RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-03040
            INDEX CODE:  100, 131.01

            COUNSEL:  None

            HEARING DESIRED:  No


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS:

Promotion reconsideration to the grade of lieutenant  colonel  by  the
Calendar Year 1998B (CY98B) (1 Jun 98) Lieutenant Colonel  Board  with
correct duty titles on his  Officer  Selection  Brief  (OSB)  and  his
Officer Performance Report (OPR) rendered for  the  period  16 Feb  96
through 15 Feb 97.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He did not have proper time to have his  OSB  corrected  and  his  OPR
closing 15 Feb 97 had the wrong duty title typed in.

He contends that his duty history effective 7 Oct  92  should  reflect
Y4024, Chief, Maintenance Initiatives  Projects,  and  duty  effective
3 Mar 93 should read the same.  Duty effective 6 Mar 93 should be 4024
Maintenance Supervisor and duty effective 4 Apr  93  the  same.   Duty
effective 9 May 94 should be B21L3 Squadron  Maintenance  Officer  and
duty effective 3 Jun 96 should be 21S4 Deputy Chief Systems Management
Division and duty effective 26 Jun 97 should be C21S4  Commander,  DDD
Letterkenny, and his duty history be changed to indicate his  position
as a commander’s (“C” prefix) position.

Applicant’s complete submission is attached at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant’s Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) is
1 Oct 82.  He is currently serving on  extended  active  duty  in  the
grade of lieutenant colonel, effective, and with a date of rank  (DOR)
of 1 Aug 99.


Applicant’s OPR profile since 1990 reflects the following:

            PERIOD ENDING          OVERALL EVALUATION

              13 Aug 90              Meets Standards
              13 Aug 91              Meets Standards
              13 Aug 92              Meets Standards
              15 Feb 93              Meets Standards
              15 Feb 94              Meets Standards
              15 Feb 95              Meets Standards
              15 Feb 96              Meets Standards
            * 15 Feb 97              Meets Standards
              25 Jun 97              Meets Standards
              25 Jun 98              Meets Standards
              25 Jun 99              Meets Standards

     *  Contested OPR.

At the time applicant was considered for promotion  to  the  grade  of
lieutenant colonel by the CY98B board,  his  OSB  reflected  his  duty
title as Commander, DDD Letterkenny, effective 26 Jun 97.

The OPR rendered for the period 16 Feb 96 through 15 Feb  97  reflects
his duty title as Distribution Staff Officer.

Applicant was considered and nonselected for promotion to the grade of
lieutenant colonel by the CY98B  Lieutenant  Colonel  Board.   He  was
selected for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by the CY99A
(17 Apr 99) Lieutenant Colonel Board.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATIONS:

The Chief, Reports  &  Queries  Section,  AFPC/DPAPS1,  reviewed  this
application and indicated that the applicant’s duty history  reflected
on the OSB was compared to  existing  OPR  and  Officer  Effectiveness
Report (OER) source documents and the following facts and other errors
were noted and corrected:

            Source document OPR, dated 14 Aug 92 - 15 Feb 93  contains
duty AFSC of 4011 (not Y4024 as applicant contended)  and  duty  title
“Chief, Maintenance Initiatives Division.  Duty entry  of  921017  was
changed accordingly to reflect information on the source document OPR.

            Duty entry of 930414 was changed to duty effective date of
930316 because there should be no duty changes of less than  60  days.
The next duty entry of 930614 (4024 Maintenance Supervisor)  was  left
to stand  because  the  15 Feb  94  OPR  closed  out  with  this  duty
information.



            Duty  entry  of  940509  was  changed  to  B21A3  Squadron
Maintenance Officer since the next OPR closed out on  15 Feb  95  with
this duty title and duty AFSC.  The applicant contends the  duty  AFSC
should have had an L3 suffix but the OPR indicates an A3 suffix.   The
next OPR closing out on 15 Feb 96 shows the same  information  so  the
duty entry of 951031 was eliminated.

            The next duty entry  of  960613  was  changed  to  reflect
information on the next OPR of record.  It was changed  to  show  duty
AFSC 21S4 Distribution Staff Officer.  This duty AFSC  and  title  are
reflected in the official copy of the OPR of 16 Feb  96 -  15 Feb  97.
The OPR copy provided by the applicant did  not  show  the  same  duty
title as the OPR of record.  Therefore, the OPR that met the board did
not show “Commander, DDD Letterkenny” as he stated  but  the  OSB  did
show this incorrect duty title.

Other items noted and corrected:

            Duty entry of  850330  -  duty  location  was  changed  to
Maxwell AFB, Alabama,  for  Squadron  Officer  School  (SOS).   Source
document:  AF Form 475, dated 26 Jul 85.

            Duty  entry  of  851011  was  changed  to  4054A.   Source
document:  OPR of 27 Jul 85 - 7 Feb 86.

            Duty entry of 890901 deleted since it duplicated entry  of
890416.

            Duty entry of 22 Jul 92 deleted since it duplicated  entry
of 900720.

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

The Chief,  Supply  Officer  Assignments,  AFPC/DPASL,  reviewed  this
application and indicated that regarding applicant’s request to change
his duty history to  indicate  his  position  as  a  Commander’s  (“C”
prefix) position, according to AFI 36-2101, paragraph  3.17,  the  “C”
prefix is used to “identify commander positions below group level.  It
denotes commander duties within a functional AFSC.”  The “C” prefix is
awarded only to an officer filling a “C” prefix-coded position number.
 The position number the applicant has held the entire time since  his
arrival at New Cumberland is position  #001295433  and  this  position
number is, and has been since his  arrival,  coded  as  a  21S4  (non-
command) position.   It  does  not  have  a  “C”  prefix  and  is  not
considered a Commander’s position.  There is no evidence  that  an  AF
Form 2096 was officially submitted to AFPC by either the unit  or  the
Military Personnel Flight (MPF) to change either the duty  title,  the
duty AFSC, or the position number for the applicant.  This is the only
vehicle for changing current duty and approval level for these actions
is AFPC.  DPASL recommends disapproval; no further alternative  relief
is appropriate.

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

The Chief, Appeals  &  SSB  Branch,  AFPC/DPPPA,  also  reviewed  this
application and indicated that the application is not timely filed and
clearly the alleged error(s) upon which the applicant relies  has/have
been discoverable since their entries in  the  Personnel  Data  System
(PDS).  Further, Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 1320.11 states,
“A special selection board shall not...consider any officer who might,
by maintaining reasonably careful records, have discovered  and  taken
steps to correct that error or omission on which  the  original  board
based its decision against promotion.”  Therefore, DPPPA sees no valid
reason  to  waive  the  statute  of  limitations  and   consider   the
applicant’s requests.  The application may also be dismissed under the
equitable doctrine of laches, which  denies  relief  to  one  who  has
unreasonably and inexcusably delayed in  asserting  a  claim.   Laches
consists of two elements:  inexcusable delay and prejudice to the  Air
Force resulting therefrom.  In the applicant’s  case,  he  has  waited
over three years to file and took no action on the claim before  that.
He has inexcusably delayed his appeal (providing no explanation)  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.  If the Board considers then DPPPA recommends denial due  to
lack of merit.

DPPPA indicated that the applicant does not state whether  he  was  in
receipt of his Officer Preselection Brief (OPB) that would  have  been
forwarded to him approximately mid-Feb  to  early  Mar  98.   The  OPB
contains 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.   If  any
errors are found, he/she must take  corrective  action  prior  to  the
selection board not after it.  As a matter of fact,  DPPPA  noted  the
identical errors were also on applicant’s OSB for the CY96C (8 Jul 96)
and CY97C (21 Jul 97) lieutenant colonel boards when he was considered
below-the-promotion zone (BPZ).  DPPPA questions why he did  not  take
corrective action prior to the BPZ board when he received his OPB  for
those boards.  It appears he waited  for  his  first  nonselection  to
motivate him to attempt correction to his record.

DPPPA  states  that  DPAPS1’s  advisory  opinion,  dated  24 Nov   98,
addresses the errors the applicant identified on his  brief  and  they
made all the appropriate corrections using information  obtained  from
the applicant’s OPRs as source documents and also made  several  other
corrections not addressed by the applicant based  on  the  information
obtained from his performance reports and DPPPA concurs with  all  the
corrections  made.   However,  DPPPA  does   not   support   promotion
reconsideration on these corrections as  they  are  administrative  in
nature and the correct information is reflected on  the  corresponding
OPRs.  Therefore, the CY98B  board  had  the  correct  information  to
review when they made the determination to nonselect the applicant for
promotion.

DPASL’s advisory, dated 3 Dec 98, addressed the applicant’s request to
include a “C”  prefix  to  indicate  his  position  as  a  commander’s
position.  However, they determined the position is not a  commander’s
position and, as such, promotion reconsideration on this  issue  would
not be appropriate.

The applicant also claims the duty title on  his  15 Feb  97  OPR  was
changed to read “Commander, DDD Letterkenny” after it  was  finalized.
The 25 Jun 97 OPR currently on file has a duty title of “Deputy Chief,
Systems Management Division.”  However, the duty titles  reflected  on
the OSB (13 Jun 96 and 26 Jun 97) reflect the commander position.  The
applicant has not elaborated on this issue  and,  as  such,  DPPPA  is
unclear as to what the specific request is for  this  issue.   In  any
case, DPPPA does not support promotion reconsideration as the  correct
information was reflected on the 25 Jun 97 OPR.

DPPPA further stated that there is no  clear  evidence  the  erroneous
duty history entries negatively  impacted  the  applicant’s  promotion
opportunity.  Central boards evaluate  the  entire  officer  selection
record (OSR) (including the Promotion Recommendation Form (PRF), OPRs,
OERs, training reports, letters of evaluation, decorations, and  OSB),
assessing whole person factors such as job  performance,  professional
qualities, depth and breadth of experience, leadership,  and  academic
and professional military education (PME).  DPPPA is not convinced the
erroneous data on the OSB contributed to the applicant’s  nonselection
and based on the evidence provided and the findings  from  DPAPS1  and
DPASL, recommend denial  of  the  applicant’s  request  for  promotion
reconsideration by the CY98B board.

A complete copy of their evaluation is attached at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATIONS:

Copies of the Air Force evaluations were  forwarded  to  applicant  on
18 Jan 99 for review and  response.   Applicant  provided  a  copy  of
Special Order #08-97, dated 20 Jun  97,  indicating  he  was  assigned
primary duty as Commander,  Defense  Distribution  Deport  Letterkenny
(DDLP),  Letterkenny,   Pennsylvania,   effective   26 Jun   97   (see
Exhibit G).

_________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC), Reports & Queries Team,
AFPC/DPAPS1,  reviewed  the  Special  Order  #08-97  provided  by  the
applicant to determine if it would have any bearing  on  changing  his
26 Jun 97 duty title to reflect “Commander,  DDD  Letterkenny”  versus
“Commander.”  DPAPS1 stated that applicant’s OPR, closing  25 Jun  98,
reflects the duty title as “Commander” and this is mirrored under  his
duty history segment of the PDS and is  correct  based  on  the  above
mentioned OPR.  If the  PDS  duty  history  were  changed  to  reflect
“Commander, DDD Letterkenny” without changing the duty  title  on  the
OPR, a discrepancy would be created  between  the  PDS  and  selection
folder records.  AFCSM 36-699, Volume I, 5.20.3.3.8.2, states, “If the
requested change does not coincide  with  the  OPR/OER  on  file,  the
applicant must submit a request to have the OPR/OER changed.”  If  the
OPR/OER change is approved, the duty history would then be updated  to
mirror the change; however, if it is not approved, there has  been  no
discrepancy created in the PDS record.  DPAPS1 recommended  the  Board
use Special Order 08-97 to make a determination on  changing  the  OPR
duty title.  If the decision  to  grant  relief  is  sought,  the  OPR
closing 25 Jun 98 should  be  corrected  to  reflect  “Commander,  DDD
Letterkenny” and applicant’s PDS records  to  reflect  the  same  (see
Exhibit H).

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant reviewed the additional Air Force evaluation  and  indicated
that  he  recently  learned  from  his  servicing   military   affairs
representation that the duty  title  “Commander  Defense  Distribution
Depot, Letterkenny” is actually tied to the  position  number  of  the
manning slot and the  manning  slot  was  a  negotiated  Army  manning
position.  Therefore, to clarify his  situation,  he  actually  was  a
Commander of the Distribution Depot Letterkenny; however, the  manning
slot belonged to the Army.  The Defense Distribution Depot Letterkenny
closed due to the Base Realignment and Closure (1995) in Sep  98.   He
states that it made no sense  to  their  command  to  renegotiate  the
manning slot with the Army and the Air Force to make the slot  an  Air
Force Command slot.  He states that he hopes this  helps  clarify  the
case (see Exhibit J).

_________________________________________________________________

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.   We  note  the  Chief,
Reports  &  Queries  Section,  addressed  the  errors  the   applicant
identified on his brief and  all  the  appropriate  corrections  using
information obtained from the applicant’s OPRs  were  made,  including
other  corrections,  not  addressed  by  the   applicant,   based   on
information obtained from his performance reports.   Hence,  the  only
remaining decision for this Board to make is in regard to  applicant’s
request to change the duty title to “Commander”  on  his  OPR  closing
15 Feb 97 and OSB prepared on 19 May 98 and to add a “C” prefix to his
DAFSC on the OSB.  In this respect, after noting Special Order No. 08-
97, it appears  that  the  applicant  was  assigned  primary  duty  as
“Commander” effective 26 Jun 97.  Therefore, we recommend the OSB  and
OPR be corrected as indicated below and that the applicant be provided
promotion consideration to the grade of lieutenant colonel by SSB  for
the CY98B Lieutenant Colonel Board.

4.    Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate
the existence of probable error or injustice with regard to  adding  a
“C” prefix to his duty title.  In this respect, we note the  statement
from the Chief, Supply Officer Assignments, who indicated that the “C”
prefix is used to identify commander positions below group level.   It
denotes commander duties within a functional AFSC and is awarded  only
to an officer filling a “C” prefix-coded position number.  It  appears
that the position number the applicant held was coded as a 21S4  (non-
command) position which  does  not  have  a  “C”  prefix  and  is  not
considered a commander’s position.  In view of the above, we  find  no
compelling basis to recommend adding the  “C”  prefix  on  applicant’s
DAFSC on his OSB as requested.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

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

      a.    The OSB, prepared on 19 May 98 for  consideration  by  the
CY98B Lieutenant Colonel Board, be amended to  change  the  26 Jun  97
entry under Assignment History to read “Commander” under Duty Title.

      b.    The OPR, rendered for the period 16 Feb 96 through  15 Feb
97 be amended in Section III (Job Description)  under  Duty  Title  by
changing “Distribution Staff Officer” to “Commander.”

It is further recommended that he be considered for promotion  to  the
grade of lieutenant colonel by SSB for the  CY98B  Lieutenant  Colonel
Board, with the corrected OSB and OPR.

_________________________________________________________________








The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 4 November 1999, under the provisions of AFI  36-
2603:

                  Mr. Richard A. Peterson, Panel Chair
                  Mr. Gregory H. Petkoff, Member
              Ms. Melinda J. Loftin, Member
              Mrs. Joyce Earley, Examiner (without vote)

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 28 Oct 98, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPAPS1, dated 24 Nov 98.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPASL, dated 3 Dec 98, w/atchs.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPA, dated 29 Dec 98.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 19 Jan 99.
     Exhibit G.  Special Orders, dated 20 Jun 97.
     Exhibit H.  Letter, AFPC/DPAPS1, dated 8 Apr 99.
     Exhibit I.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 30 Apr 99.
     Exhibit J.  Letter fr applicant, dated 9 May 99.




                                   RICHARD A. PETERSON
                                   Panel Chair


INDEX CODE:  100, 111.01, 131.01

AFBCMR 98-03040




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   , be corrected to show that:

            a.   The Officer Selection Brief (OSB), prepared on 19 May
1998 for consideration by the Calendar Year 1998B  (CY98B)  Lieutenant
Colonel Board, be amended to  change  the  26 June  1997  entry  under
Assignment History to read “Commander” under Duty Title.

            b.   The Officer  Performance  Report,  rendered  for  the
period 16 February 1996 through 15 February 1997 be amended in Section
III (Job Description) under Duty Title by changing “Distribution Staff
Officer” to “Commander.”

      It is further directed that he be considered  for  promotion  to
the grade of lieutenant colonel by Special  Selection  Board  for  the
CY98B Lieutenant Colonel Board, with the corrected OSB and OPR.






                                                            JOE     G.
LINEBERGER
                                                         Director
                                                           Air   Force
Review Boards Agency