IN THE CASE OF:  	  

		BOARD DATE:  2 December 2014	  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140014543 


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 a letter of reprimand (LOR) from 1990 be removed from his official military personnel file (OMPF).

2.  The applicant states he received an LOR in 1990 when he was a first lieutenant.  It is currently masked.  It should have been placed only in his local Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) as directed by the issuing authority.

3.  The applicant provides:

* LOR, dated 4 January 1990
* his rebuttal to the LOR
* the battalion commander's endorsement, dated 1 March 1970, pertaining to the filing of the LOR 

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 is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR), Retired Reserve.

3.  The restricted section of his OMPF contains an LOR dated 4 January 1990.  It also shows his rebuttal that he submitted on 14 February 1990.  The restricted section also contains an endorsement, dated 1 March 1990, from the officer imposing the LOR directing that the LOR was to be filed in the applicant's local Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ).

4.  Army Regulation 600-37 (Unfavorable Information) sets forth policies and procedures to authorize placement of unfavorable information about Army members in individual official personnel files; to ensure that unfavorable information that is unsubstantiated, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete is not filed in individual official personnel files; and to ensure that the best interests of both the Army and the Soldiers are served by authorizing unfavorable information to be placed in and, when appropriate, removed from official personnel files.  Once an official document has been properly filed in the OMPF, it is presumed to be administratively correct and to have been filed pursuant to an objective decision by competent authority.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

The officer imposing the LOR, dated 4 January 1990, clearly directed the LOR was to be filed in the applicant's local MPRJ.  The LOR is improperly filed in his OMPF.  Therefore, in accordance with Army Regulation 600-37 it should be removed from his OMPF.

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 removing the LOR, dated 4 January 1990, and all related documents from his OMPF.



      ____________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)                                         AR20140014543



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140014543



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