ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF:    BOARD DATE:     14 January 2020DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20170012716 


APPLICANT REQUESTS:  in effect, entitlement to 70 percent of his Non-Prior Service Enlistment Bonus as associated with the Selective Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP)  

APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: 

.DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record)

.NGB Form 600-7-R-E (Annex E to DD Form 4 Non-Prior Service EnlistmentBonus Addendum)

.Memorandum For Record (MFR) Request for Exception to Policy for Non-PriorService Enlistment Bonus



FACTS: 

1.The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, UnitedStates Code, section 1552(b); however, the ABCMR conducted a substantive review ofthis case and determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure totimely file.

2.The applicant states that his initial enlistment contract included a bonus incentive for$10,000 for successful completion of the Special Forces Qualification Course.  Hecompleted this requirement on 12 September 2013; however, he never received hisbonus entitlement.  He was advised that the initial error occurred when completing hisenlistment contract.  His Recruiter failed to include the bonus control number, sign,initial and date any of the pages related to this incentive.  This situation was furthercomplicated by his acceptance of an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) position.  Heunderstood that this action would void his entitlement to future payments; however, heshould have been entitled to both the initial and second payment entitlement.  Hecontests that his initial payment was due on his “3 year anniversary” of enlistment as ittook him that long to obtain qualification within his assigned career field.  By that time, ifproperly processed, he would have obtained both entitled payments, without a requiredrecoupment, prior to accepting an AGR position.

3.A review of the applicant’s available service records reflects the following on:

.26 February 2010 – he enlisted in the Army National Guard (ARNG) for 8 years(6 x 2 contract = 6 years in a paid drill status and 2 years in the Control Group(IRR)); contract indicates a critical skill bonus entitlement of $10,000, associatedwith the 18D Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), to be paid in the followingincrements:



o50% - upon completion of individual active duty training (IADT) andverification of MOS qualification

o20% - to be processed on the 3rd year anniversary of the enlistment date

o30% - to be processed on the 6th year anniversary of the enlistment date




.22 August 2013 (Order# 234-84) – he was awarded the 18D MOS

.20 October 2014 (Order#293-001) – he was ordered to active duty within theAGR program for 3 years effective 17 October 2014

.17 August 2016 – he was released from the AGR program

.31 October 2017 (Order 304-002) – he was discharged from the ARNG andfurther assigned to the Reserve Control Group effective 25 October 2017 aftercompleting his 6 year Ready Reserve obligation

.27 February 2018 (Order# D-02-805886) – he was discharged from the ReserveControl Group



4.The applicant provides the following a:

.NGB Form 600-7-R-E (Annex E to DD Form 4 Non-Prior Service EnlistmentBonus Addendum) dated 26 February 2010 – reflective of a $10,000 critical skillbonus; document is signed by all official parties contains a hand written bonuscontrol number, but is not dated -

.Memorandum For Record (MFR) Request for Exception to Policy for Non-PriorService Enlistment Bonus dated 8 April 2015 – reflective of the National GuardBureau (NGB) denial of his request for an exception to policy citing the followingdiscrepancies:



ohe (the applicant) became a member of the AGR program which violatedthe Department of Defense Instruction 1205.21

othe contract/bonus addendum contains missing Bonus Control Number(BCN) and signature dates from the Witnessing Official and ServiceRepresentative which violates ARNG SRIP 07-06

othe BCN was requested after the date of accession which violates ARNGSRIP 07-06




5.The NGB stated in part that the State Incentive Manager will terminate the incentivewithout recoupment.  They further state that the missing BCN on the addendum and
signature dates of the Service Representative and Witnessing Official did not change the terms and conditions of the incentive.  However, he accepted an AGR position while under a contractual incentive agreement, and therefore his request was denied. 

6.See all applicable guidance below under REFERENCES.

BOARD DISCUSSION: 

1.The Board carefully considered the applicant’s request, supporting documents andevidence in the records.  The Board considered the applicant’s statement, his record ofservice, the terms of his contract for bonus payments, his completion of IET and awardof an SF MOS, and his ordering to ADT.  The Board found that the enlistment contract,signed by the applicant, was not administratively correct or complete due to no fault ofthe applicant.  The Board found that the applicant violated the terms of the contract byaccepting an AGR position while under the contractual incentive agreement.  The Boardconsidered the review and reasons for denial of an ETP for his retention of the incentiveby the NGB.  Based on a preponderance of evidence, the Board found that theapplicant was entitled to the amount of incentive apportionable to the length of hisservice prior to acceptance of an AGR position.

2.After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found thatrelief was warranted.

BOARD VOTE: 

Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 

: : : GRANT FULL RELIEF 

: : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

: : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING 

: : : DENY APPLICATION 


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 to show: 

-the applicant’s contract was properly completed, timely submitted, acceptedand processed by the appropriate authority;

-that he applicant remained eligible for the incremental incentive payments, inaccordance with the contract, for the period of service from enlistment untilthe acceptance of an AGR position, and;

-paying the applicant the portion of the incentive due him as a result of thiscorrection.





X 

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. 



REFERENCES: 

1.Title 10, United States Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications forcorrection of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the allegederror or injustice.  This provision of law also allows the ABCMR to excuse an applicant'sfailure to timely file within the 3 year statute of limitations if the Army Board forCorrection of Military Records (ABCMR) determines it would be in the interest of justiceto do so.

2.Army Regulation (AR) 601-210 (Regular Army and Reserve Components EnlistmentProgram) states that an ARNG Soldier entitled to a Selected Reserve IncentiveProgram (SRIP) bonus is a cash incentive to eligible applicants with no prior militaryService who enlist in the SELRES and contract to serve in a designated bonus skill orunit announced by HQDA.  Soldiers will not receive any enlistment bonus payments,initial or subsequent, until they have complied with all of the eligibility criteria.  The initialpayment may not exceed 1/2 of the total bonus amount for which the Soldier is entitledunless a lump sum payment is specifically approved by the respective RC under theannual SRIP program.  The remainder of the bonus may be paid in periodic installmentsor in a lump sum, as announced by HQDA.  Soldiers will retain such entitlement onenlistment in the AR, provided the conditions associated with their enlistmentobligations are met.  Incentive eligibility will be stopped when any of the terminationreasons as listed below apply and that member shall not be eligible to receive anyfurther incentive payments, except for Service performed before the termination date.Once declared ineligible, termination of an incentive will not affect a Soldier’sresponsibility to serve their current statutory or contractual Service commitment.Termination of eligibility to an incentive will occur, if a Soldier accepts an AGR or apermanent military technician position where membership in the SELRES is a conditionof employment.  AGR members must have at least 6 months on their current contract ortheir incentive will be recouped.

3.Department of Defense Instruction 1205.21 states that if entitlement to an incentiveis terminated for any reason before the fulfillment of the service described in themember's written agreement, that member shall not be eligible to receive any furtherincentive payments, except for payments for service performed before the terminationdate.  Unless granted relief, the member must refund a prorated amount to theGovernment, if such termination is for enlistment or voluntary order to active duty in theactive forces.  Recoupment is not required if accepting an Active Guard and Reserveposition or a military technician position where membership in a Reserve component isa condition of employment, and member has served at least 6 months of the incentivecontract following receipt of the initial incentive payment.

4.ARNG FY19 SRIP Policy (current) clarifies the following two items as it pertains toTermination

a.Termination without Recoupment:  Termination without recoupment means theSoldier is entitled to all payments due to the Soldier prior to termination date.  As ofthe termination date, there will be no additional payments made to the Soldier andthere will be no recoupment of funds already paid to the Soldier IAW the contract.



b.Termination with Recoupment: Termination with recoupment means the Soldieris entitled to a prorated incentive amount based on the number of months the Soldierserved prior to the incentive termination date. The Soldier may be required to payfunds back to the government or the Soldier may be entitled to a payment.




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