DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY ARMY REVIEW BOARDS AGENCY 251 18TH STREET SOUTH, SUITE 385 ARLINGTON, VA 22202·3531 SAMR-RB 3 October 2017 MEMORANDUM FOR Case Management Division, US Army Review Boards Agency, 251 18th Street South, Suite 385, Arlington, VA 22202-3531 SUBJECT: Army Board for Correction of Military Records Record of Proceedings for AR20160016136 1. Reference the attached Army Board for Correction of Military Records Record of Proceedings, dated 14 September 2017, in which the Board members unanimously recommended denial of the applicant's request. 2. I have reviewed the findings, conclusions, and Board member recommendations. I find there is sufficient evidence to grant relief. Therefore, under the authority of Title 1O, United States Code, section 1552, I direct that all Department of the Army Records of the individual concerned be corrected by showing the applicant was authorized Incentive Special Pay (ISP) effective 1 October 2013 (instead of 15 October 2013) and all subsequent ISP agreements were effective 1 October of their respective years. I direct no further correction be made to the record of the individual concerned. 3. Request necessary administrative action be taken to effect the correction of records as indicated no later than 5 February 2018. Further, request that the individual concerned and counsel, if any, as well as any Members of Congress who have shown interest be advised of the correction and that the Army Board for Correction of Military Records be furnished a copy of the correspondence. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: Encl Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Review Boards) BOARD DATE: 14 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016136 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___x_____ ___x_____ __x___ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 14 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016136 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ___________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: 14 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016136 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 he was authorized Incentive Special Pay (ISP) effective 1 October 2013 (instead of 15 October 2013) and all subsequent ISP agreements were effective 1 October of their respective years. 2. The applicant states that he submitted his ISP contract/agreement to his administrative support office at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; however, it was not processed in a timely manner. As a result, the effective date was established as 15 October 2013 instead of 1 October 2013. He states, since ISP is an annual contract/agreement, this will lengthen his service obligation if he chooses to remain on active duty after his commitment is completed. He adds that he was informed this could be corrected in subsequent years, but it has not been corrected. 3. The applicant provides no documentary evidence in support of his application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer of the Army (Medical Service Corps), in the rank of second lieutenant, on 29 May 1993. On 3 November 1997, he was appointed as a Regular Army commissioned officer (medical corps), in the rank of captain. He is currently serving on active duty in the rank of colonel/pay grade O-6. 2. A review of his military personnel records revealed copies of nine (9) Medical Corps ISP (1-year) agreements that are based on the applicant's training and board certification. Five (5) agreements were for specialty obstetrics/gynecology effective 1 October 2007 through 30 September 2012 and one (1) other agreement was effective 15 October 2013 through 14 October 2014. Three (3) agreements were for the specialty Maternal and Fetal Medicine effective 15 October 2014 through 14 October 2017. Pertinent processing dates for the agreements are, as follows: Application Date Receipt/Approval Date Effective Date 25 September 2007 19 October 2007 1 October 2007 19 September 2008 8 October 2008 1 October 2008 26 October 2009 16 November 2009 1 October 2009 1 October 2010 12 October 2010 1 October 2010 1 July 2011 3 August 2011 1 October 2011 CONTRACT NOT ON FILE 1 October 2012 15 November 2013 25 November 2013 15 October 2013 26 August 2014 12 September 2014 15 October 2014 9 September 2015 16 September 2015 15 October 2015 26 September 2016 Not Indicated 15 October 2016 3. In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Army Medical Department, Special Pay Branch, Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG), Falls Church, VA. a. The advisory official recommends the applicant's four (4) ISP agreements with effective dates of 15 October 2013, 15 October 2014, 15 October 2015, and 15 October 2016, be adjusted to 1 October 2013, 1 October 2014, 1 October 2015, and 1 October 2016, respectively. This official states this adjustment has no effect on the agreement rates or monies already disbursed; therefore, the applicant is due no payments. This advisory official also stated: b. "A review of supporting documentation, and available special pay and finance data indicates officer's previously executed annual ISP agreements were on a 1 October cycle, with the last effective on 1 October 2012 (emphasis added) (a copy of this contract/agreement is not on file in his personnel records). All ISP agreements effective 15 October 2015 and thereafter, had the altered cycle. There is no record indicating the reason for the cycle change." c. Officers must bear responsibility for their part of the agreement preparation, to include their inquiry as to eligibility, requesting agreement to be initiated, data verification, and executing the agreement by signature up to 90 days in advance or within 30 days after effective date, otherwise, the effective date must be reestablished as the date of signature. All agreements executed outside of the policy for signature date or received outside the funded fiscal year, are returned without action. 4. On 2 March 2017, the applicant was provided a copy of the advisory opinion to allow him the opportunity to submit comments or a rebuttal. No response was received from the applicant. REFERENCES: Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A (Military Pay Policy and Procedures – Active Duty and Reserve Pay), Chapter 5 (Special Pay and Bonuses for Medical and Other Health Professional Officers), provides in: a. Paragraph 0504 (ISP), to be eligible for ISP, a medical officer must: (1) be below the grade of O-7; (2) have a current, valid, unrestricted license or approved waiver; (3) have completed their specialty qualification before October 1 of the fiscal year in which the officer enters into an agreement (except for cases listed in paragraph 050404); (4) execute a written agreement to remain on active duty for a period of not less than 1 year, beginning on the date the officer accepts the award of ISP (the obligation for ISP may be served concurrently with any other service obligation); and (5) be currently credentialed and privileged at a military treatment facility in the specialty for which ISP is to be paid, subject to acceptance by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned. b. Annual ISP payments for agreements beginning on or after 1 October 2015 will be in the amounts indicated in Table 5-2 (ISP for Medical Officers). Unless otherwise listed, subspecialties of the primary specialty are included with the primary specialty. A review of Table 5-2 shows the specialty OB/GYN is listed with the annual payable rate of $31,000.00. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant requests, in effect, that his ISP agreement with an effective date of 15 October 2013, and all subsequent ISP annual agreements with effective dates of 15 October be corrected to show an effective date of 1 October of their respective years because his 2013 ISP agreement was not processed in a timely manner by the responsible administrative officials, which impacted all of his subsequent ISP agreements and this lengthens his active duty service obligation. 2. The evidence of record shows the ISP service obligation may be served concurrently with any other active duty service obligation. 3. The evidence of record shows the applicant was properly authorized ISP on an annual basis effective 1 October 2007 and continuing through 1 October 2012 (with an expiration date of 30 September 2013). a. The OTSG advisory official found no evidence indicating the reason for the change in the effective date for ISP in 2013 (i.e., from 1 October to 15 October 2013). He also stated the applicant would be due no pay, if the effective date of the 2013 ISP agreement were changed from 15 October 2013 to 1 October 2013. This is not accurate because the applicant's (previous) ISP agreement expired on 30 September 2013 and the adjustment would entitle him to 15 additional days of ISP. However, this is not the essential issue in this case. b. The advisory official stated that officers bear responsibility for their part of the agreement preparation, to include executing the agreement by signature up to 90 days in advance or within 30 days after effective date, otherwise, the effective date must be reestablished as the date of signature. c. A mere cursory review of the ISP agreement under review shows the applicant signed his ISP agreement on 15 November 2013, which was not within 30 days after the effective date. The approval authority then established the effective date within 30 days of the applicant's signature. However, based on the evidence of record, the effective date of the reestablished ISP agreement should have been 15 November 2013 (not 15 October 2013). 4. It is the policy of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records not to correct (change) an applicant's record, if it will have an adverse effect on the applicant, when the error is discovered as a result of his/her application to this Board. Correcting the applicant's ISP agreements that are currently under review to their proper effective dates (i.e., 15 November) would violate this policy. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160016136 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160016136 5 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2