BOARD DATE: 21 September 2010 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100018295 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 that his records be corrected to show that he was placed on the Retired List in the rank of corporal instead of specialist. 2. The applicant states he served in the U.S. Navy in the rank of petty officer third class which is the equivalent of an Army corporal. 3. The applicant provides his two DD Forms 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), the orders removing him from the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) and permanently retiring him, and a document showing he was entitled to wear the uniform of a third class petty officer. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's military records show he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve and served on active duty from 20 February 1991 to 19 January 1997. He was released from active duty in the rank of petty officer third class/pay grade E-4. 2. He enlisted in the Regular Army on 5 May 2003 and was honorably released from active duty on 16 September 2005 and placed on the TDRL the following day. His DD Form 214 shows him as a specialist/pay grade E-4. 3. On 5 June 2009, the applicant was removed from the TDRL and permanently retired due to physical unfitness. He was placed on the Retired List in the rank of specialist/pay grade E-4. 4. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) states that a Soldier is separated from active duty in the rank held on the date of separation. 5. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1372, states that unless entitled to a higher retired grade under some other provision of law, any member of an armed force who is retired for physical disability under section 1201 or 1204 of this title, or whose name is placed on the TDRL under section 1202 or 1205 of this title, is entitled to the grade equivalent to the highest of the following: a. the grade or rank in which he or she is serving on the date when his or her name is placed on the TDRL or, if his or her name was not carried on that list, on the date when he or she is retired; b. the highest temporary grade or rank in which he or she served satisfactorily, as determined by the Secretary of the armed force from which he or she is retired; c. the permanent Regular or Reserve grade to which he or she would have been promoted had it not been for the physical disability for which he or she is retired and which was found to exist as a result of a physical examination; or d. the temporary grade to which he or she would have been promoted had it not been for the physical disability for which he or she is retired, if eligibility for that promotion was required to be based on cumulative years of service or years of service in grade and the disability was discovered as a result of a physical examination. 6. The Army has two ranks for pay grade E-4, specialist and corporal. A corporal is a noncommissioned officer while a specialist is not. The Navy only has one rank for pay grade E-4 which is chief petty officer third class. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant requests that his rank be changed, not his grade. 2. The highest grade the applicant served on active duty was pay grade E-4. 3. Contrary to the applicant's contention, petty officer third class is not the equivalent to corporal. Since the Army has two ranks for pay grade E-4 and the Navy has only has one rank for pay grade E-4, it cannot be said that chief petty officer third class is the direct equivalent of either Army rank. 4. Since petty officer third class cannot be said to be the equivalent of a corporal, the applicant was properly placed on the Retired List in the rank of specialist/pay grade E-4. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___x____ ___x____ ____x___ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ___________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) AR20100018295 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100018295 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1