BOARD DATE: 27 April 2010 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090017730 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, correction of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show his service in Southwest Asia (SWA) during Operation Desert Storm. 2. The applicant states he requires this information for Persian War benefits. 3. The applicant provides no additional documents. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. 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. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows service in the Regular Army (RA) from 29 September 1987 through 28 September 1991, a period of 4 years. It shows, in Item 12f (Foreign Service), 0 years, 4 months, and 10 days. This information is not further explained in Item 18 (Remarks). 3. During the processing of this case, a member of the Board's staff reviewed the Gulf War Deployment Roster. This review showed the applicant was deployed to SWA from 29 December 1990 to 9 May 1991, a total of 4 months and 10 days. 4. 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 establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214. The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge. a. The regulation in effect in 1991 provided the DD Form 214, Item 18 was used for entries required by Headquarters Department of the Army for which a separate item was not available on the form and for completing entries that were too long for their blocks. When completing a long entry, place the item number before the rest of the comment. A list of examples of remarks is provided; however, deployments in support of operations, and countries to which deployed were not required. b. The regulation now in effect requires Item 18 to contain the following entries for RA Soldiers, “SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD).” DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant wants the dates of his SWA deployment shown on his DD Form 214. 2. The Gulf War Deployment Roster shows the applicant was deployed to SWA from 29 December 1990 to 9 May 1991. This period equals 4 months and 10 days as shown in Item 12f of his DD Form 214, but not elsewhere. 3. Although it was not required at the time the applicant served, it would be appropriate to show his SWA service in Item 18 of his DD Form 214. 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 adding the following statement to Item 18 of his DD Form 214 "SERVICE IN SOUTHWEST ASIA FROM 19901229 – 19910509." _______ _ _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) AR20090017730 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090017730 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1