Have you ever been the victim of a clerical error?

2015-12-07T21:28:01-05:00

I raise my hand to this one. I was the victim of a clerical error at AR-PERSCOM. With a keyboard stoke someone changed me from being female to male. After becoming aware of this I contacted AR-PERSCOM to request they change it back. I was asked to prove I am a female by sending documentation. No problem I sent off a copy of my birth certificate as requested. Waited and still no change was made to my records. I contacted AR-PERSCOM again to be told that the birth certificate was not sufficient evidence and they would need a letter from the ASG Commander verifying that I am a female, a copy of my MEPS entrance exam (which they should have had) and a copy of my ID. I get everything together send it off... wait again and still no change. I called AR-PERSCOM again to be told all of this did not prove my sex.... and asked if I could provide a Baptismal certificate. I told the SGT I was talking to I would hand deliver it and while I was there I would strip in front of his desk so he could confirm it for himself. He said this would not be necessary. The next day I checked and magically I was back to being a female. Has anyone else been the victim of a clerical error?

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Dec 7 at 2015 9:30 PM

2015-12-07T21:30:23-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Yes Ma'am I was. Trying to get all of my E5 points in. They couldn't add correctly (back when they used calculators) and forget 10 points which would have had me reaching cut off points for SSG. They adjusted the points but wouldn't back date them. So I had to wait until the adjusted points took affect to get promoted.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Dec 7 at 2015 9:30 PM

2015-12-07T21:30:39-05:00

Nothing that bad! Just a few pay SNAFU's, LOL...

Response by SGT Roberto Mendoza-Diaz made Dec 7 at 2015 9:31 PM

2015-12-07T21:31:21-05:00

I'm still am to this day. According with the VA my name is Roberto Roberto Mendoza-Diaz... Sorry but one Roberto is more than enough.

Response by CPT Bruce Rodgers made Dec 7 at 2015 9:37 PM

2015-12-07T21:37:03-05:00

I was accidentley over paid 18,000 dollars in a bi monthly paycheck and it took almost six months to give it back

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 7 at 2015 9:39 PM

2015-12-07T21:39:22-05:00

Great story, CPT Private RallyPoint Member! I was the victim of laziness and don't-give-a-shit-itis. About 25 years ago I applied to attend the FBI academy. It was a fairly involved application process and packet. I submitted everything to my brigade level S-3 training section and waited. I didn't want to bother them, so I just waited. After the time I should have heard something on whether or not I had been selected, I went to the section and asked if they had heard anything back on my packet. They asked, "What packet?" I insisted I had submitted a packet. One of the folks looked around and discovered that my packet had been sitting in a filing cabinet at Brigade S-3 Training for months. It had gone nowhere! Needless to say, (a) I wasn't selected to attend the academy, and (b) I was kinda pissed. But I didn't threaten to strip!! :-)

Response by SN Greg Wright made Dec 7 at 2015 9:42 PM

2015-12-07T21:42:27-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Some idiot put an 'e' in my name on my birth certificate: GregorEy. So it's a running joke in my family that I spell it wrong when I do Gregorey.

On a humorous note, I'm willing to bet that a lot of your readers think that Sgt's an idiot....for several reasons :).

Response by SN Greg Wright made Dec 7 at 2015 9:52 PM

2015-12-07T21:52:39-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Another funny one: Being young and dumb and serving towards the end of the Cold War, I figured I'd leverage my SCI clearance, because I knew I was only going to do 4 years, and sent off application packets to the CIA and some other letter-agencies, and promptly forgot about them. I was stationed in Japan at the time. About 2 months after I PCS'd back to the states, I got a letter from the CIA stating that I could only apply if I was in CONUS. Thinking the letter had somehow been delayed, I checked the date on the letterhead...and it was AFTER I PCS'd.

Needless to say, that damped down my opinion of that particular agency, lol. Anyway, I never followed up. (Though not because of that.)

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Dec 7 at 2015 9:55 PM

2015-12-07T21:55:04-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member, honestly, I must take things in the other direction! I fully expected that at some point in my career my last name (somewhat unusual) would be misspelled on official correspondence. It never happened! From 9AUG69 to 11MAY98, the Army spelled my name correctly every time!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 7 at 2015 10:27 PM

2015-12-07T22:27:06-05:00

I think if you have been in the military more than a few days you have fell victim to this. The worst for me was when I was coded wrong for pay and didn't get paid for two months.

Response by MAJ Alvin B. made Dec 7 at 2015 10:51 PM

2015-12-07T22:51:21-05:00

Yes. More than once during my time in the service. Clearly, not as dramatic as CPT M C, however... Finance did stop my pay after I mysteriously disappeared from the active duty rolls. They claimed they did not do it, Personnel claimed they did not do it. I said fine,that I would simply pack my bags and drive away as i did not work for free. I'll keep it simple, it was frustrating, it got heated at times, and I came close to filing charges, - the latter seemed to work. My pay was reinstated with the back pay. So much for the promise of better quality control via centralized electronic records!

Response by SFC John Birks made Dec 7 at 2015 11:03 PM

2015-12-07T23:03:16-05:00

Yup! I've seen it many of times and also fell victim to it. I had a Soldier that was 8 months pregnant and she got orders to deploy, I notified our Brigade that she wouldn't be deploying and why and they still wanted her to go in for pre-deployment processing. After many emails from her CoC, I ended up driving her over there, we walked in to check in and with one look we walked right out with "I told you so" faces. My own issue is, my recruiter typed (yes typed) up my name on my contact as me being a "Jr". I'm not and didn't realize the typo until basic training. After many years of trying I've never been able to change it. I ended up filing for an alias for tax porpoises.

Response by MSgt Curtis Ellis made Dec 7 at 2015 11:06 PM

2015-12-07T23:06:36-05:00

LOL! Good story, CPT Private RallyPoint Member, and this one doesn't compare, but, it would seem my SSN carried the wrong date of birth for me since I was born... and I didn't discover this until last year while trying to electronically file my federal taxes...
Since everyone had to prove health care last year, when the "records" were compared by the IRS to my electronically filed taxes, (I'm not sure how all of this works) the IRS rejected my Federal taxes as a possible fraudulent submission (remember, I've been paying taxes since I was 17) because of a DOB error? I had to go to a SSAO to verify it, and sure enough, it was all jacked up! After getting it corrected and waiting 15 days to re-submit electronically, it was still rejected. Long story short, I ended up having to send hard copies of my tax documents, a copy of the SSN DOB change document, a copy of my birth certificate, a copy of the actual SSN card and a copy of pictured ID before they would accept and process my taxes.
I hope they remember me for this upcoming tax season...!

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Dec 7 at 2015 11:36 PM

2015-12-07T23:36:14-05:00

OH YEA!!! I'd been promoted to MSG, transferred to another unit. My loosing unit didn't do the paper work right. When my "year" points report came out, I had a "bad" year, not counting towards my retirement (reserve). Holy Cow I went through the roof!. It took me two years to get the system to reboot! I had to dig out that entire year's LESs, copy and send in twice before my points got back on track. Lesson time Children - KEEP THAT LES - pay is the best proof of service!!

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Dec 8 at 2015 12:24 AM

2015-12-08T00:24:27-05:00

When in boubt whip it out.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 8 at 2015 1:35 AM

2015-12-08T01:35:26-05:00

Dig this: when I received my first DD-214 from the Navy, a hungover or pissed off yeoman typed in a made-up, non-existent SPN number and assigns me an RE-4 reenlistment code. When I eventually spoke with the BUPERS O-9, his exact words were, "These entries were completely unauthorized and are totally unjustified, given your exemplary career. But they are on this form, and we can't changed them." US Senator Thomas Eagleton, MO (R), went to the Secretary of the Navy four or so years later, while I was in the IRR, and those entries were not only changed, as in immediately, but a few heads rolled clear back to a then YN2.

Response by Maj Mike Sciales made Dec 8 at 2015 2:41 AM

2015-12-08T02:41:34-05:00

Yes I was as well. I came back on active and when I arrived at my new duty station my middle initial had been changed to "E" from
"A" so I went to personnel and the airman said "Are you certain?" Then she said you must have changed it. I asked her if she wanted to run that theory past her commander. The mistake was immediately corrected. Sometimes you just have to threaten to get the grown ups involved. Same way when a desk sergeant wouldn't send me a police report (I was the Chief of
Military justice) claiming "Privacy Act." I told him I was coming there (across the street) and I'd either have a copy of the report or he would be briefing his entire squadron on the reg at Commander's Call. He gave me the report. He also did the research and briefed the squadron - you cannot let stupid go unfixed.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 8 at 2015 5:59 AM

2015-12-08T05:59:30-05:00

I lost a year of service from September 96 to September 97. And know one I talked to could answer where it went. Took me eight years of back and forth to get my year back on the books. Apparently it was there the whole time. But the person in the desk on the right couldn't ask the person in the desk on the left. Must have been to far to walk.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 8 at 2015 4:52 PM

2015-12-08T16:52:34-05:00

I once accidently signed a form in the recruiter's office and ended up in the Army

Response by PO3 Sherry Thornburg made Dec 8 at 2015 6:32 PM

2015-12-08T18:32:11-05:00

My pay records reflected an E-1 level while I was an E-3 out of boot camp. The base hand fixed it for months. Thank you very much, but this really needed to be properly fixed. A few visits to the pay offices and then getting a officer involved finally got it done around my 8th month in service.

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Dec 8 at 2015 6:42 PM

2015-12-08T18:42:39-05:00

While stationed on the USS Ogden, there was a LT(jg) Stroble who was part of ship's crew. As you sailors know, this rank is often abbreviated to "LT" when calling out names. Can't tell you how many times I was summoned to the wet-well, bridge, and (fill in the blank). The situation got corrected when the CO became terribly confused when two LT Strobl's showed up at his stateroom. Apparently a 3"x5" notecard was affixed to the 1-MC directing announcements to clarify "Marine 2ndLt Strobl" or "Navy LT(jg) Stroble." I did enjoy reading his mail, however. His wife sent some great material for our "hog board."

Response by SSG Paul Setterholm made Dec 8 at 2015 9:44 PM

2015-12-08T21:44:09-05:00

I had to get new ID card they made me a year older. Still wasn't old enough to drink though. Dang it!
When I pcs'd to Germany it didn't matter.

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Dec 8 at 2015 10:13 PM

2015-12-08T22:13:48-05:00

All my Navy documentation has my middle name as Andrew, which it isn't nor has it ever been. Oh well.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Dec 9 at 2015 8:24 PM

2015-12-09T20:24:27-05:00

Definitely not to that extreme..... after reading that, what do I really have to complain about? Man this tea is good!!!!

Response by SSgt Terry P. made Dec 9 at 2015 9:30 PM

2015-12-09T21:30:55-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member You would think my last name( Pride) would be easy,but for some reason many companies want it to be (Price) and have confused it many times.

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Dec 10 at 2015 3:35 PM

2015-12-10T15:35:32-05:00

Following the doctors decision that pulled me off the last mission in 2011, another Civil Affairs operator took my place, the funny thing we both have the same name but different SSN and rank, yet I was sent all his emails during his deployment and contacted for guard duty.

Response by SrA Paul Pfeil made Dec 28 at 2015 11:07 AM

2015-12-28T11:07:54-05:00

That's not a clerical error, that is our new military that can not confirm gender. Gender is no longer a realitive term you have up to six genders in the military now.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 28 at 2015 11:22 AM

2015-12-28T11:22:20-05:00

Its funny when I think about it now. When I enlisted as a JAG Paralegal and went to basic training, the BCT company tried to keep some level of MOS integrity in keeping people together. Somehow, I ended up with the cooks, and even though I showed my DS my enlistment contract showing my MOS, I stayed where I was at. In my mind I thought, "What, just because my last name is Perez, some company clerk thought that I had to be a cook?" I laugh in my head as I remember those days...lol

Response by SFC Jonathan Surprise made Dec 28 at 2015 11:31 AM

2015-12-28T11:31:01-05:00

When I came back on AD in 1995, the recruiter didn't adjust my BASD correctly; I ended up with an extra month of AD time (I was in the Reserves by the end of May 93, but didnt go to basic until Jun 93). Fast forward to 2010, I get a call from Finance saying that I was overpaid for the last 15 years because of the error in my BASD calculation. Instead of calculating the amount of pay that was to be reduced from my pay check over a 15 year period, Finance decided it was a lot easier to to pull one month's pay at E1, using the the 1993 pay scale.

Response by Lt Col Stephen Petzold made Dec 28 at 2015 11:52 AM

2015-12-28T11:52:41-05:00

My fun has been with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). When you retire you get some PTDY for house and job hunting. DFAS apparently thought I was the first retiring person to not be authorized it, because they said I was not authorized the PTDY so they charged the days as regular leave. Since I had no more leave left at that point they counted it as excess leave and withheld pay. It took 6+ months to get them to admit their error and get my back pay and then another 2 years dealing with them and the IRS to get 2 years of taxes straightened out since DFAS also screwed up the corrected W-2's for the back pay.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 28 at 2015 11:57 AM

2015-12-28T11:57:34-05:00

Upon assignment to my first duty station, my pay was messed up to the point where I owed the Army money at the same time the Army owed me money (two different entitlements were messed up). Guess who got their money first? I wound up with no paycheck for 6 weeks as a brand new private with a wife and two kids to care for.

Response by CPL Jay Strickland made Dec 28 at 2015 12:39 PM

2015-12-28T12:39:18-05:00

The quickest way to resolve something like this is to get your NCOs involved. I know you are an officer but this is still a solider issue and the NCO chain has means of fixing when brains shut down at Perscom. One call from your First Sergeant would have fixed this failing that Sergeant Major involvement would fixed this in 30 seconds.

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Dec 28 at 2015 1:45 PM

2015-12-28T13:45:41-05:00

I didn't receive my official high school diploma because another student named Jason Strickland (an underclassman), had a boat-load of fines because of overdue library books...
Nevertheless, I received my diploma and all was well in my tiny little universe!

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Dec 28 at 2015 2:01 PM

2015-12-28T14:01:08-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member -- All I need say is that my name is "Jean", which is French for "John" (My mom is French and spoke very little English when I was born. She mistakenly spelled my name the French way on my birth certificate application at Martin Army Hospital, Ft Benning). As such, I could regale you for hours with stories of the issues that has caused.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Dec 28 at 2015 4:39 PM

2015-12-28T16:39:02-05:00

Well yes I have it all the time. Sergeant, Sargent, Sargeant, Brion, Byron. I call them and tell them how to spell it and they argue with me on how to spell my name or pronounce it. Spell it like the rank drop the A and it is Bryon not Byron! Jezzz! lol

Response by SSG Bruce Sorge made Dec 29 at 2015 4:46 AM

2015-12-29T04:46:11-05:00

The first time I went TDY was from Fort Irwin to Aberdeen Proving Ground. Before I left I got advance travel pay (this was back in the 80's before the Gov. travel card). They paid me quite a bit as well as give me a plane ticket. When I got back and settled my voucher, I was surprised at the end of the following month with a no pay due. They had paid me what it would have cost to drive, and promptly, and without any warning, took all that money back.

Response by MSgt Joe Tafoya made Dec 29 at 2015 7:07 PM

2015-12-29T19:07:39-05:00

Hard to believe, but I believe it. Have you ever read "Catch-22?" Same insanity

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Feb 28 at 2016 8:47 PM

2016-02-28T20:47:18-05:00

Found the Korean Service Medal on my ERB once.. Then I got asked to provide paperwork showing I had not earned it. I presented my birth certificate. "The Korean Service Medal is the primary United States military award for participation in the Korean War and is awarded to any U.S. service member, who performed duty in the Republic of Korea, between June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Service_Medal

Korean Service Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Korean Service Medal (KSM) is a military award for service in the United States Armed Forces and was created in November 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary United States military award for participation in the Korean War and is awarded to any U.S. service member, who performed duty in the Republic of Korea, between June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.[2][3]

Response by MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy made Jun 14 at 2018 3:09 PM

2018-06-14T15:09:14-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member – Ma'am would you please refer AB Simone Coleman to the right agency. She has this Question:

"I served and got out with a honorable but my re code was a 2b. I submitted to have it changed but was denied. What should I do as I only have until march to reenter the service and I would like to."

Any help would be appreciated, Ma'am.

Response by SPC Robert Bobo made May 15 at 2020 5:48 PM

2020-05-15T17:48:40-04:00

Terrible, this kind of regid inflexibility, laziness and refusal to fix a simple issue doesn't belong in the US military and it's a failure of leadership for allowing this behavior from staff , unfortunately these same people end up employed in the government and corporate world, often bringing those bad habits with them, over my 41 years in the corporate world, my team quickly rooted out anyone behaving in this manner as we all had zero tolerance for this kind of behavior.