IN THE CASE OF: 

		BOARD DATE: 20 September 2023

		DOCKET NUMBER: AR20220011047


APPLICANT REQUESTS:  his student loan repayments be made per his May 2013 
contract in the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MAARNG)  

APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENT(S) CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD:

*	DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record)
*	Annex L (Student Loan Repayment Program) Addendum
*	2015 Army National Guard and Reserve Oaths of Office
*	Army National Guard Current Annual (Retirement) Statement 

FACTS:

1.  The applicant did not file within the 3-year time frame provided in Title 10, U.S. 
Code, section 1552(b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records 
(ABCMR) conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the 
interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file.

2.  The applicant states he requests the SLRP years for which he was due payment be 
"opened" for payment processing. These years include Fiscal Year (FY) 14, FY15, and 
FY16. He signed his SLRP bonus addendum on 30 May 2013 but was informed by his 
state incentives manager that payments could only be processed for FY17 and later. 
The National Guard Bureau (NGB) requires that he goes through the ABCMR process 
in order to receive student loan repayments for these previous missing years. He was 
led to believe that his student loan repayments would be processed by his unit and that 
the reason for delay in payment was due to technical and system issues at the state 
and NGB level. He has been very patient with this process, but his patience is waning. 
He has worked with his unit and submitted documents every year requesting payment. 
Now he is being told that the NGB may not honor these late payments due delays in 
processing. This does not seem fair to him, as he believes he has lived up to his end of 
the contract 

3.  Review of the applicant’s service records shows: 

	a.  The applicant enlisted in the MAARNG for 8 years on 30 May 2013. He agreed to 
serve 6 years in the ARNG and the remaining 2 years in the Individual Ready Reserve. 

	b.  In conjunction with this enlistment, he signed an SLRP Addendum:

*	he indicated he is eligible for the Non-Prior Service 09S SLRP incentive and 
has provided supporting documents to validate his eligibility for the 09S SLRP 
incentive 
*	he has 14 disbursed loan existing in the amount of $20,0687; the total amount 
of repayment for qualifying loans will not exceed $50,000
*	annual repayments of 15% of the original balance of the loans, plus accrued 
interest or $500 plus accrued interest, whichever is greater

	c.  He completed Phase I of Officer Candidate School (2 weeks) in July 2014 and 
Phase II (2 weeks) in August 2015. 

	d.  He was honorably discharged from the MAARNG as an enlisted member on 7 
August 2015. His NGB Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of service) shows he 
completed 2 years, 2 months, and 8 days of ARNG service. 

	e.  He was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer and the MAARNG on 7 
August 2015 (he executed an oath of office on that date). 

	d.  He entered active duty for training from 10 June to 27 October 2016 and 
complete the Field Artillery basic Officer Leader Course. 

	e.  He also entered active duty from 7 March 2021 to 17 February 2022, during 
which he served in Djibouti from April 2021 to January 2022. He was promoted to 
captain in the ARNG on 1 September 2022. 

4.  On 22 March 2023, the NGB provided an advisory opinion in the processing of this 
case. An NGB official restated the applicant’s request to have his student loan 
repayments made per his contract in the MAARNG and recommended approval. The 
advisory official stated: 

	a. The applicant states that he enlisted in the MAARNG in 2013 and was eligible for 
the SLRP. The applicant claims that due to negligence of the packet at no fault of his 
own, no payments were made towards his student loan. The MAARNG realized this 
error and submitted the packet request, but all paperwork was returned without action 
due to a closed year. The applicant is requesting that his student loans be repaid per his 
contract. 

	b.  The applicant’s records show he enlisted in the MAARNG for eight years on 30 
May 2013 and qualified for the SLRP. He then commissioned as a second lieutenant in 
the MAARNG on 7 august 2015. At the time of his enlistment, he had 14 disbursed 
loans existing in the amount of $200,687.00. Based on his contract, the total amount of 
repayment for qualifying loans cannot exceed $50,000 with annual repayments of 15 
percent of the original balance, plus accrued interest. The applicant signed this contract 
on 30 May 2013 and should have started receiving his first payment on 30 May 2014. 
However, due to errors in processing his documents, no documents were uploaded into 
GIMS for payment until 2018. His contract was in ‘monitor rule failure’ for being excess 
until 2020 when that violation was cleared. At that time, the State tried to push his 
FY16-19 payment (as those were the only years within statute of limitations at the time) 
and NGB returned it without action for errors in the National Student Loan Data System 
(NSLDS). The applicant sent multiple NSLDS inquiries to the State and was advised to 
send them to the unit to upload the corrected documents through GIMS so that the unit 
can submit the payment to the State. The Unit at the time was in a deployment status so 
processing was further delayed. In July 2021, GIMS accessibility was down, and once 
the SLRP was eligible to be paid again manually through GEARS in early 2022, the 
State submitted FY17-19 payments.

	c.  According to NGR 600-7 (Selected Reserve Incentive Programs) and Annex L to 
DD Form 4, payment will be processed on the anniversary date of the applicant’s 
enlistment for each year of service. His Student Loan Repayment eligibility may be 
suspended if there are periods of qualifying nonavailability or is flagged for adverse 
action. Based on the applicant’s claims and the documents he provided in support of his 
request; the applicant did not have periods of unavailability or was flagged for adverse 
action that would have suspended his eligibility from the Student Loan Repayment 
Program. He also did not have any reason to have his eligibility terminated.

	d.  For these reasons, it is the recommendation of this office that the applicant’s 
request be approved. Based on the applicant’s records, his student loan was correctly 
paid per the outlines of his contract. The applicant has only received payments for 
FY17-19 and has not received any payments before. He should have started receiving 
payments starting on 30 May 2014. There was a significant delay in uploading his 
contract documents to GIMS and after several other system errors, his contract was 
improperly denied payment. The outstanding balance of his student loan should be 
repaid in full as it is justly owed to the Soldier.

	e.  The Army National Guard Incentives Management Branch concurs with this 
recommendation. The MAARNG concurs with this recommendation.

5.  The applicant was provided with a copy of this advisory opinion to give him an 
opportunity to submit a response/rebuttal. He did not respond. 

BOARD DISCUSSION:

After reviewing the application, all supporting documents, and the evidence found within 
the military record, the Board found that relief was warranted. The Board carefully 
considered the applicant's record of service, documents submitted in support of the 
petition and executed a comprehensive and standard review based on law, policy and 
regulation. Upon review of the applicant’s petition, available military records and the 
National Guard Bureau- Special Actions Branch advisory opinion, the Board concurred 
with the advising official finding applicant has only received payments for FY17-19 and 
has not received any payments before. He should have started receiving payments 
starting on 30 May 2014. There was a significant delay in uploading his contract 
documents to GIMS and after several other system errors, his contract was improperly 
denied payment. The outstanding balance of his student loan should be repaid in full as 
it is justly owed to the applicant. Based on the advisory opine, the Board granted relief. 


BOARD VOTE:

Mbr 1	Mbr 2	Mbr 3

:X	:X	:X	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 records of the 
individual concerned be corrected to show the applicant is authorized his student loan 
repayments be made per his May 2013 contract in the Massachusetts Army National 
Guard (MAARNG). The outstanding balance of his student loan should be repaid in full 
as it is justly owed to the applicant.


	 
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, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of 
military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or 
injustice. This provision of law also allows the ABCMR to excuse an applicant's failure to 
timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in 
the interest of justice to do so.

2.  National Guard Regulation 600-7 Personnel – General - Selected Reserve Incentive 
Programs, governs incentive policies, procedures, and eligibility criteria for persons 
entering into an incentive agreement at the time of enlistment, affiliation, reenlistment, 
extension, commission or appointment into the ARNG, on or after the effective date of 
this regulation. 

	a.  Public Law 99-145, section 671(a)(1), and Title 10, U.S. Code, section 16301 
authorizes the education loan repayment program for qualified members of Selected 
Reserve enlisted personnel with loans made, insured, or guaranteed under part B of 
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Title 20 USC 1071 et seq.), any loan made 
under part D of such title (Title 20 USC 1087a et seq) or any loan made under part E of 
such title (Title 20 USC 1087aa et seq). Repayment of any such loan will be made on 
the basis of each complete year of service performed by the borrower. Soldier must 
meet the eligibility criteria in accordance with governing law, DODI, DA, ARNG 
regulations or as outlined in the current FY SRIP policy.

	b.  State Loan Repayment Program Manager: State representative designated for 
the management of the SLRP. Issues, verifies, validates, establishes and monitors all 
SLRP incentives. Functions as the subject matter expert and provides customer service 
through all forms of communication (for example, fax, email, memorandums and 
telephone) and routinely route to proper office as necessary.

	c.  Continued participation in SLRP requires that the Soldier remain in the MOS in 
which they originally gained eligibility for the SLRP incentive and in a valid position 
within an MTOE or deployable TDA unit. 

	d.  Enlisted Soldiers who enter an authorized commissioning program as a non- 
scholarship recipient and/or accept an appointment or commission as an officer or 
warrant officer in a Selected Reserve may continue to receive SLRP payments as 
stipulated in their original contract so long as they remain otherwise qualified.

//NOTHING FOLLOWS//
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)	AR20220011047


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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


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