RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER: 01-01909
            INDEX CODE:  131.01

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be considered for position vacancy (PV) promotion  by  a  Special  Review
Board (SRB) for the Fiscal Year 2002A  (FY02A)  Reserve  of  the  Air  Force
(ResAF) Lieutenant Colonel PV Board.

________________________________________________________________

THE APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

Due to administrative error, over which  he  had  no  control,  he  was  not
considered for PV promotion by the FY02A board.

The applicant states that although his Promotion Recommendation  Form  (PRF)
was completed on  time,  his  Military  Personnel  Flight  (MPF)  failed  to
forward it to the promotion board by the due date.  The  PRF  was  initially
mailed on 7 May 2001 but was lost in  the  mail  and  not  received  by  the
board.  A second mailing of his PRF was received by ARPC  on  24  May  2001,
which was too late to be consideration by the FY02A board.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits a  copy  of  his  PRF  that  was
prepared for the FY02A board, and statements  from  the  Air  Force  Reserve
Advisor for Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC),  the  Mobilization  Assistant
to the Commander, Air Force Flight Test  Center  (AFFTC/MA),  and  the  Base
Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) Administrator.

Applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The relevant facts  pertaining  to  this  application,  extracted  from  the
applicant's military records, are contained in the letter  prepared  by  the
appropriate office of the Air Force.   Accordingly,  there  is  no  need  to
recite these facts in this Record of Proceedings.

________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

ARPC/DPB reviewed this application and recommended denial.  They state  that
the eligibility processing of each individual  nominated  for  PV  promotion
begins when the appropriate PRF  is  received  from  the  nominating  senior
rater.   This  requires  verifying  participation,  assignment,   grade   of
position for which nominated, time  in  grade,  time  on  active  duty  list
and/or Reserve Active Status List, actual vacancies available,  the  nominee
is the incumbent to the position (not an overage) the unit/organization  has
funding for the position through at least one year after  the  convening  of
the selection board, and that the unit is  not  scheduled  for  deactivation
within one year of the board convening date.  This verification  process  is
time consuming and exacting.  Any amount of time less than  45  days  allows
for errors and further injustices to  both  the  selection  boards  and  the
members.  The PRF submission date is very clear and published ahead of  time
in both the Air Force  Instruction  (AFI)  and  the  Air  Reserve  Personnel
Center Manual (ARPCM).  There is no question as to how many days before  the
convening date of a  selection  board  or  even  the  precise  date  of  the
suspense.  There is no way to go back to June  2001  and  establish  whether
the applicant actually  met  the  eligibility  criteria  for  the  selection
board.

The Air Force evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit C.

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant reviewed the Air Force evaluation  and  provides  a  statement
from the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, AFMC  indicating  that  he
was not considered for PV promotion as a result  of  management  and  system
failures, rather than either his, or his supervisor’s negligence or error.

The applicant’s complete response, 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 probable error or injustice.  In this  respect,  we  note  that
the governing Air Force Instruction (AFI) requires that  PRFs  be  submitted
45 days prior to the convening of Position Vacancy  (PV)  selection  boards.
However, it appears that  ARPC  was  allowing  submissions  of  PRFs  to  be
submitted  late.   Due  to  the  time  required  to  verify   an   officer’s
eligibility for consideration, ARPC now follows their  instruction  and  any
PRF received late,  the  officer  is  not  considered  for  promotion.   The
evidence before this Board reveals that  the  applicant’s  organization  had
contacted ARPC on several occasions concerning the  submission  of  the  PRF
and was not informed that the PRF had to be  received  45  days  before  the
convening of the selection board.  We believe  that  the  Air  Force  should
have informed the applicant’s Base Individual Mobilization  Augmentee  (IMA)
Administrator that if the PRF  was  not  received  within  45  days  of  the
convening of the selection board, the applicant would not be considered  for
promotion.  In view of the  above  and  to  offset  any  possibility  of  an
injustice, we believe that the applicant’s record, to include a PRF,  should
be considered for promotion to the Reserve grade of  lieutenant  colonel  by
Special Review Board for the FY02 Lieutenant  Colonel  PV  selection  board.
Therefore, we recommend his record 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, to include the  attached  Promotion  Recommendation  Form,  AF
Form 709, be considered for promotion to the  Reserve  grade  of  lieutenant
colonel by a Special Review Board (SRB); that his  record  be  evaluated  in
comparison with the records of officers who were and were  not  selected  by
the Fiscal Year 2002 Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel  Position  Vacancy
Selection Board; and, if he is recommended for promotion by  Special  Review
Board, the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records be advised  of
that recommendation at the earliest practicable date, so that all  necessary
and appropriate actions may be completed.

If he is not recommended for promotion by  the  Special  Review  Board,  the
Office of Primary Responsibility advise him of  the  recommendation  of  the
Special Review Board.

________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered this application in  Executive
Session on 20 November 2001, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

            Mr. David C. Van Gasbeck, Panel Chair
            Ms. Patricia D. Vestal, Member
            Mr. Mike Novel, Member





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

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 5 July 2001, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, ARPC/DPB, dated 30 August 2001, w/atchs.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MIBR, dated 7 September 2001.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 1 October 2001, w/atchs.




                 DAVID C. VAN GASBECK
                 Panel Chair





AFBCMR 01-01909





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, to include the attached Promotion
Recommendation Form, AF Form 709, be considered for promotion to the
Reserve grade of lieutenant colonel by a Special Review Board (SRB);
that his record be evaluated in comparison with the records of
officers who were and were not selected by the Fiscal Year 2002 Air
Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Position Vacancy Selection Board;
and, if he is recommended for promotion by Special Review Board, the
Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records be advised of that
recommendation at the earliest practicable date, so that all necessary
and appropriate actions may be completed.

      If he is not recommended for promotion by the Special Review
Board, the Office of Primary Responsibility advise him of the
recommendation of the Special Review Board.





            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency

Attachment:
Promotion Recommendation Form (PRF)