Need Help with Army Board of Correcitions

[Mac0203]

Need Help

I am not sure if this is the right place abut here goes...I entered the Army on February 14, 174 and honorably discharged on February 28, 1994, serving 20 years and 28 days. Upon discharge I opted for the special bonus award rather than my retirement. I was going through a pretty ugly divorce at the time and I did not want my wife to have access to my retirement. In 2015 I received a 100% service connected disability from the VA. The money I was given at the time of my discharge was fully recouped through the VA disability payments. It occurred to me that I might be able to draw my army retirement and in the process of applying, I found that the army made mistake on my DD214 which showed I only served 19 years 11 months and 1 day. I received a corrected DD215 showing the correct service time however I have had to submit everything to the Army Board of Corrections in order for them to issue letters of eligibility. It takes up to 1 year for them to complete the correction. My question is why does it take so long? Are they that back logged or have they made that many mistakes that they are bogged down in corrections. I am not sure if when I am able to apply if any of the money will be retroactive. My case is somewhat unusual as I have been out of the military for more than 30 years. I have googled my questions about this process every way I can think of to no avail. Anyone have a similar situation?

 

[Provis]

Need Help

I am not sure if this is the right place abut here goes...I entered the Army on February 14, 174 and honorably discharged on February 28, 1994, serving 20 years and 28 days. Upon discharge I opted for the special bonus award rather than my retirement. I was going through a pretty ugly divorce at the time and I did not want my wife to have access to my retirement. In 2015 I received a 100% service connected disability from the VA. The money I was given at the time of my discharge was fully recouped through the VA disability payments. It occurred to me that I might be able to draw my army retirement and in the process of applying, I found that the army made mistake on my DD214 which showed I only served 19 years 11 months and 1 day. I received a corrected DD215 showing the correct service time however I have had to submit everything to the Army Board of Corrections in order for them to issue letters of eligibility. It takes up to 1 year for them to complete the correction. My question is why does it take so long? Are they that back logged or have they made that many mistakes that they are bogged down in corrections. I am not sure if when I am able to apply if any of the money will be retroactive. My case is somewhat unusual as I have been out of the military for more than 30 years. I have googled my questions about this process every way I can think of to no avail. Anyone have a similar situation?

Be super patient! Your case is super complicated on the backend. Think years and not months from now until everything gets straightened out. For example with the 20 years AFS you may not have been eligible to receive that bonus and it might need to be repaid out of your earned 20 year retirement that you would have chosen instead of nothing. Then if you should have been retired you could be owed reimbursement for any medical expenses you paid out of pocked for since you should have had Tricare. Also, at a certain point you should have been eligible for concurrent reciept of both your VA disability and retirement pay.

If the information you gave me is correct I encourage you to hire or find a non profit attorney to assist you with your BCMR claim.

 

[PolloxTroy08]

Unfortunately, the ABCMR is what it is: so many appeals submitted, so few people to review them. I imagine a big reason for the long wait is that they get so many appeals where Vets are more or less "throwing a Hail Mary," hoping to get a favorable outcome; when it's free to submit an appeal, what does one have to lose?

There is a website out there that lets you search for potential BCMR cases like yours (Upgrade.Vet). It's unfortunately not updated any longer, but it's great for research purposes. I feel like I've read some cases similar to yours. I've never heard of this "special bonus award in lieu of retirement," but it will likely come down to the provisions of this and the circumstances it was offered and you chose it. Still, I feel like I've read some cases where Soldiers were wronged by not being properly counseled to make misinformed decisions like in your case and have found relief.

As Provis stated though, your case is so complicated, you should definitely obtain an attorney to assist you. They will know case precedent to hopefully obtain you the proper relief.

 

[RangerVic]

Need Help

I am not sure if this is the right place abut here goes...I entered the Army on February 14, 174 and honorably discharged on February 28, 1994, serving 20 years and 28 days. Upon discharge I opted for the special bonus award rather than my retirement. I was going through a pretty ugly divorce at the time and I did not want my wife to have access to my retirement. In 2015 I received a 100% service connected disability from the VA. The money I was given at the time of my discharge was fully recouped through the VA disability payments. It occurred to me that I might be able to draw my army retirement and in the process of applying, I found that the army made mistake on my DD214 which showed I only served 19 years 11 months and 1 day. I received a corrected DD215 showing the correct service time however I have had to submit everything to the Army Board of Corrections in order for them to issue letters of eligibility. It takes up to 1 year for them to complete the correction. My question is why does it take so long? Are they that back logged or have they made that many mistakes that they are bogged down in corrections. I am not sure if when I am able to apply if any of the money will be retroactive. My case is somewhat unusual as I have been out of the military for more than 30 years. I have googled my questions about this process every way I can think of to no avail. Anyone have a similar situation?

I had a case just recently adjudicated by ABCMR. Incident happened in May 2017. It took about four IG investigations before I was finally able to get the documentation ABCMR was asking for. My last submission was in March 2023. In May 2024 I received an email from ABCMR stating that they had reached out to the IG for recommendation on my case and they wanted to know if I wanted to submit a rebuttal on the IG recommendation. The IG’s letter was on point with all that I had been saying all along. In mid December 2024 my file was boarded and I was to receive full restitution. It took about 20 months for the process (this time). I had been kicked back because I was missing a denial from HRC so it was actually 5 years but a couple of years was the IG actually getting their part done. They dropped my case and it took me calling and inquiring of the status before some finally actually investigating the facts and not investigating me. Just expect it to be a couple of years- it’s a process. The creating of the DD215 was about a week once they sent a letter providing relief. The back pay, based on the DFAS letter, will take about three months.

 

[PolloxTroy08]

Glad you finally got it resolved. I also had IG issues with my case where they failed to find any fault with the Army unit or provide any actual findings; pertinent information for an ABCMR appeal as the ABCMR does not conduct any investigation themselves. I had to elevate my case to higher IGs and submit a congressional inquiry before the Army actually admitted any wrong doing. Unfortunate the Army tends to take this tactic, and in my case it was undeniable that the Army made a mistake. I’m still waiting back the results of my case (submitted 12 months ago in DEC 2023), but a good lesson learned for anyone in a similar situation, keep fighting and don’t take “no” for an answer.