RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-03569
            INDEX CODE:  131.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________


APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be considered for promotion to the grade  of  major  by  a  Special
Selection Board (SSB) for the CY96A (4 Mar 96) Major  Selection  Board
(P0496A), with inclusion of  the  corrected  Promotion  Recommendation
Form (PRF) provided; the citations  for  the  Air  Force  Commendation
Medal (AFCM) awarded in 1990, and the Meritorious Service Medal  (MSM)
awarded in 1994; and the Officer Performance Report (OPR), closing  20
Feb 96, in his Officer Selection Record (OSR).
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

His poorly written PRF was prepared on an  obsolete  version  (Aug  88
edition) of the AF Form 709, Promotion Recommendation,  and  may  have
sent a negative signal to the promotion board.  His OPR closing 20 Feb
96 and the citations for the AFCM and MSM were missing  from  his  OSR
when he was considered for promotion  by  the  CY96A  Major  Selection
Board.

In support of his request, applicant submits a personal  statement,  a
statement from his rater, E-mail from HQ AFPC/DPP, the  contested  PRF
and reaccomplished PRF, copies of the citations for the AFCM and  MSM,
the OPR closing 20 Feb 96, his OSR as it  appeared  before  the  CY96A
Major Selection Board (Exhibit A).
_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Information extracted from the Personnel Data System (PDS) reveals the
applicant’s Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) as  29
May 85.  He is currently serving  on  active  duty  in  the  grade  of
captain, with an effective date and date of rank of 29 May 89.

Applicant's OPR profile, commencing with the report closing  2 Jul  91
follows:

            Period Ending    Evaluation

                  2 Jul 91   Meets Standards (MS)
                 25 Feb 92        MS
                  1 Oct 92        MS
                  1 Oct 93        MS
            #    20 Feb 94        MS
            ##   20 Feb 95        MS
                 20 Feb 96        MS
            ###  20 Feb 97        MS
            ####  6 Dec 97        MS
                  6 Oct 98        MS


# Top report at  the  time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to major  (below-the-promotion  zone  (BPZ))  by  the  CY94A
Central Major Board, which convened on 22 Aug 94.

## Top report at the  time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to major (BPZ) by  the  CY95A  Central  Major  Board,  which
convened on 5 Jun 95.  Top report at the time he  was  considered  and
nonselected for promotion to major (in-the-promotion  zone  (IPZ))  by
the CY96A Central Major Board, which convened on 4 Mar 96.

### Top report at the time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to major  (above-the-promotion  zone  (APZ))  by  the  CY97C
Central Major Board, which convened on 16 Jun 97.

#### Top report at the time he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to major (APZ) by  the  CY98B  Central  Major  Board,  which
convened on 6 Apr 98.

Information maintained in the Personnel Data System (PDS) reveals that
the applicant has been nonselected for promotion to the grade of major
by three selection boards and that he  currently  has  an  established
date of separation (DOS) of 31 May 2005.
_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The  Evaluation  Programs  Branch,  HQ  AFPC/DPPPE,  stated  that  the
applicant is correct that his records met the promotion board with  an
outdated AF Form 709, Aug 88.  The applicant has provided a new PRF on
AF Form 709, Jun 95, signed by his senior rater.  Since the  applicant
has senior rater  concurrence  and  has  provided  a  new  PRF,  DPPPE
recommended the applicant’s request for  replacement  of  his  PRF  be
granted (Exhibit C).

The Promotion, Evaluation  and  Recognition  Division,  HQ  AFPC/DPPP,
reviewed this application and recommended denial.   DPPP  stated  that
while HQ AFPC/DPPPE recommended the PRF be replaced, the Air Force has
determined corrections such as these are administrative in nature  and
do not warrant SSB consideration.

DPPPE agrees with the applicant that the citations for  the  AFCM  and
MSM were missing from his OSR when he was considered for promotion  to
the grade of major by the CY96A (IPZ) selection board.   DPPPE  stated
that the citations  were  also  missing  from  his  OSR  when  he  was
considered for promotion by both BPZ  selection  boards  and  his  APZ
selection board.  The applicant had over two years prior  to  his  IPZ
consideration to ensure the citations were appropriately filed in  his
OSR.  He does not include any  documentation  to  prove  he  made  any
efforts prior to his  CY96A  promotion  consideration  to  ensure  the
decorations were filed in his OSR.

DPPP indicated that the purpose of having a citation included  in  the
record is not to allow board members the  opportunity  to  review  the
comments thereon, although they may do so if they desire.  Rather, the
purpose is to make them aware of the level of the  decorations.   Even
though the MSM and AFCM citations were not on file for the board, they
were in evidence before the  board  because  they  were  appropriately
annotated on his Officer  Selection  Brief  (OSB).   Since  the  board
members were aware of the decorations, they  were  factored  into  the
promotion evaluation.

DPPP stated that the applicant’s contention his 20 Feb 96  OPR  should
have been in his OSR for the CY96A board’s review is  unfounded.   The
governing Air Force instruction stipulates that OPRs are to  be  filed
60 days after the closeout date.  The applicant’s OPR was not required
to be filed in his OSR until 21 Apr 96, over a month after  the  board
convened.  Although DPPP does not know when the OPR was placed in  his
record, it was not signed by the final evaluator until 25 Mar 96, some
three weeks after the board.  Despite the fact the  applicant’s  rater
did not properly track the OPR, it was  not  even  complete  when  the
board convened in early March,  nor  was  it  required  to  be  filed.
Therefore DPPP would be strongly opposed to SSB consideration on  this
issue.

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  his
original record appearing before  the  CY96A  center  major  selection
board was not only inaccurate, it was also unfair.  The combination of
missing medal citations, a 14-month old OPR, and a PRF  with  numerous
typographical errors written on an obsolete version of the form, could
only have sent  a  negative  signal  to  board  members.   AFPC/DPPP’s
arguments that he did not exercise reasonable diligence in discovering
the missing medal  citations  is  inaccurate.   He  reviewed  all  his
Officer Selection Briefs (OSBs) and they all had  the  medals  listed.
The OSB does not show that AFPC has copies of the citations.   Without
actually traveling to AFPC, he could not have confirmed that the medal
citations  were  in  his  records.   Without  a  specific  regulation,
instruction or policy letter, HQ  AFPC/DPPP  recommendation  that  SSB
consideration based on the mentioned PRF corrections is without basis.

Just prior to the CY96A selection board, he was sent  on  an  extended
temporary  duty  assignment  to  support  Operation   Joint   Endeavor
(Bosnia).  He was not available to monitor the status of  the  OPR  in
question; however, both he and his supervisors intended it to  be  the
top OPR for the board.  Additionally, he did not receive  his  OSB  or
PRF for that board until he returned from the deployment (months after
the board and board results were released).

The commander of the 7th Air Force provided a letter of support.

Applicant’s response and the 7AF/CC letter are appended at Exhibit F.
_________________________________________________________________

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.   After  reviewing  the
applicant’s submission and the evidence of record,  we  are  persuaded
that some relief is warranted.  With regard to the contested PRF being
prepared on an outdated Air Force Form  709  and  containing  numerous
typographical errors, it is our opinion that the applicant should  not
be penalized for something that was beyond his control.  We  therefore
agree with the opinion and recommendation of the  Evaluation  Programs
Branch, HQ AFPC/DPPPE, that the contested PRF should be replaced  with
the corrected PRF provided.  In addition,  we  are  persuaded  by  the
statement from the rater of the OPR, closing 20 Feb 96, that  the  OPR
in question was rendered with the intention that it would  be  in  the
applicant’s officer selection record (OSR) when he was considered  for
promotion by  the  CY96A  Major  Selection  Board.   However,  due  to
negligence, the OPR did not arrive  in  time  to  meet  the  selection
board.  In  view  of  the  foregoing,  and  in  order  to  offset  any
possibility of an injustice, we conclude that the applicant should  be
given SSB consideration for the CY96A Major Selection Board, with  the
reaccomplished PRF and the OPR, closing 20 Feb 96, in his records.

4.  We have been advised that the citations for the  applicant’s  AFCM
and MSM were accepted to file prior to the time this  application  was
submitted.  Since we have  determined  consideration  by  an  SSB  for
promotion by the CY 1996A board  would  be  appropriate,  because  the
citations should have  been  in  his  selection  record  when  he  was
considered by the CY 1996A board, in order to present the SSB  with  a
complete a record as possible, we believe these documents should be in
the record presented to the SSB.
_________________________________________________________________

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 Promotion Recommendation (PRF) prepared for use  by  the
Calendar Year 1996A Central Major Selection Board, which convened on 4
March 1996, be declared void and removed  from  his  records  and  the
attached reaccomplished PRF be accepted for file in its place.

      b.  The attached reaccomplished Promotion  Recommendation  (PRF)
prepared for use by the Calendar Year 1996A  Central  Major  Selection
Board, which convened on 4 March 1996, be accepted for file  in  place
of the voided PRF.

      c.  The Company Grade Officer Performance Report, AF Form  707B,
rendered for the period 21 February 1995 through 20 February 1996,  be
amended by changing the date in Section VII (Additional Rater  Overall
Assessment) and Section VIII (Reviewer) from 25 March 1996 to 1  March
1996.

It is further recommended that he be considered for promotion  to  the
grade of major by a Special Selection Board  (SSB)  for  the  Calendar
Year 1996A Major Selection Board, which convened on 4 March 1996, with
inclusion of the reaccomplished PRF and OPR, rendered for  the  period
21 February 1995 through  20  February  1996,  and  the  citations  to
accompany the award of the Air Force  Commendation  Medal  awarded  in
1990 and Meritorious Service Medal awarded in 1994.
_________________________________________________________________

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

                  Ms. Martha Maust, Panel Chair
                  Mr. Lawrence R. Leehy, Member
              Ms. Rita J. Maldonado, Member

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

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 22 Dec 98, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPPE, dated 5 Feb 99.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPP, dated 8 Feb 99.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MIBR, dated 22 Feb 99.
   Exhibit F.  Letter from applicant, dated 7 Mar 99 and a letter
               from the 7AF/CC, dated 11 Mar 99.




                                   MARTHA MAUST
                                   Panel Chair



AFBCMR 98-03569




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.  The Promotion Recommendation (PRF) prepared for use by
the Calendar Year 1996A Central Major Selection Board, which convened
on 4 March 1996, be, and hereby is, declared void and removed from his
records and the attached reaccomplished PRF be accepted for file in
its place.

            b.  The attached reaccomplished Promotion Recommendation
(PRF) prepared for use by the Calendar Year 1996A Central Major
Selection Board, which convened on 4 March 1996, be accepted for file
in place of the voided PRF.

            c.  The Company Grade Officer Performance Report, AF Form
707B, rendered for the period 21 February 1995 through 20 February
1996, be amended by changing the date in Section VII (Additional Rater
Overall Assessment) and Section VIII (Reviewer) from 25 March 1996 to
1 March 1996.

      It is further directed that he be considered for promotion to
the grade of major by a Special Selection Board (SSB) for the Calendar
Year 1996A Major Selection Board, which convened on 4 March 1996, with
inclusion of the reaccomplished PRF and OPR, rendered for the period
21 February 1995 through 20 February 1996, and the citations to
accompany the award of the Air Force Commendation Medal awarded in
1990 and Meritorious Service Medal awarded in 1994.




            JOE G. LINEBERGER
                                        Director
                                        Air Force Review Boards Agency

Attachment
Reaccomplished PRF