RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-03404
            INDEX NUMBER:  131.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

___________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be considered for promotion by Special Selection  Board  (SSB)  for
the CY98B Central Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board with the  Officer
Performance Report (OPR) closing 28 February 1998 and the citation for
the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) included in  his  officer
selection record (OSR).

He also requests that the decorations listed on his officer  selection
brief (OSB) reviewed by the CY98B Central Lt Col  Selection  Board  be
placed in the order of precedence  in  accordance  with  AFI  36-2901,
Dress and Personnel Appearance of Air Force Personnel.

___________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

On 13 October 1998, he received a copy of his officer selection record
that was presented to the  CY98B  (1  June  1998)  Central  Lieutenant
Colonel Selection Board.  The OSR did not contain his last  OPR  which
closed on 28 February 1998.  As this was his latest and  most  current
OPR rating his performance prior to the Board, its absence, in and  of
itself, was  detrimental  to  him  in  receiving  fair  and  equitable
promotion consideration.

The OSR also did not contain the citation for award of the  DMSM.   He
had hand-delivered a copy of said citation to his  Military  Personnel
Flight in October 1997, and was not aware that the citation was not in
his record until 13 October 1998.  As the DMSM was the  highest  medal
awarded to him during his entire military career, the absence  of  the
citation, in and of itself, was detrimental to him receiving fair  and
equitable promotion consideration, since the board  members  were  not
able to see the extremely high level  of  responsibility  he  achieved
while serving as  the  Senior  Air  Liaison  Officer,  United  Nations
Preventive Deployment Force, United States European Command.

Third, the OSB did not denote the  correct  order  of  precedence  for
decorations earned.  The  DMSM  is  a  higher  level  medal  than  the
Meritorious Service Medal (MSM); however,  it  was  not  reflected  as
such.

Applicant’s complete statement and documentary evidence  submitted  in
support of his application are included as Exhibit A.

___________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Information extracted from the Personnel Data  System  (PDS)  reflects
applicant’s Total Active Federal Military  Service  Date  (TAFMSD)  as
2 June 1982.  He has served on continuous active duty and is currently
serving in the grade of major.

A resume of applicant’s  OERs/OPRs  subsequent  to  his  promotion  to
captain follows:

     PERIOD CLOSING    OVERALL EVALUATION

        14 Sep 86      1-1-1
        16 May 87      1-1-1
        24 Jul 87      Education/Training Report (TR)
        24 Jul 88      1-1-1
        24 Jul 89      Meets Standards (MS)
        15 Apr 90      MS
        15 Apr 91      MS
        16 Dec 91      MS
        16 Dec 92      MS
        16 Dec 93      MS
        21 May 94      MS
        15 Mar 95      MS
         2 May 96      MS
        28 Feb 97      MS
 *      28 Feb 98      MS

* Top report in file when considered and not selected for promotion by
the CY98B Central Lt Col Board, which convened on 1 June 1998.

Documentation provided by the applicant reflects he  was  awarded  the
Defense Meritorious Service Medal for the period 30  October  1995  to
15 March 1996, per Permanent Order 100-03, dated  10  April  1997,  as
amended by Permanent Order 239-02, dated 27 August 1997.  The DMSM was
listed on the officer selection brief reviewed by the CY98B Central Lt
Col Selection Board; however,  the  citation  was  not  filed  in  his
officer selection record at that time.

___________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Appeals and SSB Branch, AFPC/DPPPA, reviewed this application  and
recommended denial.  Their comments, in part, follow.

DPPPA did not agree with applicant’s contention that the 28 Feb 98 OPR
was missing from his OSR when he was considered for promotion  to  the
grade of lieutenant colonel by the CY98B board, stating the date stamp
on the OPR, 1 Jun 98, indicates the date it  was  filed  in  his  OSR.
More importantly, the applicant had a nonselect counseling  on  25 Sep
98 at 0900 hours.  At that time, the counselor noted  11  OPRs  and  7
OERs filed in his OSR (Single Uniform  Retrieval  Format  [SURF]  with
counselor’s notes attached).  The 28 Feb 98 OPR is one of the 11 OPRs.
 Although the applicant contends the 28 Feb 98 OPR  was  missing  from
the documents he received from HQ  AFPC  on  2 Oct  98,  he  does  not
indicate whether or not he contacted them to verify the  OPR  was,  in
fact, missing from his OSR.  Because the OPR was filed in his OSR on 1
Jun 98  (the  day  the  board  began),  DPPPA  believes  the  OPR  was
considered by the board, but somehow, not faxed to him on 2 Oct 98.

Evidence of a decoration within  the  OSR  speaks  to  the  decoration
itself, not what the citation may or may not reveal.  Even though  the
DMSM citation was not on file for the board, the board  was  aware  he
had received it because it was listed on  the  OSB.   The  discrepancy
memorandum from HQ AFPC/DPPBR1 proves they were knowledgeable  of  the
award of the DMSM.  Since the board members were aware  the  applicant
had been awarded the DMSM, DPPPA is confident it was factored into the
promotion evaluation.

Decorations on an OSB are grouped by like category in the  order  they
are awarded and updated in the Personnel Data System (PDS).  There  is
no “order of precedence” on the OSB.

The complete evaluation, with attachment, is at Exhibit C.

___________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the  applicant  on
18 January 1999 for review and comment within 30  days.   As  of  this
date, no response has been received by this office.

___________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

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

2.  The application was timely filed.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented  to  demonstrate
the existence of probable error or injustice.  We took notice  of  the
applicant's complete submission in judging the  merits  of  the  case;
however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force
office of primary responsibility and  adopt  their  rationale  as  the
basis for our conclusion that the applicant has not been the victim of
an error or injustice.  Therefore, in the absence of evidence  showing
that the OPR closing 28 February 1998 was not available for review  by
the CY98B Central Lt Col Board, or that the absence  of  the  citation
for the DMSM or the order of precedence of the applicant’s decorations
caused his records to be so misleading or  inaccurate  that  the  duly
constituted selection board was unable to make a  reasonable  decision
concerning his promotability in comparison with his peers, we find  no
compelling basis to recommend  granting  the  relief  sought  in  this
application

___________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The  applicant  be  notified  that  the  evidence  presented  did  not
demonstrate the existence of probable  material  error  or  injustice;
that the application was denied without  a  personal  appearance;  and
that the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission  of
newly  discovered  relevant  evidence   not   considered   with   this
application.

___________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 13 April 1999, under the provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

      Mr. Terry A. Yonkers, Panel Chair
      Mr. Mike Novel, Member
      Mr. James R. Lonon, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 1 Dec 98, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPA, dated 5 Jan 99, w/atch.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MIBR, dated 18 Jan 99.




                                   TERRY A. YONKERS
                                   Panel Chair