RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-02285
            INDEX CODE:  131.00, 131.05

      APPLICANT  COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His grade  be  corrected  from  technical  sergeant  (E-6)  to  master
sergeant (E-7), effective 2 September 1945.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

In June 1942, while he was a Prisoner of War (POW), his pay grade  was
lowered from technical sergeant (E-6) to staff  sergeant  (E-5).   The
reduction was done due to an  administrative  error  and  was  without
cause.  In September 1945,  when  he  was  liberated  as  a  POW,  his
automatic raise in grade should have been to E-7 not E-6, which he was
awarded in September 1941.

In support of his request, the applicant submits a personal statement,
with statements from former members of the 21st  Pursuit  Squadron,  a
letter from his senator and additional documents associated  with  the
issues cited in his contentions.   These  documents  are  appended  at
Exhibit A.
_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant contracted his initial enlistment in the Army Air  Corps  on
25 January 1940 for a period of 3 years.  He was  a  Prisoner  of  War
(POW) of the Japanese from 9 April 1942 to 5  September  1945.   On  4
November 1946, he was honorably discharged from the Army Air Force, in
the grade of technical sergeant (E-6),  for  the  convenience  of  the
government.  He had completed a total of 6 years, 9 months and 11 days
of active duty service:  2 years, 10 months and 7 days of  continental
service and 3 years, 11 months and 4 days of foreign service.

The relevant facts pertaining to this application, extracted from  the
applicant’s military records, are contained in the letters prepared by
the appropriate offices of the Air Force.  Accordingly,  there  is  no
need to recite these facts in this Record of Proceedings.
_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Missing Persons Branch, HQ AFPC/DPWCM, indicated that a review  of
the applicant’s records reflects he was a Prisoner of War in Japan for
a period of 3 ½ years, from 7 May 1942  to  6 September  1945.   DPWCM
amended their initial advisory opinion and stated that, based  on  the
additional documents presented, the applicant was a POW from  9  April
1942 to 5 September 1945 (Exhibit C).

The Enlisted promotion and Military Testing  Branch,  HQ  AFPC/DPPPWB,
stated that the applicant was appointed (promoted) from staff sergeant
(E-5) to technical sergeant (E-6) effective 2 September 1945.   DPPPWB
reviewed the applicant’s limited records  (records  destroyed  in  the
National Personnel  Records  Center  (NPRC)  fire  in  July  1973)  to
ascertain the facts regarding  his  reduction  to  E-5.   The  Records
Reconstruction Branch at NPRC was unable  to  locate  any  information
which established a correlation between ranks and proficiency ratings.
It  was  further  stated  that  enlisted  men  were  promoted  at  the
discretion  of  their  unit  commanding  officer  and  there  were  no
alternate  record  sources  for  recommendations  for  promotion   for
enlisted men in WWII.

DPPPWB stated that a pay voucher in the  limited  documentation  shows
the applicant being paid as an E-6 in December 1941 and that on 1 June
1942, he began receiving pay as an E-5.  He was appointed to the grade
of E-6(temporary), per Special Orders, dated 11 September 1945,  which
confirmed verbal orders of the Commander-in-Chief on 2 September 1945.
 The pay voucher reflects that on  2  September  1945,  the  applicant
again received pay as an E-6.  Individuals who were POWs for 18 months
or longer were entitled  to  a  one  grade  increase  when  they  were
liberated.  There is no documentation to show why  his  grade  changed
from E-6 to E-5.  After 56 years and no documentation to  substantiate
the reason for change in  grade,  DPPPWB  is  not  in  a  position  to
determine if it was appropriate.

A complete copy of this evaluation is appended at Exhibit D.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant reviewed the advisory opinions  and  indicated  that  HQ
AFPC/DPWCM incorrectly listed his POW dates.  He  was  a  POW  from  9
April 1942 to 5 September 1945.  He has provided additional statements
from  former  members  of  the  21  Pursuit  Squadron  and   documents
associated with the issues cited in his appeal (Exhibit F).
_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing  law
or regulations.

2.  The application was not  timely  filed;  however,  it  is  in  the
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

3.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the
existence  of  probable  error  or  injustice.   We  took  notice   of
applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case  and
believe he has been the victim of an injustice.  In this  respect,  we
note that, at the time the applicant was reduced in grade (1 Jun  42),
he was already a Prisoner of War (9 Apr 42-5 Sep 45). Inasmuch as  the
applicant was a POW at the time he began to receive E-5 pay and  there
are no documents to reflect the reason for the change in grade, we can
only surmise that the demotion action was an administrative error.  In
view of the foregoing, we believe that any doubt should be resolved in
the applicant’s favor by restoring his grade  to  E-6.   In  addition,
based on the length of time he was absent from  military  control,  he
clearly met the  eligibility  for  and  was  promoted  under  the  POW
promotion policy.  Thus, in our view and based  on  our  determination
that his rank of technical sergeant should  be  restored,  we  further
find that he would have been promoted to the grade to master  sergeant
(E-7) on the day he was liberated as a POW.  In view of the foregoing,
we recommend the  applicant’s  records  be  corrected  to  the  extent
indicated below.
_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that:

            a.  He  was  not  demoted  from  the  grade  of  technical
sergeant (E-6) to staff sergeant (E-5) on 1 June 1942.

            b.  He was promoted to the grade of master sergeant (E-7),
with an effective date and date of rank of 2 September 1945 and he was
honorably discharged on  4  November  1946  in  the  grade  of  master
sergeant, rather than in the grade of technical sergeant.
_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 22 June 1999, under the  provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

                  Mr. Thomas S. Markiewicz, Panel Chair
                  Mr. Timothy A. Beyland, Member
              Mr. Joseph G. Diamond, Member

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

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 13 Aug 98, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letters, HQ AFPC/DPWCM, dated 1 Oct 98, and
                   17 Nov 98, w/atchs.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPPWB, dated 7 Oct 98
   Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MIBR, dated 21 Dec 98.
   Exhibit F.  Letter from applicant, undated, w/atchs.




                                   THOMAS S. MARKIEWICZ
                                   Panel Chair


AFBCMR 98-02285




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:

      The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air
Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that:

                 a.  He was not demoted from the grade of technical
sergeant (E-6) to staff sergeant (E-5) on 1 June 1942.

                 b.  He was promoted to the grade of master sergeant
(E-7), with an effective date and date of rank of 2 September 1945 and
he was honorably discharged on 4 November 1946 in the grade of master
sergeant, rather than in the grade of technical sergeant.




            JOE G. LINEBERGER
                                        Director
                                        Air Force Review Boards Agency