BOARD DATE: 10 May 2011 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100030302 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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to properly show his period of deployment to Iraq as 5 March 2004 through 14 March 2005, a period of 1 year and 10 days. 2. He states the deployment dates shown on his DD Form 214 in item 18 (Remarks) [1 April 2004 through 15 March 2005, a period of 11 months and 5 days] are incorrect. He further states he deployed as part of the advance party with Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX, on 4 March 2004, and arrived in the combat zone on 5 March 2004. He contends the 1 April 2004 date that is shown on his DD Form 214 was the deployment date for the main body in the 1st Cavalry Division. 3. He provides a: * DD Form 1351 (Travel Voucher) * Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Form 702 (DFAS Military Leave and Earnings Statement) CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's record shows he retired from the Regular Army on 31 December 2010 after completion of 20 years, 4 months, and 3 days of active service. At the time of retirement, he held the rank/pay grade of lieutenant colonel/O-5. 2. He provides a DD Form 1351 dated 30 March 2005 that shows he deployed and was in the theater of operations from 5 March 2004 through 14 March 2005. 3. He also provides a DFAS Form 702 rendered for the March 2004 pay period. This form shows entitlement to Hostile Fire Pay and Combat Zone Tax Exclusion was initiated on 1 March 2004. 4. A query of his Master Military Pay Account (MMPA) revealed he received pay and tax exclusion entitlements associated with deployment to the hostile fire areas of Kuwait and Iraq from 4 March 2004 through 14 March 2005. 5. His DD Form 214 shows the following entries: * Item 12f (Foreign Service) shows a total of 3 years, 6 months, and 20 days * item 18 shows "SERVICE IN IRAQ 20040401-20050315" 6. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. In establishes standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214. It states the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge. It is important that information entered on the form should be complete and accurate. Chapter 2 contains guidance on the preparation of the DD Form 214. It states: a. the total amount of foreign service completed during the continuous period of active service will be entered as "YYYY MM DD" in item 12f of the form; b. for an active duty Soldier deployed with his or her unit during their continuous period of active service enter the statement "SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD-YYYYMMDD)" in item 18. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contentions that his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show his proper period of deployment to Iraq was carefully considered and determined to have merit. 2. His DD Form 1351 confirms he was deployed in the theater of operations from 5 March 2004 through 14 March 2005. This period was further corroborated by a query of his MMPA maintained by DFAS. Therefore, he is entitled to have this foreign service properly depicted in items 12f and item 18 of his DD Form 214. 3. Item 12f of his DD Form 214 currently shows he completed a total of 3 years, 6 months, and 20 days of foreign service; including 11 months and 15 days in Iraq. The evidence also shows he actually served 1 year and 10 days in Iraq. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of item 12f to show an additional 1 month and 4 days; therefore, his foreign service equals 3 years, 7 months, and 24 days. 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 amending his DD Form 214 in the following manner: * deleting the current entry in item 12f and adding "0003 07 24" * deleting "SERVICE IN IRAQ 20040401-20050315" from item 18 and adding "SERVICE IN IRAQ 20040305-20050314" * providing him an appropriate document showing the above changes _______ _ 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) AR20100030302 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100030302 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1