RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  02-01941
            INDEX CODE:  131.01

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His record, to  include  the  Meritorious  Service  Medal,  Third  Oak  Leaf
Cluster, (MSM, 3OLC), awarded for the period 1 February 1997 to 1  September
1999, be considered for promotion to the  grade  of  lieutenant  colonel  by
Special Selection Board (SSB) for the Calendar Year 2001B (CY01B)  Selection
Board.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He received a Definitely Promote (DP) recommendation but  was  not  selected
for promotion.  His tour decoration (MSM) from his last assignment prior  to
the board was not included in  his  personnel  records.   He  believes  this
constituted a major omission,  which  dramatically  hindered  his  promotion
opportunity.

When he noticed the omission he called his previous unit and  addressed  the
discrepancy.  All parties including his former commander  assured  him  that
an MSM was submitted.  His commander wrote and  submitted  this  decoration,
but the 12th Air Force never approved it.  He states that he  deserved  this
decoration, and did everything conceivable to insure  the  accuracy  of  his
records.

In support of his appeal,  the  applicant  provided  a  personal  statement,
Special Order GA-021, dated 31 May 2002, the citation  for  the  Meritorious
Service  Medal,  Third  Oak   Leaf   Cluster,   (MSM,   3OLC),   and   other
documentation.

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

_________________________________________________________________






STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant is currently serving on extended active duty in the  grade  of
major.

Applicant was considered and not selected four (4) times  for  promotion  to
the grade of lieutenant colonel by the  CY99A  (19 April  1999),  CY99B  (30
November 1999), CY00A (28 November 2000) and  the  CYO1B  (5 November  2001)
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Boards.

OPR profile since 1995 follows:

           PERIOD ENDING          EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

                  30 Jan 95              Meets Standards (MS)
                  30 Jan 96                  (MS)
                  31 Dec 96                  (MS)
                  31 Dec 97                  (MS)
                  31 Dec 98                  (MS)
                     1 Sep 99                      (MS)
                    30 Aug 00                      (MS)
                  # 19 Jul 01                                 (MS)

#Top Report on file for the CY01B Board

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO recommended denial.  They indicated that they disagree  with  the
applicant’s contention that his MSM, 3OLC decoration was  missing  from  his
Officer Selection Record (OSR) when it met the P0501B  board.   He  included
the citation and orders awarding him the MSM, 3OLC.  However,  although  the
period of the decoration was through 1 September 1999, the orders  were  not
published until 31 May 2002.  As directed in  AFI  36-2803,  paragraph  3.1,
the applicant’s rating chain has up to two years to submit a  recommendation
for decoration after the service was performed.  For purposes  of  including
this decoration in a board that convened on 5 November 2001, the  decoration
did not yet exist.  AFI 36-2803,  Table  3.1,  note  5,  directs  forwarding
citations and special orders within 30 days of the date the  special  orders
are published.  The decoration  was  not  required  to  be  updated  in  the
military personnel data system (PDS), and on file in his  record,  until  30
June 2002.  As such, the 1 September 1999 MSM, 3OLC  was  not  a  matter  of
record at the time the P0501B board convened  on  5 November  2001.   On  23
August 2002, they provided HQ AFPC/DPPBR with a copy of  that  citation  for
inclusion in the applicant’s OSR.




The evaluation is at Exhibit C.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

On 13 September 2002, a copy of the Air Force evaluation  was  forwarded  to
the applicant for review and response within thirty (30) days.  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 timely filed.

3.    Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate  the
existence of an error or an 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 an injustice.  In this respect, we note that  the
contested MSM, 3OLC was awarded to the applicant in orders published on  31
May 2002.  Therefore, the award was not yet made a matter  of  record  when
the CY01B Lieutenant Colonel Board convened on 5 November 2001.   While  it
is a fact that the award was for the  period  1  February  1997  through  1
September 1999, well before the convening of the  CY01B  board,  until  the
official orders were published,  the  award  did  not  exist  and  was  not
required to be in his records until within 30 days from  the  date  of  the
orders.  We note the processing of this award was outside of the normal two-
year window for submitting a recommendation for the  award,  and  arguably,
the letters from the applicant’s former commander explain that  there  were
apparently problems in the processing of the award.  Nevertheless,  we  are
not sufficiently persuaded that the absence of the contested award was  the
sole cause of the applicant’s non-selection for promotion to the  grade  of
lieutenant colonel, nor has the applicant provided sufficient evidence that
he would have been promoted had this award been  in  his  selection  record
when he was considered by the CY01B board.  In view of the foregoing and in
the absence of sufficient persuasive evidence to the contrary, we  find  no
compelling basis to recommend granting the requested relief.

_________________________________________________________________



THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of 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 AFBCMR Docket Number  02-01941
in Executive Session on 22 October 2002, under the  provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

                  Ms. Olga M. Crerar, Panel Chair
                  Mr. Mike Novel, Member
                  Ms. Martha Maust, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 7 June 2002, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 27 August 2002.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 13 September 2002.




                                OLGA M. CRERAR
                                Panel Chair