ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 23 April 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000676 APPLICANT REQUESTS: Reinstatement of his expired transportation entitlements. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * Exception To Policy (ETP) denial letter, dated 28 October 2016 * Spouses Indiana University academic advisement report and allied documents FACTS: 1. The applicant states in pertinent part, he is requesting the reinstatement of his Home of Selection (HOS) entitlements for his final move. He understands he failed to submit an extension letter, however, he does not consider that to be a justifiable reason to have his HOS entitlements revoked. He submitted documents showing his wife would graduate from college in March 2017 and that is why they were not able to move before. His current financial situation is not ideal and that is why he really needs his final move benefits approved. After 21 years of honorable service he should not have to go to this extent to receive what he is entitled to. Denying veterans of basic earned entitlements causes unnecessary hardship on veterans and their families. He has no doubt in his mind if he were a retired senior officer he would not have to go through all of this to receive his earned HOS benefits. 2. A review of the applicant’s service records show the following on: * 11 September 1990 – enlisted in the Regular Army and served in various stateside and overseas assignments to include a deployment to Iraq * 30 June 2011 - honorably retired from active duty; DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) shows he served 20 years, 9 months, and 20 days of net active service * 3. The applicant provides: * Fort Knox, KY, Logistics Readiness Center letter wherein the applicant was informed his ETP for final move on his retirement orders was forwarded to Headquarters Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff G-4 and was denied * Spouses Indiana University academic record showing as of the 2017 Spring semester she had a final class that was in progress 4. On 13 April 2017, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-4 reviewed the applicant's records and rendered an advisory opinion in his case. After a thorough review, the Chief, Transportation Policy Division opined that, the Secretarial process (Army G-4) has no Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) authority to reinstate an expired travel and transportation HHG shipment authorization which ended on 30 June 30 2014. On 12 July 2013, the retiree received an extension letter from the Fort Knox, Kentucky Transportation Officer which clearly shows his extension expiration of 30 June 2013. The retiree did not request another extension until 21 October 2016, almost 28 months too late. The JTR is the basic statutory regulation governing a uniformed member's travel and transportation at government expense, and has the force and effect of law issued primarily under the authority of Title 37 United States Code, section 481. 5. The applicant was provided with a copy of this advisory opinion to give him an opportunity to respond and/or submit a rebuttal. He did not respond. 6. Volume 1 (Uniformed Service Personnel) of the JTR contains basic statutory regulations concerning official travel and transportation of members of the uniformed services. a. Paragraphs U5130, U5230, and U5365-F contain the policy and procedures pertaining to the shipment of HHG to a permanent duty station (PDS) by uniformed service personnel upon retirement. In effect, these paragraphs authorize a member travel and transportation allowances to a PDS selected by the member from his or her last PDS upon retirement. They state that a member on active duty is entitled to travel and transportation allowances to a home selected by the member from the last PDS upon retirement. They also establish time limitations for shipment of HHG and state that travel must be completed within 1 year from the active service termination date. b. Extension provisions to the 1-year time limit are also provided for deserving cases under the Secretarial process. This process allows for extensions based on an unexpected event beyond the member's control that prevents movement to a PDS within the specified time limit. An extension of the time limit may be authorized by the Secretarial process if it is in the best interest of the service or substantially to the benefit of the member and not costly or otherwise adverse to the service. These extensions are approved for the specific period of time that the member anticipates is needed to complete the move, and if additional time is required, the member may request a further a. extension. Paragraph U5012-I of volume 1 of the JTR provides the policy on restrictions to time limit extensions and states that a written time limit extension that includes an explanation of the circumstances justifying the extension may be approved for a specific additional time using the Secretarial process. However, extensions under this process will not be authorized if it extends travel and transportation allowances for more than 6 years from the separation/retirement date. These JTR provisions and time limitations for the shipment of HHG were also in effect at the time of the applicant's retirement. BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board determined that relief was not warranted. Based upon the enclosed G4 advisory opinion which stated the applicant received an extension letter from the Fort Knox, Kentucky Transportation Officer which clearly stated his extension expiration of 30 June 2013 and the applicant failed to respond to that notice until almost 28 months after the extension’s expiration, the Board concluded there was insufficient justification or cause to make a change to the applicant’s record. For that reason, the Board recommended denying the applicant’s request for relief. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING X X X DENY APPLICATION 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. 4/29/2019 X CHAIRPERSON Signed by: 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. REFERENCE: Volume 1 (Uniformed Service Personnel) of the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) contains basic statutory regulations concerning official travel and transportation of members of the uniformed services. a. Paragraphs U5130, U5230, and U5365-F contain the policy and procedures pertaining to the shipment of HHG to a permanent duty station (PDS) by uniformed service personnel upon retirement. In effect, these paragraphs authorize a member travel and transportation allowances to a PDS selected by the member from his or her last PDS upon retirement. They state that a member on active duty is entitled to travel and transportation allowances to a home selected by the member from the last PDS upon retirement. They also establish time limitations for shipment of HHG and state that travel must be completed within 1 year from the active service termination date. b. Extension provisions to the 1-year time limit are also provided for deserving cases under the Secretarial process. This process allows for extensions based on an unexpected event beyond the member's control that prevents movement to a PDS within the specified time limit. An extension of the time limit may be authorized by the Secretarial process if it is in the best interest of the service or substantially to the benefit of the member and not costly or otherwise adverse to the service. These extensions are approved for the specific period of time that the member anticipates is needed to complete the move, and if additional time is required, the member may request a further extension. Paragraph U5012-I of volume 1 of the JTR provides the policy on restrictions to time limit extensions and states that a written time limit extension that includes an explanation of the circumstances justifying the extension may be approved for a specific additional time using the Secretarial process. However, extensions under this process will not be authorized if it extends travel and transportation allowances for more than 6 years from the separation/retirement date. These JTR provisions and time limitations for the shipment of HHG were also in effect at the time of the applicant's retirement.