RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  01-02540
            INDEX CODES:  111.01, 131.01

            COUNSEL:  JOSEPH W. KASTL

            HEARING DESIRED:  YES


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Officer Performance Reports (OPRs) closing 30 Jun 97 and 30 Jun 98
be declared void and removed from his records.

His Promotion Recommendation Form (PRF) prepared for consideration  by
the Calendar Year 1998A (CY98A) (M0698A)  Medical  Corps/Dental  Corps
(MC/DC) Central Colonel Selection Board, which convened on 9  Nov  98,
be voided and replaced with a reaccomplished PRF.

The Officer Selection Brief (OSB) prepared for  consideration  by  the
CY98A MC/DC Central Colonel Selection Board, which convened on  9  Nov
98, be amended in the "Assignment History" section to reflect the duty
title of “Commander, Aerospace Medicine  Squadron,"  rather  than  the
duty title of “Flight Surgeon,” effective 9 Jan 98.

The OSB prepared for consideration by the CY98A MC/DC Central  Colonel
Selection Board, which convened  on  9  Nov  98,  be  amended  in  the
"Decorations" section to reflect award of the Air  Force  Commendation
Medal (AFCM), First Oak Leaf Cluster (1OLC).

He be given Special  Selection  Board  (SSB)  consideration  with  his
corrected records.

His rater and additional rater be held accountable to  the  Air  Force
and 56th Fighter Wing standards.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

The OPRs closing 30 Jun 97 and 30 Jun 98 were unjust, unfair, and were
not honest assessments of his accomplishments during the time periods,
and the rater failed to provide adequate feedback.

He was unable to correct the M0698A PRF and OSB prior to the convening
of the Board.  His PRF was submitted with an incorrect duty title  and
job description listing him as a flight surgeon instead of  commander.
Those errors were not random.  He believes that  they  were  purposely
generated by his commander to give the false impression  that  he  had
been relegated from a position of high responsibility to a position of
low responsibility.

Few commanders could boast of the achievements,  awards,  morale,  and
inspection results of the squadron and deployed clinic  he  commanded.
For two years, he believes his true accomplishments would rank him  as
one of the best commanders in the Air Force.  His official records say
he was one of the worst.  This is unjust.  He feels that the errors in
his PRF and OSB were further manipulations of his record by his rater.
 Those errors  combined  with  his  unjust  OPRs  prevented  him  fair
competition in the M0698A promotion board.  He asks  that  the  unjust
OPRs be removed from his records, the errors in his  PRF  and  OSB  be
corrected, and he be allowed to compete as fairly as  possible  in  an
SSB.

In support of his appeal, the applicant provided a personal statement,
a statement from  counsel,  a  statement  from  his  senior  rater,  a
supportive statement from a co-worker, copies of the  contested  OPRs,
PRF, and OSB, the reaccomplished PRF, and other  documents  associated
with the matter under review.

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

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Information extracted from the Personnel Data System  (PDS)  indicates
that the applicant is currently serving on active duty in the grade of
lieutenant colonel, having been promoted to that grade on 30  May  94.
His Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) is 6 Jul 83.

Applicant's OPR profile since 1991 follows:

      PERIOD ENDING    EVALUATION

      28 Feb 91              Meets Standards
      22 May 92              Training Report
      11 Jun 93              Training Report
      30 Jun 94              Training Report
      30 Jun 95              Meets Standards
      30 Jun 96              Meets Standards
  *  30 Jun 97               Meets Standards
 #*  30 Jun 98               Meets Standards
 ##  30 Jun 99               Meets Standards
###  21 May 00               Meets Standards
      21 May 01              Meets Standards

* Contested reports.

  # Top Report at the time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to the grade of colonel by the  CY98A  (9  Nov  98)  Colonel
Board.

 ## Top Report at the time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to the grade of colonel by the  CY99A  (8  Nov  99)  Colonel
Board.

### Top Report at the time  he  was  considered  and  nonselected  for
promotion to the grade of colonel by the  CY00A  (6  Nov  00)  Colonel
Board.

By letter, dated 19 Nov 01, AFPC/DPPPOC notified the  applicant  that,
in response to his  29  Aug  01  application  for  correction  of  his
military records, they were granting his request for SSB consideration
which will consider his record for the CY98A (9 Nov 98), CY99A (8  Nov
99), and CY00A (6 Nov 00) Central Colonel Selection Boards, to include
a correction to his 9 Jan 98  duty  history  entry  and  missing  AFCM
(1OLC) on his OSB for those boards.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPMAF2 indicated that the applicant’s duty history has since been
corrected to replace the “Flight Surgeon” duty title with  “Commander,
Aerospace Medicine Squadron.”  This matches his OPRs.

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPMAF2 evaluation is at Exhibit C.

AFPC/DPPP recommended denial of the applicant’s requests to  void  his
OPRs closing 30 Jun 97 and 30 Jun 98, and  void  his  M0698A  PRF  and
replace it with  a  reaccomplished  PRF.   AFPC/DPPP  noted  that  the
applicant’s duty history has been corrected to  delete  the  erroneous
entry in the PDS.  According to AFPC/DPPP,  to  change  the  PRF,  the
applicant should have included  documentation  from  both  the  senior
rater and the management level review (MLR) president indicating their
concurrence.  However, he only provided concurrence  from  the  senior
rater.  AFPC/DPPP also noted  that  the  applicant  did  not  file  an
Inspector General or Military Equal Opportunity complaint.   In  their
view, the applicant  needs  to  provide  documentation  from  the  MLR
president before they can recommend changing the PRF.

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPPP evaluation is at Exhibit D.

AFPC/DPPPO recommended approval of SSB consideration for the  requests
concerning the applicant’s duty title and missing AFCM (1OLC) from his
OSB.  They deferred to the AFBCMR for a decision on SSB  consideration
to include voided OPRs and a substitute PRF.

A complete copy of the DPPPO evaluation is at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to applicant  on  7
Dec 01 for review and response.  As of this date, no response has been
received by this office (Exhibit F).

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

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

2.  The portion of the application pertaining to  the  CY98A  PRF  was
timely filed.

3.  The portion of the application pertaining to the OPRs  closing  30
Jun 97 and 30 Jun 98 was not timely  filed;  however,  it  is  in  the
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

4.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the
existence of probable error or  injustice  regarding  the  applicant’s
request  that  his  CY98A  PRF  be  voided   and   replaced   with   a
reaccomplished PRF.

      a.  After a thorough review of the available  evidence,  we  are
persuaded that the applicant’s duty title and job description  on  his
PRF were erroneous.  Therefore, we recommend that  the  CY98A  PRF  be
voided and replaced with a reaccomplished one and that  the  applicant
be given appropriate SSB consideration with his corrected record.

      b.  Although not an issue raised by the applicant, we note  that
the aforementioned PRF appears to contain a  factual  error  regarding
the applicant’s deployment.  It indicates that it was  in  support  of
DESERT STORM.  However, we believe it should have been SOUTHERN  WATCH
OR DESERT THUNDER.  Nevertheless, in our view, it is a harmless  error
and we are not inclined to recommend any favorable  action  concerning
this matter.

      c.  We note that the applicant’s requests  concerning  his  duty
title and the AFCM (1OLC) have been corrected administratively and  he
is being provided SSB consideration  as  a  result  of  his  corrected
records.  Therefore, no further action  is  required  regarding  these
requests.

5.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented  to  demonstrate
the existence of probable error or injustice regarding the applicant’s
requests that his OPRs closing 30 Jun 97  and  30 Jun 98  be  declared
void and removed from his records; and, that his rater and  additional
rater be held accountable to the  Air  Force  and  56th  Fighter  Wing
Standards.

      a.  Applicant contends that the contested OPRs were  not  honest
assessments of his  accomplishments  and  that  the  rater  failed  to
provide adequate feedback.  By regulation, evaluators are tasked  with
the responsibility of assessing a ratee’s performance, honestly and to
the  best  of  their  ability,  based  on  their  observance   of   an
individual’s performance.  No evidence has been  presented  which  has
shown to our satisfaction that the evaluators were  unable  to  render
unbiased evaluations of the applicant’s performance or that  the  OPRs
were based on factors other  than  the  applicant’s  duty  performance
during the contested rating periods. Furthermore, a rater’s failure to
provide feedback is not sufficient basis to invalidate  a  report,  if
such failure did exist.  In view of the foregoing, and in the  absence
of evidence to the contrary, we find no compelling basis to  recommend
favorable action on the applicant’s request that the contested OPRs be
voided and removed from his records.

       b.  We  note  the  applicant’s  request  that  his  rater   and
additional rater be held accountable to the Air Force and 56th Fighter
Wing standards.  However, such a request is not within the purview  of
this Board.  Therefore, his request is not favorably  considered.   If
the applicant’s believe such action is warranted, we suggest he file a
complaint with the Inspector General.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to  APPLICANT,  be  corrected  to  show  that  the  Promotion
Recommendation, AF Form 709, prepared for consideration by  the  CY98A
Medical Corps/Dental Corps  Central  Colonel  Selection  Board,  which
convened on 9 Nov 98, be declared void and removed from  his  records;
and, the attached reaccomplished PRF, with a duty title of “Commander,
Aerospace Medicine Squadron,” be accepted for file in its place.

It is further recommended that he be considered for promotion  to  the
grade of colonel by a Special Selection Board for  the  CY98A  Medical
Corps/Dental Corps Central Colonel Selection Board, which convened  on
9 Nov 98, with inclusion of the reaccomplished PRF.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered Case Docket  Application
Number  01-02540  in  Executive  Session  on  10  Jan  02,  under  the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mrs. Barbara A. Westgate, Chair
      Mr. Thomas S. Markiewicz, Vice Chair
      Mr. Benedict A. Kausal IV, Member

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 29 Aug 01, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPMAF2, dated 18 Sep 01.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPPP, dated 3 Dec 01.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 3 Dec 01.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 7 Dec 01.




                                   BARBARA A. WESTGATE
                                   Chair










AFBCMR 01-02540




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 , be corrected to show that the Promotion
Recommendation, AF Form 709, prepared for consideration by the CY98A
Medical Corps/Dental Corps Central Colonel Selection Board, which
convened on 9 Nov 98, be, and hereby is, declared void and removed
from his records; and, the attached reaccomplished PRF, with a duty
title of “Commander, Aerospace Medicine Squadron,” be accepted for
file in its place.

            It is further directed that he be considered for promotion
to the grade of colonel by a Special Selection Board for the CY98A
Medical Corps/Dental Corps Central Colonel Selection Board, which
convened on 9 Nov 98, with inclusion of the reaccomplished PRF.






    JOE G. LINEBERGER

    Director

    Air Force Review Boards Agency

Attachment:
AF Form 709