UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ALEXANDER E. STEWART,
Plaintiff,
v. Civil Action No. 15-576{GK)
RAY MABUS,
Defendant.
AMENDED MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is a sad case. A distinguished, award-winning doctor who
has served the Navy for more than 24 years, whose undergraduate
education, medical studies, and advanced medical education were
paid for by the United States Government, and who received regular
salary increases in exchange for agreeing to remain in the military
for a specific number of years, is suing the Government because it
miscalculated the years he was required to serve. Because of that
miscalculation, which the Government does not deny, the doctor
signed agreements to remain with the Navy until 2015. The
Government now claims that he must remain on active duty until
2018 -- a difference of three years.
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Plaintiff Captain Alexander E. Stewart ("Plaintiff" or
"Stewart") brings this action against Secretary of the Navy Ray
Mabus ("Defendant," "the Government," or "the Navy") seeking
review of certain determinations by the Board for Correction of
Naval Records ("the Board") regarding the period of Stewart's
obligation to remain on active duty in the Navy in exchange for
substantial educational and financial benefits. See generally
Compl. [Dkt. No. 1].
In exchange for Special Pay offered to naval physicians,
Stewart executed several contracts, which, by their written terms,
extended his active duty obligation to the Navy to at least 2015.
When the Navy discovered that the service obligation dates
specified in the contracts had been miscalculated and failed to
account for pre-existing service obligations, it amended its
records and the contracts with Stewart to reflect a later service
obligation date of 2018. Stewart petitioned the Board to reverse
these amendments, and the Board denied Stewart's request. Stewart
then appealed the Board's decision to this Court.
This matter is currently before the Court on the Government's
Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary
Judgment [Dkt. No. 12] and Plaintiff's Cross Motion for Summary
Judgment [Dkt. No. 16] . For the reasons that follow, the
Government's Motion to Dismiss shall be denied, the Government's
Motion for Summary Judgment shall be granted, and Plaintiff's Cross
Motion for Summary Judgment shall be denied.
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I . BACKGROUND
A. Factual Background1
1. Stewart's Early Career
Captain Stewart has had a long and distinguished career in
the United States Navy. He has served for over twenty-four years
in the Navy's Medical Corps as a physician and has received
numerous awards for his academic, research, and professional
accomplishments. See~, AR 117.
Stewart's career with the Navy began in 1987 when he
matriculated at the United States Naval Academy ("USNA"). Stewart
graduated from the USNA in 1991 and, in exchange for his studies,
incurred an obligation to serve in the Navy for five years.
10 U.S.C. § 6959(a); AR 6; Compl. ~ 8.
From 1991 to 1995, Stewart attended medical school at the
Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences ("USUHS").
Because Stewart remained in school, he did not accrue credit toward
his initial five-year service obligation while at USUHS. When
1 Because this matter is an appeal from final agency action, see
5 U.S.C. § 704, the Court relies upon the facts in the
Administrative Record ("AR") [ Dkt. No. 32] before the Board when
it reached its decision, 5 U.S.C. § 706. IMS, P.C. v. Alvarez, 129
F.3d 618, 623 (D.C. Cir. 1997) ("If a court is to review an agency's
action fairly, it should have before it neither more nor less
information than did the agency when it made its decision.").
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Stewart graduated from USUHS in May of 1995, he incurred an
additional seven-year service obligation to the Navy to be served
consecutively with his existing five-year obligation. 10 U.S. C.
§ 2114 (c); AR 10; Fontana v. White, 334 F.3d 80, 86 (D.C. Cir.
2003).
Thus, upon receipt of his medical degree in 1995, Stewart had
a 12-year service obligation, requiring that he engage in
qualifying service in the Navy until at least May of 2007. In other
words, May 2007 constituted Stewart's approximate obligated
service date ("OSD"), which is the time at which a service member
may leave active duty in the Navy without having to complete
additional required service or pay back money or other benefits
received from the Government. See e.g., 37 U.S.C. § 302 (f) ("An
officer who does not complete the period for which the payment was
made under [relevant subsections] shall be subject to the repayment
provisions of section 303a(e) of [title 37] .").
From 1995 to 1996, Stewart completed a one-year medical
internship, during which time his 12-year service obligation was
stayed. 10 U.S.C. § 2114(d). Accordingly, when Stewart completed
his medical internship in 1996, his twelve-year obligation
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remained, committing him to remain in the Navy -- and extending
his OSD -- until at least 2008. 2
From 1996 to 1999, Stewart served as a flight surgeon, which
satisfied three years of his 12-year active duty service
obligation. Upon completion of his tour of duty in 1999, Stewart
owed nine years of service, and his OSD remained at 2008.
From 1999 to 2004, Stewart completed a medical residency in
otolaryngology. This period of further training again stayed his
service obligation to the Navy. 10 U.S.C. § 2114(d). Upon
completion of the residency in 2004, Stewart still owed nine years
of service, and his OSD was moved up to 2013. 3
2·The sources in the Administrative Record and the Parties' briefs
are generally not precise with respect to the exact date of
Stewart's OSD. They often state that the OSD falls in a particular
month in a particular year or simply state the year of the OSD.
Because resolution of this case does not require any more precision
than reference to a particular year, the Court follows the Record
and the Parties' practice.
3 Stewart did incur an additional service obligation by entering
the residency program; however, Department of Defense regulations
allow service members to fulfill obligations generated by medical
residencies conducted in military facilities concurrently with
obligations incurred by undergraduate studies and medical school.
Magnusson Deel. at Stewart v. Mabus
Combined Opinion