AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

IN THE MATTER OF: 

DOCKET NUMBER:  9800896 
COUNSEL:  None 
HEARING DESIRED:  NO 

JAN  I 5  1999 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 
1.  His  Officer  Selection  Brief  (OSB) be  corrected  to  show 
graduation  from  an  in-residence  intermediate  Professional 
Military Education  (PME) school in Brazil in December 1997. 
2.  He  be  considered  foF  promotion  to  the  grade  of  lieutenant 
colonel by  Special Selection Board  (SSB) for the  Calendar Year 
1997C (CY97C) Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board. 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 
He never received a 1997 OSB  although he  requested and received 
the rest of the contents of his promotion selection folder from 
HQ AFPC/DPSRIl on 13 February 1998.  He was assured by phone that 
the record was up-to-date before the convening of the board. 
In  support of  the  appeal, applicant  submits his  request  for a 
copy of his selection folder. 
Applicant's complete submission is attached at Exhibit A. 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 
The applicant is currently serving on extended active duty in the 
grade of ma j or. 
Applicant was considered and not  selected for promotion  to the 
grade  of  lieutenant  colonel  by  the  CY97C  and  CY98B  Selection 
Boards. 
OPR profile since 1993, follows: 

PERIOD ENDING 

EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL 

21 Mar 93 
29 Jul 94 

Meets Standards 
Meets Standards 

c 

98-00876 

29 Dec 94 
15 Dec 95 
13 Dec 96 
06 Jun 97 
# 
##  13 Dec 97 

Meets Standards 

Education/Training Report 
Education/Training Report 
Education/Training Report 

Meets Standards 

#  Top report at time of CY97C board, 
##  Top report at time of CY98B board. 

The  Chief,  Appeals  and  SSB  Branch,  AFPC/DPPPA,  reviewed  the 
application and  states that  Officer  Preselection Briefs  (OPBs) 
for the CY97C board were sent to the Military Personnel Flights 
(MPFs) on 30 March 1996 and should have been distributed to those 
eligible for promotion consideration approximately 10 days later, 
The applicant arrived at his new duty station on 17 March  1997, 
some three weeks prior to the release of the CY97C OPBs.  They 
assume the applicant received the OPB as he made  no mention of 
not receiving or reviewing it for accuracy.  The OPB contains the 
same  data  that  will  appear  on  the  OSB  at  the  central  board. 
Written instructions attached to the OPB and given to the officer 
before the central selection board specifically instruct him/her 
to  carefully examine  the  brief  for  completeness and  accuracy. 
The instructions also provide addresses, and in most cases, phone 
numbers  for  each  area  responsible  to  assist  the  officer  who 
identifies discrepancies.  If any errors are found, he/she must 
take  corrective action prior  to the  selection board, not  after 
it.  Due to the logistical sequencing of events, they believe the 
applicant  should  have  discovered  the  PME  omission  when  he 
received his OPB in early April.  Had he properly  reviewed his 
OPB at  that  time, he  could have written  a letter to the  CY97C 
board  president  to  ensure  the  information was  present  for the 
CY97C board's  review -  especially if the PME entry was important 
to his promotion consideration.  However, they find no record the 
applicant wrote  any  such letter to  the board  president.  As  a 
note,  PME  courses  are  updated  automatically  at  Air  University 
upon  course  completion.  He  did  not  provide  any  evidence  he 
attempted to contact them prior to the board to ensure the course 
was appropriately updated.  While  it  is true the entry for the 
Brazilian PME course was missing from his OSB, the AF  Form 475, 
Education/Training Report  (TR), documenting his performance  for 
the course period was filed in his officer selection record (OSR) 
26 June 1997.  Therefore, the board was aware he attended the PME 
course  and  it  was  appropriately  factored  into  the  board's 
promotion  evaluation  of  the  applicant. 
There  is  no  clear 
evidence  the  omission  of  the  PME  entry  on  the  CY97C  OSB 
negatively  impacted  the  applicant's  promotion  opportunity, 
particularly  since  the  TR  for  the  course  was  filed  in  the 
applicant's OSR in late June.  Central boards evaluate the entire 
OSR  (including the promotion  recommendation form, OPRs, officer 
effectiveness reports, TRs, letters of  evaluation, decorations, 

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and OSB), assessing whole person factors such as job performance, 
professional  qualities,  depth  and  breadth  of  experience, 
leadership, and academic and PME.  The selection board  had  his 
entire OSR  that  clearly outlines his  accomplishments since  the 
date he came on active duty.  They are not convinced the omission 
of the Brazilian PME entry from the CY97C OSB was the sole cause 
of  the  applicant's  nonselection. 
Therefore,  they  recommend 
denial of applicant's request. 

A  complete  copy  of  the  Air  Force  evaluation  is  attached  at 
Exhibit C . 

The applicant reviewed the Air Force evaluation and states that 
he never received a copy of his OSB for 1997.  He attempted, by 
telephone, to make  certain that  this  information was  included. 
However, the following facts shed light on why he did not receive 
this  important  document  and  why  he  was  satisfied  that  his 
attendance  at  the  Brazilian  Air  Command  Staff  College  was 
properly annotated.  The receiving MPF was never inscribed on the 
Permanent  Change  of  Station  (PCS)  orders  he  received  on 
17 December 1998.  As a result, it was never clear to himself or 
to those handling his administrative needs as to who had primary 
responsibility for him, his old MPF at Bolling AFB or his gaining 
MPF at Lajes Field, Azores.  For the first six months of 1997 he 
was moving and also going temporary duty  (TDY), and the lack of 
this  small  bit  of  information  caused  him  great  difficulties 
whenever an administrative action had to be coordinated.  It was 
also happening at the exact time he should have received his 1997 
OSB.  He had to frequently make telephone calls to HQ AFOSI MPF, 
Lajes  MPF,  and  the  American  Embassy  in  Brasilia,  Brazil  to 
coordinate  matters  of  amendments  to  orders,  household  goods 
shipments, his  TR  from  Brazil,  and  matters  of  his  permanent 
record.  Over the course of time, he became accustomed to doing 
administrative  work  by  himself,  and  created  personal  use 
checklists to keep matters  in order.  He extensively discussed 
several problems related to his PCS with a SSgt A---  at HQ AFOSI 
MPF.  She  had  the  responsibility  for  issuing  his  orders, but 
administrative  problems  were  not  eliminated  until  he  finally 
reported for duty at Lajes AB.  His TDY history from 18 December 
1998  to  20  June  1998  did  not  lend  itself  well  to  receiving 
written  Air  Force  communications.  These  assignments  were  -at 
locations  far  from  his  releasing  and  gaining  units,  and  his 
longest TDY took place at a school administered by the Navy.  He 
made it a special point to let everyone who was involved in any 
administrative matter of his, know where he was and how he could 
be contacted.  Until May  1997, his TR from his school in Brazil 
was  missing,  and  he  paid  special  attention  to  matters  of  his 
permanent  record because  of  this.  He  requested a copy of  his 
promotion  folder on 4  February  1998.  He  received  the  records 
package on 13 February 1998, but a copy of his OSB for 1997 was 

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98-00876 

not included, so he used his 1996 OSB as a reference as to what 
had  to be  accounted for.  He spoke with a Sergeant B---  at the 
AFOSI  MPF  by  telephone  in  the  April/May  1997  timeframe  and 
confirmed that his assignment history and record of PME included 
in-residence  PME  in  Brazil.  His  personal  items  to  be  done 
checklist  references  this  coordination  with  Sergeant  B---. 
Considering the volume of coordination he was doing at the time, 
the vast majority being done by phone, he was satisfied that the 
matter of his records had been properly settled with HQ AFPC and 
that everything read as it  should.  In June 1997 he made a PCS 
overseas  to  the  Azores  and  he  did  not  think  any  more  of  the 
matter  until  he  was  notified  that  he  was  not  selected  for 
promotion. 
Applicant's complete response is attached at Exhibit E. 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 
1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing 
law or regulations. 
2.  The application was timely filed. 
3 .   Sufficient  relevant  evidence  has  been  presented  to 
demonstrate the existence of probable  error or injustice.  The 
Air  Force  has  indicated  that  the  entry  for  the  Brazilian  PME 
course was missing from the applicant's  Officer Selection Brief 
(OSB) reviewed by the CY97C board.  In view of the foregoing and 
in an effort  to remove any possibility  of  an  injustice to the 
applicant, we recommend that his record, to include his corrected 
OSB  reflecting  his  attendance  at  the  Brazilian  PME  course  be 
considered for promotion to the grade of  lieutenant colonel by 
Special Selection Board  (SSB) for the Calendar Year 1997C (CY97C) 
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board. 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 
The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force 
relating to APPLICANT, to include a corrected Officer Selection 
Brief  reflecting  Professional Military  Education:  ISS  Foreign, 
Residence, 1996, and Assignment History, EFFECTIVE DATE: 17 Mar 
1997, DAFSC: 16P4, DUTY TITLE: STUDENT, PHASE I1 JOINT PME, CMD 
LVL: STU, MAJ  COM: ZLA, ORGANIZATION: ZARAGOZA USAF LAMP LAJES, 
be considered for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by 
Special Selection Board  (SSB) for the Calendar Year 1997C (CY97C) 
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board. 

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&LUddd.L 

BAR ARA A. WESTGAT 
Panel Chair 

U 

6 

9 8 - 0 0 8 7 6  

The following members of the Board considered this application in 
Executive Session on 19  November  1998,  under the provisions of 
AFI 3 6 - 2 6 0 3 :  

Mrs. Barbara A. Westgate, Panel Chair 
Mr. Kenneth L. Reinertson, Member 
Ms. Ann L. Heidig, Member 
Ms. Gloria J. Williams, Examiner  (without vote) 

All  members voted  to correct the records, as recommended. 
following documentary evidence was considered: 

The 

Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 2 3   Mar 98, w/atchs. 
Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 
Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPA, dated 21 Apr 98. 
Exhibit D.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 4 May 98. 
Exhibit E.  Applicant's Response, undated. 

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5 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Office of the Assistant Secretary 

AFBCMR 98-00896 

JAN  I5 1999 

\ 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF 

Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air Force Board for Correction 

of Military Records and under the authority of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code (70A 
Stat 116), it is directed that: 

records of the Department of the Air Force relating 
lude a cprrected Officer Selection Brief reflecting P-
gn, Residence, 1996, and Assignment History, EFFECTIVE 

 

DATE: 17 Mar 1997, DAFSC: 16P4, DUTY TITLE: STUDENT, PHASE I1 JOINT PME, CM,D 
LVL: STU, MAJ COM: ZLA, ORGANIZATION: ZARAGOZA USAF LAMP LAJES, be 
considered for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by Special Selection Board for the 
Calendar Year 1997C Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board. 

Director 
Air Force Review Boards Agency