RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  01-03236


            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED: NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His undesirable discharge be upgraded to an  honorable  discharge  and
his 25 days of lost time be removed from his records.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He was given a choice of  being  transferred  to  another  command  or
accepting a discharge out of  the  Air  Force.   He  should  not  have
received an undesirable discharge since he was the one  that  assisted
the authorities, but he guesses he was guilty by association.

He has been married for over 51 years with a son and a  daughter.   At
23 years old, he had over 700 employees  under  his  supervision.   He
went on to become vice president of a manufacturing company,  with  23
plants under his direction.

In support of the applicant’s appeal, he provided  a  personal  letter
and a letter from his spouse.

Applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

On 21 February 1950, applicant enlisted  in  the  Regular  Air  Force.
Prior to the events under review he  was  promoted  to  the  grade  of
corporal (E-4).  Applicant’s grade at time of  discharge  was  private
(Pvt/E-1).

Applicant received character and efficiency ratings of excellent on 14
Jun 50; from 15 Jun 50 – 24 Jul 50, ratings were unknown; from 25  Jul
50 – 23 Aug 50, ratings were excellent; from 24 Aug 50  –  25 Jan  52,
character was poor and efficiency was excellent, and from 27 Jan 52  –
18 Feb 52, ratings were unknown.

On 12 Oct 51, applicant was convicted  by  Summary  Court-Martial  for
being absent without leave (AWOL) from 6 Oct 51 until on or  about  10
Oct 51.  He received a reduction to the  grade  of  private,  and  was
restricted to the limits of the squadron for one month.

On 3 Nov 51, applicant was  convicted  by  Special  Court-Martial  for
being AWOL from 20 Oct 51 until  23  Oct  51.   He  was  sentenced  to
confinement at hard labor (CHL) for nine days and forfeiture of $16.

Following an investigation of alleged homosexual conduct involving the
applicant and two other airmen, the applicant provided a statement, on
27 October 1951, agreeing to accept an undesirable discharge  for  the
good of the service in lieu of further action under the provisions  of
AFR 35-66.  The case was forwarded through  command  channels  to  the
Secretary of the  Air  Force  (SAF)  Personnel  Council  for  a  final
decision.  On 14 Jan 52, the SAF Personnel Council accepted the signed
statement tendered by the applicant and directed that he be discharged
and issued an Undesirable Discharge Certificate.  On 7 March 1952,  he
was discharged  under  the  provisions  of  AFR  35-66  by  reason  of
homosexual tendencies, with an undesirable discharge.  He was credited
with 1 year, 11 months, and 22 days active service (excludes  16  days
of lost time).

Pursuant to the Board’s request, the Federal Bureau of  Investigation,
Clarksburg, WV, indicated on 13 March 2002, that, on the basis of data
furnished, they were unable to locate an arrest record (Exhibit C).

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ AFPC/DPPRS reviewed this application and found that based upon  the
documentation in the  file  the  discharge  was  consistent  with  the
procedural and substantive requirements of the discharge regulation at
that time.  Additionally, that the  discharge  was  within  the  sound
discretion of the discharge authority.  They  state  that  considering
the discharge occurred over 49 years ago, the type of offenses and the
applicant’s statement, they recommend clemency.  They also recommended
that if the FBI files prove negative, that the  applicant’s  discharge
be upgraded to under honorable conditions (general).

A complete copy of the evaluation is attached at Exhibit D.

HQ AFPC/DPW reviewed the applicant’s request to have 25 days  of  lost
time for being absent without leave (AWOL) removed  from  his  record.
They found that the applicant was AWOL 6 – 10 Oct 51, and 20 – 23  Oct
51, and was placed in confinement for nine days.  They state that when
calculating lost time, the day a member is returned to a  present  for
duty status is  not  considered  to  be  lost  time.   Therefore,  the
applicant’s total lost time should be 16  days  vice  25  days.   They
recommended that the applicant’s record be  corrected  to  reflect  16
days in Block 38 on his DD Form 214.  With respect to the  applicant’s
request to have all lost time deleted, they recommended denial.

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

HQ AFPC/DPPRSP recommended that one DD Form 214  be  accomplished,  if
applicant’s request for upgrade of discharge is granted Exhibit F.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 8
March 2002 for review and comment within 30 days.  As of this date, no
response has been received by this office Exhibit G.

By letter dated 28 March 2002, the AFBCMR  invited  the  applicant  to
provide additional evidence pertaining to his activities since leaving
the service (Exhibit H).  As  of  this  date,  no  response  has  been
received by this office.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

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

2.  The application was not  timely  filed;  however,  it  is  in  the
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

3.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the
existence of error or injustice warranting upgrading of his  discharge
to general (under honorable conditions).  We found  no  evidence  that
responsible officials applied inappropriate standards in effecting the
applicant’s discharge, that pertinent  regulations  were  violated  or
that the applicant was not afforded all the rights to  which  entitled
at the time of discharge.  Nevertheless, the applicant has had to live
with the adverse effects of his  undesirable  discharge  for  over  49
years, and while the discharge may have been appropriate at the  time,
we believe it would be an injustice for him to continue to suffer from
its effects.  Based on the evidence presented,  and  in  view  of  the
negative FBI  report,  it  appears  that  the  applicant  has  been  a
responsible  citizen  and  productive  member  of  society  since  his
separation.  We therefore agree with the  recommendation  of  the  Air
Force that the applicant’s discharge should  be  upgraded  to  general
(under honorable conditions) on the basis of clemency.  We  considered
applicant’s request for an honorable discharge; however, based on  his
overall record, we are not persuaded that a  further  upgrade  of  his
discharge to fully honorable is warranted.

4.  We considered the applicant’s request that 25 days of lost time be
expunged from his records and found no basis to delete the  lost  time
in its entirety.  Evidence in the record reflects that  the  applicant
had 16 days of lost time; two incidents of AWOL totaling 7 days, and 9
days of confinement.  Therefore, we agree with the  recommendation  of
the Air Force that his lost time should be corrected to 16  days  vice
25 days.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that:

       a.  On  7  March  1952,  he   was   discharged   with   service
characterized as general (under honorable conditions).

      b.  He had 16 days of lost time as opposed to 25 days; and, that
during the remainder of the time in question, he was in a duty status.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered this application  AFBCMR
Docket Number 01-03236 in Executive Session on 8 May 2002,  under  the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mr. Terry A. Yonkers, Panel Chair
      Mr. Clarence D. Long III, Member
      Ms. Dorothy P. Loeb, Member

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 6 Nov 01, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  FBI Report of Investigation
     Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPRS, dated 10 Dec 01, w/atchs.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPW, dated 1 Feb 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPRSP, dated 4 Mar 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit G.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 8 Mar 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit H.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 28 Mar 02, w/atchs.




                                   DOROTHY P. LOEB
                                   Acting Panel Chair




AFBCMR 01-03236




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.  On 7 March 1952, he was discharged with service
characterized as general (under honorable conditions).

      b.  He had 16 days of lost time as opposed to 25 days; and,
that during the remainder of the time in question, he was in a duty
status.





            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency