RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-03942 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: YES _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: a. His Article 15 and all punishments involved be expunged. b. His three years of lost time be returned. c. One year of not being allowed to test rewarded. d. Enlisted Performance Reports (EPRs) ending Aug 06 and Oct 07 be removed and voided. e. He be considered for promotion to the grade of technical sergeant (TSgt) for 2009 technical sergeant (E6) promotion cycle. f. He be considered for a follow-on assignment to Kadena, Yokota, Bitburg, or Spangdahlem. g. He be considered for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) medal. h. He be given a floor to speak with the Air Force Inspector General about his issues. i. A board convenes when punishments of this nature are handed down. j. The three years of lost time it has taken to correct his records be returned. __________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: Since Nov 06, he has been seeking assistance to have a “wrong set right”; the evidence logically reviewed a reprisal set right. He was secretly given a “4” EPR without justification. He believes his original EPR ending 6 Aug 06 was a “5” and was signed by his supervisor. However, the date was changed to 15 Aug 06 which he believes is an injustice. The issue has put his life in limbo and his career on hold. He is not asking for anyone to be punished or get in trouble but asking for a resolution or an end. He has consulted with various first sergeants, legal counselors, peers and other wing agencies (Military Equal Opportunity, Area Defense Counsel and chain of command). He has also written his Congresswoman and Inspector General Offices. Key information was not submitted during the processing of his Article 15. In support of his request, the applicant provides a 14 page statement with attachments discussing the events leading to the Article 15, military service records and a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. _________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant is currently serving in the Air Force in the grade of technical sergeant. On 7 Feb 07, the applicant visited the MEO office because he felt his flight commander, Captain J, was picking on him and had given him a letter of counseling (LOC) for unfounded acts. He stated that no matter what he Captain J always found fault in it.” In addition, Captain J has anger issues and sometimes “flies off the handle.” The applicant was asked if his concerns with Captain J fell within the MEO purview and he stated he did not feel they did at that time. According to the MEO Record of Assistance dated 13 Feb 07, the MEO technician conducted a follow-up session with the applicant. The applicant stated he was receiving assistance from the lowest level to address his concerns. Further, the applicant expressed he had no concerns surrounding reprisal. No additional follow-up was required and the MEO technician closed his case On 9 Aug 07, the applicant was offered nonjudicial punishment under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). He was charged with one specification of being absent without authority, in violation of Article 86, UCMJ, and one specification of disobeying a lawful order, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ. On 14 Aug 07, the applicant consulted counsel, waived his right to trial by court-martial and accepted the Article 15. He submitted a statement on his behalf and made a personal appearance before the commander. On 27 Aug 07, the commander decided the applicant had committed the alleged offenses and imposed punishment consisting of reduction to the grade of senior airman, reprimand and forfeiture of $1,031 pay per month for two months. The portion of punishment which extended to reduction in grade and forfeiture of pay were suspended through 26 Feb 08, at which time they were to be remitted without further action unless sooner vacated. On 28 Aug 07, the applicant decided not to appeal the commander’s decision. On 29 Aug 07, the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) and General Court-Martial Convening Authority (GCMCA) reviewed the case and found it legally sufficient. On 4 Oct 07, the applicant received a referral EPR for the period 6 Aug 06 through 3 Oct 07. On 2 Jul 08, the applicant wrote his Senator requesting his case be looked into from a different perspective. On 29 Jan 09, the applicant filed an Inspector General (IG) claim for the Article 15 he states was improperly issued. On 6 Feb 09, the IG notified the applicant they had completed a complaint analysis, were unable to assist him and were dismissing his complaint. The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the letters prepared by the appropriate offices of the Air Force, which are attached at Exhibit C. _________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFLOA/JAJM recommends denial of the applicant’s request to set aside and remove the nonjudicial punishment he received from his records. JAJM states, ultimately, the applicant has not raised any genuine doubt as to his guilt of the offenses for which he was punished or established any error on injustice in the Article 15 action such that a set aside would be in the best interests of the Air Force. Based on the evidence presented in the case and considering the other factors mentioned by the applicant, the commander was clearly not acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner when he found nonjudicial punishment appropriate in this case. Further, the punishment imposed was appropriate to the offense and not unfairly harsh. The complete JAJM evaluation is at Exhibit C. HQ AFPC/DPAPP recommends denial of his request for reinstatement of a previous follow-on assignment. DPAPP states he could not obtain the necessary retainability due to his high year tenure (HYT). DPAPP further states, the member’s spouse was provided an overseas returnee assignment to Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi and the applicant was provided a join-spouse assignment since their join-spouse assignment intent code indicated they desired to be assigned at the same location. The complete DPAPP evaluation is at Exhibit D. HQ AFPC/DPSIDE did not provide a recommendation. DPSIDE forwarded his application to the Evaluation Report Appeals Board (ERAB) and they returned his request without action. In addition, DPSIDE stated the applicant had not provided substantiated evidence to justify why his Aug 06 and Oct 07 EPRs were unjust, inaccurate and should be removed. The complete DPSIDE evaluation is at Exhibit E. HQ AFPC/DPSOE makes no recommendation but addresses the promotion eligibility/testing issue. DPSOE states the applicant was eligible and tested on 23 Mar 07 for promotion to the grade of (E6) during cycle 07E6. However, he became ineligible in Aug when he received an Article 15 for being absent without leave (AWOL) and disobeying a lawful order. His punishment consisted of a suspended reduction to the grade of senior airman, suspended forfeiture of $1,031 pay per month for two months and a reprimand. He also received a referral EPR for the period 6 Aug 06 through 3 Oct 07. The suspended bust and referral EPR rendered him ineligible for promotion cycle 07E6. He remained ineligible for promotion consideration during cycle 08E6 as his nonreferral EPR (3 Oct 08) did not close out until after the promotion eligibility cutoff date (31 Dec 07) for that cycle. The applicant was considered and nonselected for promotion to E6 during cycle 09E6; however, he became a select during cycle 10E6 with a date of rank (DOR) of 1 Apr 10. The complete DPSOE evaluation is at Exhibit F. HQ AFPC/DPTOS did not provide a recommendation. DPTOS states upon review of the member’s records, the applicant has no lost time in the Military Personnel Data System (MilPDS). The complete DPTOS evaluation is at Exhibit G. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: With regard to his request to remove and void the EPRs from Aug 06 and Oct 07, the applicant states he cannot submit anything to the ERAB without having first corrected the Article 15, because the 07 EPR hinges solely on the decision regarding the Article 15. With regard to his request to reinstate his previous follow-on assignment choices, the applicant states the decision to deny his follow-on based on high year of tenure (HYT) is arbitrary and was very suspicious after the repeated number of requests sent to AFPC for three months, and the amount of phone calls with no response. With regard to his request for award of a PCS medal, the applicant states if his record at the time of his PCS did not reflect the 3 and 4 EPRs then maybe he would have been awarded the PCS medal. With regard to his request to have lost time returned, the applicant states he is referring to the years it has taken him in the process of getting his records corrected. He has lost time in not being able to test. All his hard work was torn down by favoritism, fraternization and in his opinion hatred. The applicant’s complete evaluation is at Exhibit I. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice to warrant setting aside the applicant’s Article 15. After a thorough review of the evidence of record and the applicant's complete submission, to include his multiple responses to the Air Force evaluations, we do not find his uncorroborated assertions sufficiently persuasive to override the rationale provided by the Air Force office of primary responsibility (OPR). Therefore we agree with the opinion and recommendation of HQ Air Force/AFLOA and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the victim of an error or injustice regarding this issue. The applicant requests his EPR ending 5 Aug 06 be removed from his record. However, we note the ERAB denied his request due to a lack of evidence. After carefully reviewing the evidence provided, we too find insufficient evidence that would warrant removal of the contested report. We also considered his request to remove the EPR closing 3 Oct 07 from his record. Again, we find insufficient evidence that would warrant the removal of this report, particularly in view of our finding related to the Article 15 he received. The applicant requests he be granted a PCS award. However, AFI 36-2803 clearly states, “No individual is automatically entitled to an award upon completion of an operational TDY or departure for an assignment.” Based on our findings related to the Article 15 and EPRs, we find no error or injustice in his not receiving an award upon PCS. Additionally, we also do not find a basis to grant his request for promotion consideration to the grade of technical sergeant or to reinstate the follow-on assignment he was previously granted. In view of the above, we agree with the opinions and recommendations of the Air Force OPRs (AFPC/DPSIDR, DPAPP, DPSIDE, and DPSOE) and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the victim of an error or injustice. We also note the applicant requests a floor to speak with the Air Force Inspector General and his suggestion to convene boards for other similarly situated, these are not requests that fall within the purview of the Board. In the absence of persuasive evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the relief sought in this application. 4. The applicant's case is adequately documented and it has not been shown that a personal appearance with or without counsel will materially add to the Board's understanding of the issues involved. Therefore, the request for a hearing is not favorably considered. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; that the application was denied without a personal appearance; and that the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered Docket Number BC- 2010-03942 in Executive Session on 25 Oct 11, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: Panel Chair Member Member The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2010-03942 was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 14 Oct 10, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. AFLOA/JAJM, Letter, dated 26 Apr 11. Exhibit D. AFPC/DPAPP, Letter, dated 4 May 11. Exhibit E. AFPC/DPSIDE, Letter, dated 2 Jun 11. Exhibit F. AFPC/DPSOE, Letter, dated 16 Jun 11 Exhibit G. AFPC/DPTOS, Letter, dated 28 Jul 11. Exhibit H. SAF/MRBC, Letter, dated 18 Aug 11. Exhibit I. Applicant’s Letter, dated 17 Sep 11. Panel Chair