RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  01-01473
            INDEX CODE:  114.01
            COUNSEL:  Mr. Gregory B. English

            HEARING DESIRED:  YES

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Officer Performance Report (OPR)  rendered  for  the  period  18 Mar  99
through 17 Mar 00, be declared void and removed from his records.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He forwarded an email that was authored  by  someone  else  which  expressed
concern with the military anthrax method of inoculation at  her  base.   The
reason he forwarded the e-mail  was  to  increase  the  awareness  of  other
intelligence officers of an  issue  that  was  developing  while  soliciting
information from the field about this matter.  As a result,  he  received  a
letter of reprimand (LOR) and was  subsequently  provided  with  a  referral
OPR.  The OPR was referred solely because of the e-mail and  was  completely
unwarranted.  Other than his e-mail his duty performance  was  exemplary  as
evidenced by letters he provided from those with whom he served.

In addition, the OPR makes reference to a LOR in direct violation of AFI 36-
2907.  The AFI provides that a permanent record is made of LORs only if  the
commander utilizes and AF Fm  1058,  which  was  never  done  in  his  case.
Therefore, the  LOR  was  intended  t  be  of  the  temporary  variety.   By
referring to the LOR in the OPR, the rater has taken a  localized  temporary
document and made it a permanent part of his official military record.

In support of his case, the applicant  provided  documents  associated  with
his  OPR,  documents  associated  with  his  LOR,  and  character  reference
statements.  His complete submission, with attachments is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Data extracted from the personnel data system reflects  that  the  applicant
was appointed a second lieutenant, Reserve of the Air Force on  22  Dec  84.
He has been progressively  promoted  to  the  grade  of  lieutenant  colonel
having assumed that grade effective and with a date of rank of 6 May 99.

The following is a resume of his recent OPR profile:

            PERIOD ENDING         OVERALL EVALUATION

                 17 Mar 01              MEETS STANDARDS (MS)
                 17 Mar 00*       DOES NOT MEET STANDARDS
                 10 Mar 99                   (MS)
                 29 May 98                   (MS)
                 05 Nov 97                   (MS)
                 05 Nov 96                   (MS)

* - Contested Report

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

ARPC/DPB reviewed applicant's request and  recommends  denial.   DPB  states
that the applicant has not provided any proof of an error  or  injustice  in
the OPR.  Although he may feel the incident was over  stressed,  it  is  the
responsibility of the rater and  rater's  rater  to  take  all  things  into
consideration when evaluating.  The rater determined the incident  warranted
mention in the OPR  and  the  applicant  was  provided  the  opportunity  to
provide comments, which he did so to the rater's rater.  The  rater's  rater
carefully reviewed the OPR and comments and concurred with the  rater.   His
package contained reference to an e-mail that seems to be the basis for  the
referral OPR.  That e-mail was  not  provided  for  use  in  evaluating  the
applicant's claim or if it was, in fact, counter to policy.

His case was previously considered and  denied  by  the  Evaluation  Reports
Appeal Board (ERAB).  Their decision was  that  he  did  not  provide  clear
evidence that the OPR was erroneous of unjust.  The  DPB  evaluation  is  at
Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant responded and  states  that  during  his  16  Nov  99  performance
feedback session, his rater gave no  indication  that  his  performance  was
substandard in any area.  The areas of leadership skills on his  performance
feedback worksheet that were marked show no significant  negative  comments.
In fact, the markings  indicate  more  to  the  "little  or  no  improvement
needed" side.  He can only assume that he was marked down in the  leadership
skills area because of the email message he forwarded to  the  field  on  16
Nov 99.  He does not feel that forwarding an email in any warrants  a  "Does
Not Meet Standards" rating.  In addition, there were not any  statements  in
sections IV, VI, or VII of  the  report  to  substantiate  that  rating  for
leadership skills.  After his performance  feedback  session,  he  mentioned
the email to his rater.  He did not ask to see a copy of the email  nor  did
he give any indication that distributing this information would  affect  his
rating of his performance.  He merely asked him  not  to  send  any  further
emails relating to the anthrax violation.  In his opinion, positive  bullets
in sections IV and VI of his  OPR  provide  positive  leadership  statements
that do not support a "Does not Meet Standards"  rating  in  the  leadership
category.

The statement that  he  "forwarded  an  email  on  the  anthrax  vaccination
program which presented a command  emphasis  that  was  counter  to  DoD/Air
Force and ANG policy" is erroneous.   He  did  not  in  any  way  present  a
command emphasis that was counter to DoD/Air Force policy by forwarding  the
email.  Attached emails state that there is  no  DoD  or  Air  Force  policy
regarding disseminating negative  information  about  the  anthrax  vaccine.
His OPR also states the he was administered a LOR.  He was issued a  desktop
only LOR by his rater's supervisor and was told that  it  was  being  issued
because justification was needed for curtailing his  tour.   An  Unfavorable
Information File (UIF) was never  opened,  which  is  required  for  a  non-
desktop LOR to be entered  into  his  permanent  record.   He  submitted  an
appeal to the LOR but his rater's supervisor did not respond to  his  appeal
stating that it was not necessary to do so.

His statutory tour was curtailed by direct order from the  Director  of  the
Air National Guard who was very angry about the email.  He had testified  to
congress on 29 Sep 99 that he knew of only one person who  might  have  left
the ANG due to the anthrax vaccination, while the email  that  he  forwarded
gave specifics as to the number of pilots  that  had  resigned  due  to  the
anthrax vaccination program at a  particular  unit,  possibly  contradicting
his testimony.  He reiterates that he did not  author  the  original  email,
only forwarded it for informational purposes.  He  was  not  advocating  any
particular position on the issue.  Forwarding information  for  comment  and
to solicit additional facts was a common aspect of his job.

In further support of his request, applicant provided a personal  statement,
a copy of  the  anthrax  email,  his  AF  Form  724a,  Field  Grade  Officer
Performance  Feedback  Worksheet;  AF  Form  77,   Supplemental   Evaluation
worksheet; copies of email communications, a copy his LOR, a  printout  from
the National gulf War Resource Center website, and several memorandums.

His complete submission, with attachments, is 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.  Sufficient relevant evidence  has  been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of error or injustice.  After  thorough  review  of  the  evidence
provided we believe that substantial doubt has been established  as  to  the
fairness of the contested report and whether or not the report is an  honest
and accurate depiction of his overall performance during the time period  in
question.  We  thoroughly  reviewed  the  circumstances  of  this  case,  in
particular the email that he forwarded concerning another military  member's
experience with the anthrax inoculation. In our  opinion,  it  appears  that
his chain-of-command may have acted over  zealously  in  their  decision  to
render the applicant a referral OPR.  We do not believe that in  making  the
decision  to  forward  the  email,  for  what  he  considered  a  matter  of
informational purposes, he abused his discretionary authority  or  that  his
action  was  inappropriate  to  the  point  in  which  a  referral  OPR  was
warranted.  Therefore, to eliminate any doubt and possible injustice to  the
applicant, we  recommend  that  his  records  be  corrected  to  the  extent
indicated below.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air  Force  relating
to APPLICANT be corrected to  show  that  the  AF  Form  707A,  Field  Grade
Officer Performance Report, rendered for the period  18 March  1999  through
17 March 2000 be declared void and removed from his records.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board  considered  Docket  Number  01-01473  in
Executive Session on 18 Jul 02, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mr. Albert F. Lowas, Jr., Panel Chair
      Mr. Mike Novel, Member
      Ms. Marilyn Thomas, Member

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 4 Jan 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, ARPC/DPB, dated 12 Apr 02.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 14 Dec 01.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 13 Jun 02, w/atchs.




                                  ALBERT F.LOWAS, JR.
                                  Panel Chair

AFBCMR 01-01473




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 the AF Form 707A, Field
Grade Officer Performance Report, rendered for the period 18 March 1999
through 17 March 2000 be, and hereby is, declared void and removed from his
records.








  JOE G. LINEBERGER

  Director

  Air Force Review Boards Agency