ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 20 June 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20180004455 APPLICANT REQUESTS: Correction of her record to show her Health Professional Loan Repayment (HPLR) contract be backdated to July 2016. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * Email correspondence with Lieutenant (LT) E- * Family Medicine Residency Certificate * Follow-up email correspondence with LT E- * Student loans * HPLRP checklist * DA Form 5536 (HPLR), dated 5 August 2016 * Amendment to DA Form 5536, dated 5 August 2016 * National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 337 (Oaths of Office), dated 19 July 2010 * Special Orders (SO) Number 17, dated 28 January 2011 * Additional email correspondence with LT E- * Memorandum, Subject: Correction to Contract Start Date for Loan Repayment for the applicant, dated 28 February 2017 * Email correspondence with Captain (CPT) M- FACTS: 1. The applicant states: a. She initially requested information for the loan repayment in June 2016 as she was going to be eligible by 1 July 2017. She continued to make contact with the education office and discovered on 21 December 2016, that, in error, a request had been submitted for special pay rather than HPLR. She was then told she had to wait for the NGB to remove the request for special pay in order to submit a new request for the HPLR. She still had not heard anything by 14 February 2017, so she contacted the education office and discovered the special pay requested had still not been removed. The decision was made to override this step to submit the HPLR request on 22 February 2017, but now eight months has elapsed since her original request. This has delayed the first loan repayment disbursement and has cost her a significant amount in student loan interest. If the contract date for the HPLR request is back dated to July 2016, some of the accrued interest could be mitigated by an earlier second loan repayment disbursement. b. As outlined in detail in the attachments, she graduated residency in June 2016. She was supposed to be able to sign a contract by July 2016 to initiate the HPLR process in order to receive the first loan repayment of $40,000.00 in July 2017. She signed DA Form 5536 and an amendment on 5 August 2016, which was delayed due to lack of training of the education office officer. She was informed much later in the year that the incorrect form was given to her to sign and the education officer had submitted the wrong control number. He had requested for special pay rather than HPLR, which was his error. She was told at that time the incorrect control number had to be deleted by the NGB in order to initiate HPLR. This never happened, so the education officer found a way to circumvent the process to initiate HPLR. This did not happen until February 2017 2. A review of the applicant’s service records show the following on: * 28 July 2010 – appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer and executed an oath of office at Tulane University Medical Center, LA * 2 July 2014 – Orders Number 183-115, issued by Joint Force Headquarters, LA, transferred the applicant from Louisiana Army National Guard (LAARNG) to the Tennessee Army National Guard (TNARNG) * 22 February 2017 – DA Form 5536 was completed showing the following in: * section 2 (Eligibility): * item 2: she was qualified for service in the critical specialty 61H (Family Medicine Physician) * item 5: she understood the maximum aggregate amount of repayments under the agreement was $3,000.00 per year up to $20,000.00 HPLR program maximum * section 3 (Repayments): * item 6: the anniversary date will be determined based upon the date of the agreement and each satisfactorily performed year of service establishes an anniversary date and any loan would be considered eligible that has an outstanding balance on the principal * item 7b: the agreement does not change the applicant’s obligations to the lender 3. The applicant provides: * email correspondence with LT E- wherein the applicant inquires about beginning the HPLR, at the time she was a 3rd year family medicine resident * Family Medicine Residency certificate showing the applicant completed the program * Follow-up email correspondence with LT E- wherein the applicant on multiple occasions made further inquiries about the initiation of the HPLR * Student loan download showing the applicant’s total school loan debt * HPLR checklist showing documents submitted with the HPLR packet * DA Form 5536, dated 5 August 2016 * Amendment to DA Form 5536 showing the aggregate amount under the HPLR was increased to $25,000.00 per year and the total program repayments for all years would not exceed $75,000.00 * NGB Form 337 showing the applicant’s appointment date in the LAARNG * SO Number 17 showing the applicant’s federal recognition as a second lieutenant * Additional email correspondence with LT E- wherein the applicant was inquiring about the progress of her HPLR packet and her being unable to access DA Form 5536 * Memorandum, Subject: Correction of Contract Start Date for Loan Repayment for the applicant wherein a unit official states the applicant submitted all documents to initiate her contract and payments should have begun on 27 July 2016, due to no fault of the Soldier she served 7 months without loan repayment * Email correspondence with CPT M- wherein she informed the applicant her contract was not started until February 2017 and she was due a payment on 22 February 2018 and if she had a contract she signed in 2016 she could submit a packet to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) 3. On 28 April 2019, the NGB reviewed the applicant's records and rendered an advisory opinion in her case. After a thorough review, the Chief, Special Actions Branch opined that, based on the evidence and the information above, it is the recommendation of their office that the applicant's HPLR contract be adjusted to reflect 27 July 2016. The applicant completed all necessary actions to initiate her incentive and was fully eligible. The delay in processing was due to no fault of her own. Furthermore, because she must serve a year prior to receiving the annual payment to her lender, the delay shifted her date of payment from 27 July 2017 to 22 February 2018, also preventing her from receiving a second payment which would she would have received on 27 July 2018. Because she separated from the TNARNG on 1 September 2018, she would not have been able to receive a second payment based on the current contract date. Therefore, their office recommends her HPLR contract start date be adjusted to 27 July 2016 and that she receive the necessary payment as a result of this adjustment. Their office further recommends disapproval of the portion of the request pertaining to eligibility for a second contract (effective July 2018) as a result of her separation. A copy of the complete advisory opinion has been provided to the Board for their review and consideration. 4. The applicant was provided with a copy of this advisory opinion to give her an opportunity to respond and/or submit a rebuttal. She did not respond. 5. Title 10 United States Code (USC), section 1609 states, under regulations provided by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary concerned may repay; a. A loan made, insured, or guaranteed through a recognized financial or educational institution if that loan was used to finance education regarding a basic professional qualifying degree or graduate education in a health profession that the Secretary of Defense determines to be critically needed in order to meet identified wartime combat medical skill shortages. b. The Secretary concerned may repay loans described in subsection (a) only in the case of a person who performs satisfactory service as an officer in the Selected Reserve of an armed force; and possesses professional qualifications, or is enrolled in a program of education leading to professional qualifications, in a health profession that the Secretary of Defense has determined to be needed critically in order to meet identified wartime combat medical skill shortages. c. The amount of any repayment of a loan made under this section on behalf of any person shall be determined on the basis of each complete year of service performed by the person after the date on which the loan was made. BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting evidence, the Board found that full relief was warranted. The Board agreed with the NGB Chief, Special Actions Branch that an error occurred while processing the applicant’s request for HPLR and she had met all the requirements for loan repayment beginning on 27 July 2016. She was eligible to receive two full years of loan repayment had her paperwork been processed in a timely manner. Therefore, the Board agrees with the NGB advisory opinion that the applicant’s HPLR contract start date should be adjusted to 27 July 2016 and that she receive the necessary payment as a result of this adjustment. ? BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 :XXX :XXX :XXX GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : : DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 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 * showing the applicant made a timely submission of her request for Health Professional Loan Repayment (HPLR) * showing the applicant is authorized two years of loan repayment ($40,000 per year) * paying her any unpaid portion of $80,000 of her authorized HPLR 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. ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S): Not Applicable REFERENCE: Title 10 USC, section 1609 states, under regulations provided by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary concerned may repay; a. A loan made, insured, or guaranteed through a recognized financial or educational institution if that loan was used to finance education regarding a basic professional qualifying degree or graduate education in a health profession that the Secretary of Defense determines to be critically needed in order to meet identified wartime combat medical skill shortages. b. The Secretary concerned may repay loans described in subsection (a) only in the case of a person who performs satisfactory service as an officer in the Selected Reserve of an armed force; and possesses professional qualifications, or is enrolled in a program of education leading to professional qualifications, in a health profession that the Secretary of Defense has determined to be needed critically in order to meet identified wartime combat medical skill shortages. c. The amount of any repayment of a loan made under this section on behalf of any person shall be determined on the basis of each complete year of service performed by the person after the date on which the loan was made. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20180004455 6 1