WASHINGTON –
The Army is reviewing the records of all officers who were commissioned through the active duty option of the Green to Gold Program for possible time-in-service miscalculations.
The records review follows a U.S. Army Cadet Command Inspector General notice in September stating some Soldiers may not have known the period they spent as cadets did not count toward their time in service for retirement.
"It's my business to take care of Soldiers, and I don't want to rush to the wrong conclusion,” said Brig. Gen. Hope C. Rampy, director, Military Personnel Management Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff. "I want to go through a deliberate process and confirm what's in their file. I want to come up with options that best takes care of that Soldier and their families."
Federal law, Title 10 section 2106, prohibits the Army from counting a Soldier’s time in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps toward time in service.
The Army is currently going through each officer’s record to verify if any miscalculation took place. The time to complete the review is to be determined.
During this process, the Army will see if there is anything in a Soldier’s record that shows if they were aware the time in the Senior ROTC program did not count toward retirement.
Current cadets signed a notification this fall letting them know that time in the Green to Gold Active-Duty Option program does not count toward their years in service IAW law.
"It's not about trying to find fault with the Soldier, it's about trying to find an opportunity if we have the chance to correct their record with little or minimal impact,” Rampy said. “We have to have proof.”
Once the review is complete, the Army will identify solutions for each group of affected Soldiers.
For retired/separated service members, Rampy says the Army is looking at options with the least amount of impact including “no potentially remedial action.”
Solutions for active-duty Soldiers will depend on the scope of the problem, Rampy said. The Army Board of Corrections for Military Records can provide individual relief or class relief depending on the findings of the review process.
The Army will reach out to Soldiers as soon as their record review is complete and notify them before any changes are made.
“It doesn’t matter if it was just one individual [affected by a potential miscalculation], the Army is profoundly committed to taking care of Soldiers,” Rampy said. “Some people have dedicated their entire adult life to this business, and it's personal. And I think it's extremely important that they know we, the Army, are committed to taking care of them and their family.”