I received the following from a potential client:
I graduated from West
Point in 1977 and was discharged from active duty in 1982.
However, at the time I left the service, the Army had a policy of not showing
the four years a cadet spent at the military academy on his DD Form 214.
This was primarily because those years do not count toward military
retirement. In 2000, the Army issued Regulation 635-5, which stipulated
wording to be added to the DD Form 214 showing the four years at West Point as “active duty,” but not counting
toward military retirement. Thinking this regulation solved the problem,
I applied to the Army Review Boards Agency and was astounded when they refused
my request. I wrote to my Congressman, Jim Moran, whose staff did
nothing. I then went to Senator Jim Webb’s office, and was told
they wouldn’t be able to help me.
The reason this issue is sensitive is
because I am a Federal employee. I was recently denied 5-point veterans
status on a job application because my DD Form 214 starts on June 8, 1977 (when
I graduated from West Point), and not July 2, 1973 (when I entered West Point and began active duty). Because the DD
Form 214 doesn’t begin until June 8, 1977, it does not show me as being
on active duty prior to October 14, 1976, the end of the Vietnam
era. As a result, I was not able to compete against other veterans for
several GS-15 vacancies to which I had applied, causing me hardship and loss of
income.
Thoughts?
Mark
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Mark S. Zaid, Esq.
Mark S. Zaid, P.C.
1250 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 454-2809 direct
(202) 330-5610 fax