RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  98-00624
                       INDEX CODE: 110.03, 131.01

                       COUNSEL:  None

                       HEARING DESIRED:  No


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

1.    The bar to her reappointment as  a  Reserve  commissioned  officer  be
removed from her records and she be  reinstated  as  an  Air  Force  Reserve
officer.

2.    She be reconsidered for promotion to the Reserve grade of  captain  by
a Special Review Board (SRB) for the  Fiscal  Years  1994  (FY94)  and  1995
(FY95) Reserve of the Air Force (ResAF) Captain Selection Boards.

In the applicant’s statement dated 11 August 1998, she requests  that  prior
to the convening of the ResAF Selection Review Board, she  be  afforded  the
opportunity to provide to that Board written documentation attesting to  her
civil employment, from 1996 to the present date, as Director of  Nursing  at
Enterprise Nursing Home,  her  appointment  as  Adjunct  Faculty  Member  at
Wallace State College, Dothan, AL, and other cogent  factors  based  on  the
whole person concept which the Board may use to fully assess  her  potential
for service in the grade of captain.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

Her unblemished record of superior service as an Air  Force  Reserve  Forces
Flight Nurse, from initial appointment on 3 December 1986 through  September
1991, including mobilization and deployed service in Operation Desert  Storm
overseas, was followed  by  circumstances  which  absolutely  precluded  her
active participation in Reserve activities.  The bar  to  her  reappointment
after the Selection Board twice  failed  to  recommend  her  promotion,  was
unjustly  imposed  without  taking  into  account  her  extremely  difficult
pregnancy in 1994 and her subsequent daily role as a Primary  Nurse  to  her
mother who succumbed in September 1995 to a malignant brain tumor less  than
two years earlier in April 1994.  Her military  records  placed  before  the
ResAF Selection Boards were substantially in error.  The
transitory   humanitarian   factors   which   temporarily   precluded    her
participation and service in an organized unit of  the  Ready  Reserve,  and
the  acquisition  of  her  Degree  of  Master  of  Science  in  Organization
Effectiveness,  together  with  her  concurrent  Total  Quality   Management
Certification were missing from her records.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits four  statements  and  a  letter
from the HQ 89 Airlift Wing, Humanitarian Deferment.

Applicant's complete submission is attached at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant was appointed a second lieutenant, ResAF, Nurse Corps,  on  18
December 1986.

Applicant was considered and not selected for  promotion  to  the  grade  of
captain by the FY94 and FY95 ResAF Captain Selection Boards.

On 20 November 1994, the applicant  was  transferred  to  the  Nonaffiliated
Reserve Section (NARS/NB), with Reserve status of Standby.

On 2 March  1995,  the  applicant  was  relieved  from  assignment  HQ  ARPC
(NNRPS/RD) and honorably discharged from  all  appointments  in  the  United
States Air Force.

OER/OPR profile since 1987, follows:

           PERIOD ENDING           EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

                       02 Dec 87                   1-1-1
                       19 Oct 89             Meets Standards
                       19 Oct 90             Meets Standards
                    #  19 Oct 91             Meets Standards

# Top report for FY94 and FY95 boards.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The Director of Personnel  Program  Management,  HQ  ARPC/DP,  reviewed  the
application and states that since deliberations are not  made  public,  they
cannot ascertain  specifically  why  the  applicant  was  not  selected  for
promotion.  Promotion is based on the whole person  concept  which  includes
performance,  breadth  of  experience,  job   responsibility,   professional
competence, specific
achievements, academic  and  professional  military  education,  leadership,
civilian skills and military participation.  All of these factors  are  used
to assess an officer’s potential for serving in the next higher grade.   The
applicant’s officer selection folder (OSF) did not contain  a  referral  OPR
or any other negative information  at  the  time  it  was  reviewed  by  the
selection board.  The DD Form 214, referred to by the applicant,  is  not  a
document approved for inclusion in the  OSF.   AFR  36-11,  31  March  1992,
Reserve of the  Air  Force  Officer  Promotions,  attachment  2,  lists  the
specific documents which can be  reviewed  by  the  selection  boards.   The
humanitarian factors the applicant felt the board should have been aware  of
could only have been submitted to the  board  in  the  form  of  a  personal
letter  to  the  board  written  by  the  applicant.   It  is  the  member’s
responsibility to  ensure  their  record  is  correct  and  new  information
updated to their record prior to the board convening.  A personal letter  to
the board is the only  option  available  that  allows  members  to  present
information to the selection board that would not be found in their  OSF  or
on the OSB.  At this time, no documentation is available to  determine  when
the applicant completed the  Master  of  Science  Degree  in  Organizational
Effectiveness or that the applicant provided  the  Air  Force  Institute  of
Technology (AFIT) with the correct  documentation  to  update  the  academic
portion of the officer selection brief (OSB) prior  to  the  FY94  and  FY95
boards.  They recommend denial of applicant's request.

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

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant reviewed the Air Force  evaluation  and  states  that  she  is
firmly convinced that the errors as they relate to the  erroneous  inclusion
in her record of instances of absence from Reserve  participation  in  1991,
1992, and 1993, which were improperly categorized as  unexcused,  constitute
the height of injustice.  These errors were the  clear  proximate  cause  of
her failure of selection for promotion  to  the  grade  of  captain  by  the
consecutive Reserve promotion boards which considered her file.  The  record
shows her file  consisted  exclusively  of  successive  performance  reports
demonstrating consistent superior performance,  and  was  otherwise  totally
devoid of any referral or other derogatory  materials  of  any  description.
She is equally certain that the  crucial  errors  in  her  military  service
records were compounded by the fundamental errors which  resulted  from  the
total exclusion from the materials  presented  to  the  promotion  selection
boards, of any of the transitory humanitarian  factors  which  in  1994  and
1995 temporarily precluded her participation and  service  in  an  organized
unit of the Ready Reserve.  These
fundamental errors of both commission and omission  described  were  further
compounded by the total absence from the materials present to the  promotion
selection  boards  of  any  reference   to   her   civilian   pursuits   and
achievements, including  award  of  the  Degree  of  Master  of  Science  in
Organizational Effectiveness.

Applicant's complete response, with attachments, is attached at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

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  and  adopt
their rationale as the basis for our conclusion that the applicant  has  not
been the victim of an error or injustice.  In this respect we note  that  it
is the member’s responsibility to ensure that their record  is  correct  and
new information updated to their  record  prior  to  the  convening  of  the
selection board.  We are of the opinion that the applicant  made  no  effort
to submit the necessary documentation to update the academic portion of  her
officer selection brief (OSB) prior to the convening of the  FY94  and  FY95
boards.  It is noted that the applicant was formally awarded the  Master  of
Science Degree on 1 May 1993, three months prior to  the  convening  of  the
FY94 Selection Board.  Regarding  the  humanitarian  factors  the  applicant
felt the board should have been aware of,  these  factors  could  have  been
written in a personal letter to the board. In view of the foregoing  and  in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, 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 8 June 1999, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mr. Oscar A. Goldfarb, Panel Chair
      Mr. Lawrence R. Leehy, Member
      Mr. David E. Hoard, Member
      Ms. Gloria J. Williams, Examiner (without vote)

The following documentary evidence was considered:

      Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 27 Feb 98, w/atchs.
      Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
      Exhibit C. Letter, ARPC/DP, dated 20 May 98.
      Exhibit D. Letter, AFBCMR, dated 15 Jun 98.
      Exhibit E. Applicant’s Response, dated 11 Aug 98, w/atchs.





                             OSCAR A. GOLDFARB
                             Panel Chair