RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-02643
                       INDEX CODE: 131.01

                       COUNSEL:  None

                       HEARING DESIRED:  Yes


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

1.    The information contained in the Letter of Evaluation (LOE),  AF  Form
77, for the period 8 January 1993 through 3 April 1993,  be  made  available
to a reconvened Calendar Year 1993A (CY93A) Colonel Promotion Board.

2.    His personal letter to the CY93A Colonel Promotion  Board  be  present
at a reconvened CY93A Colonel Promotion Board.

3.    His record, to include  a  corrected  officer  selection  brief  (OSB)
reflecting his duty title “6975 ESS Squadron Commander,” be  considered  for
promotion to the grade of colonel by Special Selection Board (SSB)  for  the
CY93A Colonel Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

AFIC/DP policies prevented an update to his personnel Report  on  Individual
Person (RIP) reflecting the squadron commander duty title  used  during  the
CY93A Colonel Promotion Board.  His personal letter to the  CY93A  promotion
board was returned prior to the board with an  explanation  that  the  first
paragraph included information already in the records.  Air  Force  policies
prevented an LOE describing squadron commander  accomplishments  from  being
available to the CY93A Colonel Promotion Board, thereby, leaving a  void  in
his  record  of  performance.   The  CY93A  board  never  had  a  chance  to
objectively  assess  his  entire  record,  although  he  made  every  effort
possible to update the RIP  and  made  the  squadron  commander  information
available via a personal letter to the board.

In support of  the  appeal,  applicant  submits  four  officer  preselection
briefs, officer evaluation reports, promotion recommendation form,  and  his
letter to the CY93A Colonel Selection Board.

Applicant also submits a letter from the administrative section  of  AFIC/DO
stating the applicant made every effort to get his records updated prior  to
the CY93A Colonel’s board.

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
lieutenant colonel.

Applicant was considered and not selected for  promotion  to  the  grade  of
colonel by the CY93A,  CY94A,  CY95B,  CY96B,  CY97B,  and  CY98C  Selection
Boards.

Applicant’s  duty  title  “Commander,   Electronic   Security   Provisional,
6975th,” effective 11  January  1993  was  not  listed  on  his  CY93A  OSB.
However, applicant’s record was updated with the duty title in March 1995.

OPR profile since 1992, follows:

           PERIOD ENDING           EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

                       31 Jul 92             Meets Standards
            #          30 Nov 92             Meets Standards
            ##         30 Nov 93             Meets Standards
            ###  30 Nov 94              Meets Standards
                       31 Oct 95             Meets Standards
            #### 31 Oct 96              Meets Standards
            #####      09 Sep 97             Meets Standards
            ######     09 Sep 98             Meets Standards

# Top report at time of CY93A board.
## Top report at time of CY94A board.
### Top report at time of CY95B board.
#### Top report at time of CY96B board.
##### Top report at time of CY97B board.
###### Top report at time of CY98C board.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The  Asst.  NCOIC,  Reports  and  Queries,   Directorate   of   Assignments,
AFPC/DPAPS1, reviewed the application and  states  that  the  applicant  was
appointed as  the  “Commander,  Electronic  Security  Squadron  Provisional,
6975th,” effective 11 January 1993, by HQ  Air  Force  Intelligence  Command
via Special Order GB-18, dated 15 January 1993.  The LOE  submitted  by  the
applicant shows these duties being performed 8 January 1993 through 3  April
1993, which satisfies the  requirement  for  60  days  consecutive  duty  as
defined  by  (then  current)  AFM  30-130,  Vol  I(C20),  Ch  18-18e,  dated
1 September 1992, was previously approved and  input  into  the  applicant’s
records in March 1995.  They concur with this update.

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

The Ch, Promotion, Evaluation and Recognition Div, Directorate of  Personnel
Program Management, AFPC/DPPPA, reviewed this application  and  states  that
the applicant has waited five years to  file  (three  years  since  date  of
discovery) and took no action on the claim before that.  The  applicant  has
inexcusably delayed his appeal and, as a result, the  Air  Force  no  longer
has documents on file, memories fade, and this complicates  the  ability  to
determine the merits of his position.  In addition, the test to  be  applied
is not whether the applicant discovered the error within  three  years,  but
whether, through due diligence, it was discoverable.  Clearly,  the  alleged
error on his OSB, the missing AF Form 77, and disallowed personal letter  to
the  CY93A  board  in  his  officer  selection  record  (OSR),   have   been
discoverable since the alleged errors occurred.  In  short,  the  Air  Force
asserts that the applicant’s  unreasonable  delay  regarding  a  matter  now
dating back five years has greatly complicated its ability to determine  the
merits of the applicant’s position.  While they agree  the  duty  title  was
missing from the OSB, they  note  his  PO693A  PRF  states  in  Section  IV,
PROMOTION RECOMMENDATION, “Commander 6975  ESS  (P)....”   They,  therefore,
contend the board was aware that he served as commander  while  deployed  to
Saudi  Arabia  and  appropriately  factored  the  information   into   their
assessment.  The applicant also believes his AF  Form  77,  documenting  his
duties while assigned as commander of  the  6975th  EES,  should  have  been
filed in his OSR for review by  the  P0693A  central  board.   They  do  not
agree.  AFR 36-10, paragraph 7-7 states in part, “LOEs are optional,  except
as authorized in table  61.   When  written,  the  evaluator  uses  them  to
prepare the ratee’s next OPR or TR, but does not attach them to the  OPR  or
TR.  Evaluators may paraphrase or quote information provided in  the  LOEs.”
They, therefore, would be opposed to the Board allowing the LOE to be  filed
in the applicant’s OSR.  The  applicant  wrote  a  personal  letter  to  the
P0693A  board  president  which  was   disallowed   because   it   contained
information in the first paragraph already available for the Board’s  review
in his OSR.  If the Board grants the applicant an SSB, they suggest he  omit
the first paragraph and resubmit the letter.  They recommend denial  of  the
applicant’s request to file the AF Form 77 in his OSR.  They also  would  be
opposed to the Board allowing the letter, in  it’s  present  format,  to  be
filed in his OSR for review by the P0693A board.

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

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant reviewed the Air Force evaluation and  states  that  AFIC/DP’s
adamant refusal to update his personnel record, rendered  him  dead  in  the
water to pursue any action from the AFBCMR  until  he  could  get  the  duty
title on his records.  Please note that getting his duty title updated  took
several months.  He Permanent Change of  Station  (PCS’d)  to  Kirtland  AFB
from Kelly AFB in the spring of 1994.  Then he had to learn  a  totally  new
occupation as a test manager, jump into  executing  a  test  on  an  ongoing
system, and relocate his family.  He thinks it  is  rather  unfair  for  the
AFBCMR to assume that he should have immediately begun processing  the  duty
title change upon his arrival to a  new  base.   Rather,  a  reasonable  man
would allow him at least 6-9 months to get settled, learn his new job,  etc.
 Further, AFPC/DPPPA’s rationale that the board was aware that he served  as
commander while deployed to Saudi  Arabia  and  appropriately  factored  the
information into their assessment is outrageous.  Every briefing an  officer
gets from senior officers who have been  promotion  board  members  includes
the fact that board  members,  on  the  average,  are  only  able  to  spend
anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes on each record, due to the  volume  of  records
being evaluated.  Again, using the reasonable man  standard,  there  is  too
high a likelihood that board members  would  not  make  the  commander  duty
connection because of time limitations, no personal  letter  to  draw  their
attention to the fact, and no LOE or statement  on  an  OPR.   In  addition,
there is no possibility that if a board member  did  mentally  register  the
statement in the  PROMOTION  RECOMMENDATION,  it  begged  the  question  why
wasn’t this reflected on his list of duty  titles?   A  board  member  could
draw an erroneous conclusion that he did not care enough to get his  records
straight, or worse yet, he screwed up the commander’s job and that  was  why
nothing else was reflected in his records.  Both  of  these  assumptions  of
course are ludicrous, as  he  has  indicated  in  past  correspondence,  his
numerous attempts at AFIC to update the personnel system and the  fact  that
he did perform as well as a commander  as  indicated  in  the  LOE  and  the
subsequent OPR.  Again, he returns to his profound belief that  AFIC/DP  was
a major reason for his not being promoted by not allowing him to update  his
duty titles.  Concerning the refusal to allow his  personal  letter  to  the
board president, he received the returned letter right around the  time  the
P0693A board convened.  He cannot  accurately  state  whether  the  returned
letter arrived during the board  or  after  the  board.   In  any  case,  he
clearly remembers that he was completely dashed at not  being  able  to  get
another letter off to the board.  He defers to  AFPC/DPPPA’s  recommendation
“if the board grants the applicant an SSB, we  suggest  he  omit  the  first
paragraph and resubmit the letter.”  Indeed, that will be done, as  it  will
solve the LOE information dilemma he currently
has in his OPR trail.  With the letter and a corrected duty title, he  would
be satisfied that a  supplemental  board  would  have  all  the  information
required to fairly evaluate his records against his peers in 1993.

Applicant's complete response is attached at 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.  The Air Force has indicated  that
the applicant's officer selection brief  (OSB)  did  not  reflect  the  duty
title “Commander, Electronic Security  Squadron  Provisional,  6975th  ESS,”
effective 11 Jan 93.  They  also  state  that  the  applicant’s  record  was
updated in March 1995 to reflect the duty title.  Regarding the  applicant’s
request that the information contained in the Letter  of  Evaluation  (LOE),
AF Form 77, for the period 8 January 1993 through  3  April  1993,  be  made
available to a reconvened CY93A Colonel Promotion Board, we  note  that  the
Air Force states that if the Board grants the applicant an SSB,  they  would
suggest he omit the first paragraph and resubmit the letter.  The  applicant
has agreed with this suggestion  and  has  stated  that  with  the  personal
letter to the Board President and  a  corrected  duty  title,  he  would  be
satisfied that a supplemental board would have all the information  required
to fairly evaluate his records against his peers in 1993.  In  view  of  the
above, we recommend that  his  corrected  OSB,  reflecting  the  duty  title
“Commander,  Electronic  Security   Squadron   Provisional,   6975th   ESS,”
effective 11 Jan 93, and provided he writes a letter to the board  president
as indicated, be considered for promotion to  the  grade  of  colonel  by  a
Special Selection Board for the CY93A Central Colonel  Selection  Board  and
for any subsequent boards for which the duty  title  was  not  a  matter  of
record.

_________________________________________________________________

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
the duty title “Commander, Electronic Security Squadron Provisional,  6975th
ESS,” effective 11 Jan 93, and provided he writes  a  letter  to  the  board
president omitting the first paragraph contained in his original letter,  be
considered for promotion to the grade of colonel by a Special Selection
Board for the CY93A Central Colonel Selection Board and for  any  subsequent
boards for which the duty title was not a matter of record.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered this application in  Executive
Session on 27 May 1999, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

         Mr. Douglas J. Heady, Panel Chair
         Dr. Gerald B. Kauvar, Member
         Ms. Peggy E. Gordon, Member
         Ms. Gloria J. Williams, Examiner (without vote)

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

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 18 Sept 98, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPAPS1, dated 19 Oct 98.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPA, dated 23 Oct 98.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 9 Nov 98.
   Exhibit F.  Applicant's Response, dated 12 Jan 99, w/atchs.





                                   DOUGLAS J. HEADY
                                   Panel Chair


AFBCMR 98-02643




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   , to include a corrected officer selection brief, reflecting
the duty title “Commander, Electronic Security Squadron Provisional, 6975th
ESS,” effective 11 Jan 93, and provided he writes a letter to the board
president omitting the first paragraph contained in his original letter, be
considered for promotion to the grade of colonel by a Special Selection
Board for the Calendar Year 1993A Central Colonel Selection Board and for
any subsequent boards for which the duty title was not a matter of record.





            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency