BOARD DATE: 16 May 2013 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130007140 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 his home of record (HOR) be changed to Ontario, Canada. 2. The applicant states: * he is a permanent Canadian resident * he travelled to Buffalo, NY, when he joined the military since it was the location of the closest recruiting station * at the time of his enlistment, there was no way for his recruiter to enter a foreign address into the HOR block so the recruiter entered a random address from Buffalo, NY * his unit will not allow him to submit his end of term of service paperwork until the address problem is resolved * he cannot have the transportation office move his household goods either since his HOR is wrong * Buffalo, NY, is 126 miles from his home in Ontario, Canada 3. The applicant provides: * DD Form 1966/1 (Record of Military Processing – Armed Forces of the United States), dated 2 August 2007 * Ontario Health Identification (ID) Card * Government of Canada Permanent Residence Card * Ontario Driver's License CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. On 13 March 2007, the applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Delayed Entry Program (DEP) for an 8-year period. On 1 August 2007 he was honorably discharged, and on 2 August 2007 he enlisted in the Regular Army for 6 years. The DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document-Armed Forces of the United States), commonly referred to as the enlistment contract, which was prepared on the applicant during this initial enlistment processing contains a HOR address in Newton Falls, OH. 2. The applicant provides copies and his record also includes copies of his DD Forms 1966/1 through 1966/6 (Record of Military Processing-Armed Forces of United States) completed during his 2007 enlistment processing. The DD Form 1966/1 shows, in Item 3 (Current Address), that the applicant was residing at an address in Buffalo, NY during his enlistment processing. Item 4 (Home of Record) also lists the same address in Buffalo, NY. 3. Item 15 (Place of Birth) of the applicant's DD Form 1966/1 shows the entry, "Warren, OH, USA (United States of America)." 4. The applicant also provides his : * Ontario Health ID Card which shows it was valid from 13 July 2006 through 5 December 2010 * Government of Canada Permanent Resident Card which shows his nationality as "USA," and expires on 20 November 2013 * Ontario Driver's License which shows it was issued on 17 January 2006 and expired on 28 April 2010 5. Army Regulation 601-210 provides the policies and procedures for the preparation of enlistment contracts. It states, in pertinent part, that: a.  The HOR address entered on the enlistment contract will be the address declared by the applicant to be their permanent home or actual home at the time of enlistment. A temporary address will not be entered. b.  Figure 6-1 (Sample of DD Form 1966 and Instructions) states for Item 4 of the DD Form 1966, "Address must be CONUS (Continental United States) or U.S. Territory." 6. The Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR) provides, in pertinent part, that the HOR is the place recorded as the home of the individual at the time of enlistment or induction. There is no authority to change the HOR as officially recorded at time of entry into the military service. However, there is authority to correct a HOR if erroneously entered on the records at that time, and then only for travel and transportation purposes. Correction of the HOR must be based on evidence that a bona fide error was made and the HOR as corrected must have been the actual home of the individual at the time of entry into the relevant period of service. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contention that his HOR should be changed to show Ontario, Canada was carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this claim. 2. By law and regulation, the HOR is the place recorded as the home of the individual at the time of their enlistment or induction, and there is no authority to change the HOR officially recorded at the time of entry into military service. Any correction to a HOR must be based on evidence that a bona fide error was made. Further, law and regulation states the address must be in CONUS or a U.S. Territory. 3. In this case, the applicant provides various Canadian ID cards showing he was a resident of Canada. He also provides a Government of Canada Permanent Resident Card which shows he became a permanent resident of Canada on 22 October 2002; however, he makes no claim that his HOR was in error at the time of his entry into the Army. 4. The evidence of record contains enlistment contracts authenticated by the applicant at the time of his initial entry into the Army and at the time of his enlistment in 2007. Although he was born in Warren, OH, these official documents confirm his HOR was in Buffalo, NY. As a result, absent evidence of an error in the HOR recorded at the time of his entry into service, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support granting the requested relief. 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) AR20130007140 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130007140 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1