APPLICANT REQUESTS: In effect, the applicant requests that block 25a, specialty number, on his DD Form 214 (Report of Transfer or Discharge) be changed from 140.00 (Field Artillery Basic) to 142.60 (Heavy and Very Heavy Field Artillery Crewman NCO). He states that his specialty was 142.60 when he was discharged. The applicant submits a copy of a clinical record, dated 29 August 1962, that indicates 142.60 as his specialty. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records show: The applicant entered the Army on 17 November 1960, completed training as a field artillery crewman, military occupational specialty (MOS) 140.00, and was assigned to a artillery battalion in Germany. Except for one brief assignment as a confinement specialist, MOS 951.10, from March to May 1963, the applicant’s enlisted qualification record of assignments shows that he was a prime mover driver, cannoneer, and ammunition specialist, all in MOS 140.00. This record did show that he was classified as a heavy and very heavy field artillery crewman on 1 August 1962, but that entry had since been lined out. He was classified as a field artillery basic crewman first on 7 April 1961, and then again on 24 January 1963. The applicant’s chronological record of military service on his DA Form 24 (Service Record), shows that his duty MOS was 142.60 from 28 February until 30 November 1962, but that his duty MOS thereafter and until his release from active duty was 140.00. The applicant was released from active duty in the pay grade of E-4 and transferred to the Reserves on 11 November 1963. The order effecting this transfer shows his MOS as 140.00. His DD Form 214 shows his specialty number as 140.00. Army Regulation 611-201, then in effect, provides for the classification of enlisted personnel into military occupational specialties and provides standards of grade authorizations for each specialty and duty position. The grade and MOS shown for a cannoneer is E-3, MOS 140.00; that for an ammunition specialist and a prime mover driver are both E-4, MOS 140.00. All of these duty positions are listed under the specialty title of Field Artillery Basic, MOS Code 140. On the other hand, the grade authorization for MOS code 142.60 is E-5 or E-6, depending on whether the duty position is a gunner, chief of section, or ammunition supply sergeant. All of these duty positions are listed under the specialty title of Heavy and Very Heavy Field Artillery Crewman. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so. DISCUSSION: The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on 11 November 1963, the date of his discharge. The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 11 November 1966. The application is dated 4 April 1995 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted. DETERMINATION: The subject application was not submitted within the time required. The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law. BOARD VOTE: EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE GRANT FORMAL HEARING CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION Karl F. Schneider Acting Director