IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 6 February 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016982 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 records of the individual concerned be corrected by showing the applicant applied for and his contract was timely received and processed by the appropriate office for the Incentive Special Pay (ISP) agreement effective from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016 and paying him the ISP due as a result of this correction. 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. IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 6 February 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016982 BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 :QAS :SMP :SMP GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : : DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 6 February 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160016982 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, retroactive payment of his annual Incentive Special Pay (ISP) agreement from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016, at $36,000.00/year. 2. The applicant states: a. He is a diagnostic radiologist (61R) and he graduated from Tripler Army Medical Center in 2015. He was reassigned to Fort Polk, LA, in July 2015 and began his tenure as the chief of Diagnostic Radiology at Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital. Upon arriving, he attempted to apply for his ISP for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 as a radiologist, but he was denied. He was told that the contract value populated at zero dollars due to his lack of board certification. He again attempted to apply for the ISP for FY 2016 and was told the same, it populated at zero dollars. b. As it stands, the American Board of Radiology recently changed the board certification process, necessitating 15 months of practice prior to taking a finalized certification examination. He took the examination in October 2016. However, upon further research and communication with other military radiologists, the ISP contract does not require board certification, only completion of residency, which he did. When he inquired about the issue, specialty pay personnel emailed the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) and MEDCOM replied that it was an error on their end, as they had him incorrectly designated as a General Medical Officer (GMO). GMOs do not receive ISP. c. He believes the error, which began at MEDCOM due to a designation error, propagated here, twice, and led to a significant pay error. After the error was corrected, the ISP contract for FY 2016 was created without issue, which he signed and forwarded. 3. The applicant provides electronic mail (email) correspondence from the Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG) and MEDCOM and a screenshot of the emails. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was appointed in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR), as a second lieutenant, on 21 May 2006, with prior USAR enlisted service. 2. Orders Number A-03-009848, issued by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) on 30 March 2010, ordered him to active duty with a reporting date of 10 June 2010. The orders show his area of concentration as 61R. 3. The applicant provides the following: * email, dated 11 October 2016, wherein MEDCOM requested assistance with initiating an ISP contract for the applicant because the special pay module gave a zero sum amount for the contract * email, dated 11 October 2016, wherein MEDCOM provided the applicant an ISP contract to review, print, sign, and return for further processing; he was advised the special pay module had his file coded for pay "GMO" that resulted in no monetary amount * email, dated 14 October 2016, wherein OTSG advised MEDCOM the applicant's request must be submitted to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) * screenshot of the aforementioned emails 4. Orders issued by HRC promoted him to major with an adjusted date of rank and effective date of 6 June 2016. 5. On 30 November 2017, an advisory opinion was provided by the Chief, Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Special Pay Branch, OTSG. The OTSG official reiterated the applicant's request and stated: a. Requests for the discretionary category of ISP (Title 32, U.S. Code, section 302.(b)) are initiated by the officer through their command's supporting human resource personnel or S-1 office. Officer 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 policy for signature date or received outside the funded year, are returned without action. b. A review of supporting documentation and available special pay and finance data indicated the applicant was eligible to execute the ISP agreement effective 1 October 2015 at $36,000.00/year. That agreement had no effect on any other special pay agreements or monies already disbursed. There was no record of the agreement being processed or paid. c. In accordance with Army Regulation (AR) 37-104-4 (Military Pay and Allowances Policy), dated 8 June 2005, chapter 20 (Settlement Actions Resulting from Correction of Records by the ABCMR, only the Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service-Indianapolis (DFAS-IN), could make settlement actions affecting the military pay accounts of Soldiers as a result of correction of records by the ABCMR per the provisions of AR 15-185 (ABCMR). Therefore, any ABCMR relief granted should be addressed for action to the Corrections-Claims Section, DFAS-IN. A copy of the final board results should be provided to the AMEDD Special Pay Branch office (DASG-HR-P). 6. The advisory opinion was provided to the applicant on 1 December 2017 for acknowledgement/comment. He did not respond. DISCUSSION: The evidence of record shows the applicant was fully eligible for the annual ISP. He contends his attempts to execute the written agreements were denied. The AMEDD Special Pay Branch verified the applicant was fully eligible for the annual ISP effective from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016 at $36,000.00/year. There was no record of the agreement being processed or paid. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160016982 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160016982 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2