IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 19 May 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090007774 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests, in effect, that Item 18 (Remarks) of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active duty) be corrected to show he served in Iraq from 3 March 2005 to 5 March 2006 instead of 3 March 2006 to 5 March 2006. 2. The applicant states, in effect, that an error was made in Item 18 of his DD Form 214 which indicates he completed 2 days of foreign service in Iraq instead of the 1 year and 2 days he actually completed. 3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 and Enlisted Record Brief (ERB) in support of his application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant’s military record shows he enlisted in the Regular Army and entered active duty on 4 May 2004. He was trained in, awarded, and served in military occupational specialty (MOS) 63M (Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems Maintainer). 2. The applicant’s ERB contains an entry in Section I - Assignment Information (OS [Overseas]/Deployment Combat Duty) which shows he served in Iraq from 3 March 2005 to 5 March 2006. 3. On 25 October 2007, the applicant was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining Reserve obligation. The DD Form 214 issued to him at that time shows he completed 3 years, 5 months, and 22 days of active military service. Item 12f (Foreign Service) shows he completed 1 year and 3 days of foreign service. 4. Item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he earned the following awards during his active duty tenure: Army Commendation Medal (2nd Award), Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon. Item 18 includes the entry “SERVICE IN IRAQ 20060303 – 20060305," which indicates he served in Iraq for 3 days from 3 and 5 March 2006. 5. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the Active Army. It also establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214. Chapter 2 contains item-by-item instructions for preparing the DD Form 214. The instructions for Item 18 specify, in pertinent part, that for active duty Soldiers deployed with his or her unit, the entry "SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)" will be included. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant’s contention that item 18 of his DD Form 214 should be corrected to properly document his overseas service in Iraq was carefully considered and found to have merit. 2. The evidence of record confirms that the applicant completed 1 year and 3 days of overseas service in Iraq, from 3 March 2005 to 5 March 2006, as evidenced by an entry in Section I of his ERB and by the foreign service entry in Item 12f of his DD Form 214. As a result, it would be appropriate to correct the Iraq service entry in Item 18 of his DD Form 214 accordingly. BOARD VOTE: ___x____ ___x____ ___x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. deleting from item 18 of the applicant DD Form 214 the entry “SERVICE IN IRAQ 20060303 – 20060305” and replacing it with the entry “SERVICE IN IRAQ FROM 20050303 - 20060305”; and b. issuing him a correction to his DD Form 214 that reflects this change. ________x______________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090007774 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090007774 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1