[Claim for Refund of a Portion of a Recouped Reenlistment Bonus]

GAO was requested for an advance decision regarding a Marine Corps sergeant's claim for a refund of a portion of a regular reenlistment bonus he received for a 2-year enlistment. The Government had recouped the portion currently claimed when the sergeant was separated early for the purpose of effecting an immediate 4-year reenlistment for which he received a selective reenlistment bonus. In a similar case, GAO held that no recoupment action need be taken when a service member who received a regular reenlistment bonus was discharged early for the purpose of immediate reenlistment for which a selective reenlistment bonus was payable. In that case, GAO held that the regulations requiring recoupment were inconsistent with the governing statute and were void. GAO held that this decision was to be applied retroactively to the present case. GAO found that, when a Marine serving in an enlistment period for which he received a regular reenlistment bonus is discharged early for the purpose of immediate reenlistment for which no reenlistment bonus is payable, no bonus recoupment action is to be taken if the term of the reenlistment following the early discharge includes the remaining period of service in the prior enlistment. Accordingly, the sergeant's claim was payable.