that she has been paid an enlistment bonus or becomes due for payment of an enlistment bonus, that bonus payment should be recouped to offset an equal portion of her ROTC/SMP scholarship debt. 3. If she fails to complete the period of enlisted service obligated as a result of her amended ROTC/SMP scholarship contract either voluntarily or because of misconduct, her ROTC debt will be recouped on a pro-rated basis. _____________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: 25 January 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160013671 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, that her current period of active service be determined sufficient to meet the service requirement for her Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) obligation in lieu of payment of the scholarship debt. 2. The applicant states: a. She has been told her ROTC debt may be eligible to be forgiven after 24 months of active service. She has served as an active duty medic for the past 29 months and she plans to reenlist. b. She voluntarily disenrolled from ROTC program after two semesters on scholarship, in order to enlist, gain experience within the Army, and develop as a leader. She elected to serve on active duty in lieu of repayment of her scholarship debt. She did not receive an enlistment bonus or any incentives. She has been paying her scholarship debt since the origination of the debt in May 2012. c. She was disenrolled from the ROTC program on 25 May 2012 and received a debt notification letter on 30 May 2012. As a Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) Cadet, her obligation was to the Army Reserve. Her conditional release from the Reserve was signed on 27 September 2013. Her active duty ship date was 21 January 2014. 3. The applicant provides: * DA Form 4824 (Addendum to Certificate and Acknowledge of Service Requirements), dated 21 February 2012 * Memorandum of Disenrollment from the U.S. Army Cadet Command (USACC), Fort Knox, KY, dated 30 May 2012 * DD Form 785 (Record of Disenrollment from Officer Candidate - Type Training) * DD Form 368 (Request for Conditional Release), dated 27 September 2013 * DD Form 4/1 pages 1 and 2 and 4/2 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document) * Soldier Record Brief (SRB) * Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Out of Service Debt Account Status * Marriage Certificate and License CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's available Integrated Personnel Electronic Records Management System (iPERMS) record does not contain any service records prior to 2014. Information below regarding service prior to that date has been taken from the records she provides. 2. On 29 April 2011, the applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) for a period of 8 years as an ROTC cadet. The applicant’s DA Form 597-3 (Senior ROTC Scholarship Cadet Contract) is not available. 3. The standard DA Form 597-3 includes the following provisions and options. It states: a. If the cadet was disenrolled from the ROTC program for breach of contractual terms or any other established disenrollment criteria, the Secretary of the Army may offer the cadet the opportunity to reimburse the U.S. Government the amount of money equal to the entire amount of financial assistance paid by the United States for the cadet's advanced education from the commencement of the contractual agreement to the date of the cadet's disenrollment. b. If the cadet fails to complete the ROTC program, he/she may be ordered to active duty as an enlisted Soldier, if qualified, for a period of not more than 4 years. If called to active duty for breach of contract the enlisted active duty service obligation will be based on the year during which the breach occurs: * Military Science II, 2 years * Military Science III, 3 years * Military Science IV, 4 years c. The cadet is required to acknowledge that he/she understand and agree that if they voluntarily or because of misconduct fail to begin or fail to complete any period of active duty that they may have incurred under the contract, they will be required to reimburse the United States an amount of money, plus interest, that bore the same ratio to the total cost of the financial assistance provided as the unserved portion of such duty bore to the total obligation. 4. The applicant’s DA Form 4824, dated 21 February 2012, shows she entered the ROTC/SMP as a member assigned to a USAR troop program unit (TPU). 5. A memorandum from USACC, Fort Knox, dated 30 May 2012, states: a. The applicant was disenrolled from the ROTC Program and discharged under the provisions Army Regulation 145-1 (Senior ROTC Program: Organization, Administration, and Training), paragraph 3-43a(16), July 1996. b. She was disenrolled due to a breach of her ROTC contract, based on her voluntary withdrawal from the program. c. As a member of the USAR under the SMP, she would be released to her unit to fulfill the remainder of her military service obligation. d. In addition to being released to her USAR unit, when the ROTC scholarship contract is breached, any obligation to the Army must be satisfied by repaying the cost of advanced educational assistance provided by the Army. The total amount of monies spent in support of her education is $30,570.00. e. She was to elect one of two options: pay the total amount owed in a lump sum or initiate a repayment plan. 6. Based on the applicant’s breach of contract she would have incurred a 2-year active duty service obligation. 7. The applicant’s DD Form 368, dated 6 September 2013, shows she requested a conditional release from the USAR to enter another component of the military. The request was approved on 27 September 2013. 8. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) for 4 years on 21 January 2014, in pay grade E-3. She completed training requirements and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 68W (Health Care Specialist) on 19 September 2014. At the time of this review, she continues to serve on active duty. 9. A DFAS Out of Service Debt Account Status shows the applicant is indebted to the government in the amount of $28,931.35. REFERENCES: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 2005(a), states the Secretary concerned may require, as a condition to the Secretary providing advanced education assistance to any person, that such person enter into a written agreement under the terms of which such person shall agree: (1) to complete the educational requirements specified in the agreement and to serve on active duty for a period specified in the agreement and (2) that if such person fails to complete the education requirements specified in the agreement, such person will serve on active duty for a period specified in the agreement. 2. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 2005(f), states the Secretary concerned shall require, as a condition to the Secretary providing financial assistance under section 2107a (Financial Assistance Program for Specially Selected Members: Army Reserve and Army National Guard (ARNG); i.e., ROTC) of this title to any person, that such person enter into an agreement described in subsection (a). In addition to the requirements of clauses (1) through (4) of such subsection, any agreement required by this subsection shall provide (1) that if such person fails to complete the education requirements, the Secretary shall have the option to order such person to reimburse the United States in the manner provided for without the Secretary first ordering such person to active duty as provided for under clause (2) of such subsection. 3. Army Regulation 145-1 prescribes policies and general procedures for administering the Army's Senior ROTC Program. a. Paragraph 1–16 (Special ROTC Programs) states SMP participants are cadets who are assigned to the ARNG and USAR units according to NGR 600–100, AR 600–200, AR 135–91, or AR 601–210. b. Paragraph 3-39 states the Commanding General, USACC is the approving authority for termination of scholarship and/or disenrollment. A scholarship will be terminated and the cadet disenrolled for any of the reasons listed in paragraph 3-43. c. Paragraph 3-43 states that non-scholarship and scholarship cadets will be disenrolled for a breach of contract; section 3-43a states a breach is defined as any act, performance, or nonperformance on the part of a student that breaches the terms of the contract regardless of whether the act, performance, or nonperformance was done with specific intent to breach the contract or whether the student knew that the act, performance, or nonperformance breaches the contract. Lack of interest in military training and/or failure to enroll in classes are reasons for disenrollment. d. Paragraph 3-44 states that an SMP cadet assigned to the Control Group (ROTC), upon disenrollment from the ROTC, who is not ordered to active duty or pending such an order and has previously completed a basic training course conducted by a U.S. Armed Force, will be transferred to the IRR if the military service obligation has not been met. Members of the SMP who were in the ROTC control group prior to joining a TPU may be returned to the ROTC control group for the purpose of call to active duty if found to be in breach of their contract. 4. Army Regulation 135-210 prescribes policies and procedures for ordering individual Soldiers of the ARNG of the United States and the USAR to active duty during peacetime. It states that former ROTC cadets, when ordered to active duty, will be ordered to report to the U. S. Army Reception Battalion and will be ordered to active duty in pay grade E-1. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant contends her current period of active service should be considered sufficient to fulfill the service obligation she incurred as a result of her breached ROTC/SMP contract. 2. The applicant’s entered the ROTC/SMP in 2012 and she agreed that if she were disenrolled from the ROTC/SMP for any reason, she would have to repay her scholarship debt or be ordered to active duty in the rank/grade of PV1/E-1 for an appropriate number of years. 3. The applicant voluntarily requested disenrollment from the ROTC scholarship program after two semesters and withdrew from the program. 4. She was found in breach of her ROTC/SMP contract and she was accordingly notified she could elect one of two options to repay the debt: pay the total amount owed in a lump sum or initiate a payment plan. She elected to initiate a payment plan. 5. On 21 January 2014, she enlisted in the RA in MOS 68W, and in pay grade E-3. In January 2018, she will have completed 4 years of active service. 6. Based on the applicant’s breach of contract she would have incurred a 2 year service obligation. 7. Had the applicant elected active duty or been involuntarily ordered to active duty as a result of disenrollment from the ROTC/SMP, she would have been assigned against the needs of the Army, in pay grade E-1, and allowed no enlistment options. She enlisted for 4 years in pay grade E-3. 8. Her ROTC contract called for an expeditious call to active duty through ROTC channels based on the needs of the Army without the benefit of advancement in paygrade or other incentives. 9. The applicant’s enlistment in the RA serves the same purpose as it would have had she been ordered to active duty through ROTC channels. In other words, the Department of Defense is still getting the benefit of her service (for a period of 4 years whereas her ROTC contract would have required only 2 years of active duty). //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160013671 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160013671 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2