RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  02-02022
            INDEX CODE:  115.03

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

By amendment, his records be corrected to reflect 132 months  of  gate
time by changing his Aviation Service Date (ASD) to 30 Aug 91; or,  as
an alternative, his ASD be changed to the original date of 4  Aug  80,
with no break in his ASD between  Upgrade  Pilot  Training  (UPT)  and
Upgrade Navigator Training (UNT).

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He needs one month to qualify for his third gate  under  the  Aviation
Career Incentive Act (ACIA) of 1974.  When he stopped flying in 17 Jul
91, the pilot training gate months were not  counted  for  navigators.
He needed 11 months gate time to qualify for his third gate under  the
ACIA of 1974.  Unable to meet the 132 gate month requirement under the
ACIA of  1974  by  1  Oct  91,  he  fell  under  the  Aviation  Career
Improvement Act (ACIA) of  1989  which  required  144  months.   As  a
result, he was short by 22 months.  A 1995 letter from the  Air  Force
Personnel Center (AFPC) to the “majority” of  navigators  stated  that
the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) gate  months  were  erroneously
excluded.  He corrected his records and fell one month  short  of  the
third gate under the ACIA of 1974.  Had he known  in  1991,  he  could
have easily delayed his departure  by  31 days,  never  flown  another
flight, and received his 132 gate months and third gate credit.

In  support  of  his  appeal,  the  applicant  provided  documentation
pertaining to his Operational Flying Data Accumulator (OFDA)  records,
to include a personal statement  with  a  statement  of  support,  his
request for a OFDA waiver and the disapproval, and excerpts  from  AFI
11-401, Flying Operations Flight Management.

Applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is 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  1  Jul  97.
His Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) is 28 May 80.

The remaining  relevant  facts  pertaining  to  this  application  are
contained in the letter prepared by the appropriate office of the  Air
Force.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ USAF/XOOT indicated that they have reviewed the applicant’s records
and find  that  he  does  not  meet  the  requirements  for  award  of
additional months of OFDA.  They stated that in 1994,  the  Air  Force
changed its policy  to  allow  graduates  of  Undergraduate  Navigator
Training (UNT), who also attended, but  failed  to  complete  UPT,  to
request an Aviation Service Date (ASD) adjustment for  award  of  OFDA
for the UPT period.  Prior to 1994, months of OFDA  for  undergraduate
training would only count if  the  member  completed  and  obtained  a
rating from that course.  UNT graduates were  not  allowed  to  credit
OFDA for UPT periods if they did not complete UPT.   Once  the  policy
changed, officers could apply for an adjustment of their  ASD  through
HQ AFPC/DP.  If the member did not  apply,  no  action  was  taken  to
adjust the ASD.  In 1995, AFPC/DP sent  out  a  memorandum  to  remind
officers of the policy change of 1994.  This in no way meant they made
an error in not updating an officer’s previous  months  of  OFDA.   HQ
AFPC could only makes changes on applications received.

HQ USAF/XOOT indicated that although the  additional  months  of  OFDA
awarded as a result of the policy change were not enough to  help  the
applicant meet his 18-year gate requirement to receive Aviation Career
Incentive Pay (ACIP) past 22 years of Aviation Service, this does  not
constitute a basis to award an additional month when requirements were
not met.

A complete copy of the HQ USAF/XOOT evaluation is at Exhibit B.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant indicated  that  the  first  and  only  notification  he
received regarding adding UPT gate months was AFPC’s  Jul  95  letter.
The letter made no mention of a policy change, referring  only  to  an
error in his gate months.   AFPC’s  letter  further  stated  that  the
majority of the navigators were missing gate months  accrued  at  UPT,
implying his was not an isolated or unusual case.  The letter  arrived
too late to make a difference.  Even if there were cockpits  available
when he received the letter, he was already locked into  a  controlled
three-year joint tour at USEUCOM.

Applicant indicated that based on what he knows of the Air Force rated
shortfall over the past 10 years, the policy change  was  most  likely
prompted because AFPC had difficulty getting navigators  their  second
gate, a milestone required by law, as it  used  navigators  for  rated
staff jobs to solve the pilot  shortage.

The applicant maintains that when the Air Force changed its policy  to
include UPT gate months in navigator totals  and  began  referring  to
both UPT and UNT as Undergraduate Flying  Training  (UFT),  it  should
have also altered its policy on how the transition between UPT and UNT
is viewed.  According to the applicant, both should be administered as
a single UFT program regarding ASD.

Applicant’s complete response is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

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 an injustice.  After a thorough review of the  facts  and
circumstances of this case, we are persuaded that corrective action is
warranted.  We note that an Air Force policy change  in  1994  allowed
graduates of UNT, who also attended UPT but failed to complete UPT, to
request an adjustment to their ASD by awarding them additional  months
of gate credit for the period of UPT.   As  a  result  of  the  policy
change, the applicant had his records  adjusted  and  fell  one  month
short of his third gate under the ACIA of 1974.  Prior to  the  policy
change, the applicant fell 11 months short of his third  gate  credit.
The applicant indicated that had he known  earlier  he  would  be  one
month short of  his  third  gate,  he  would  have  taken  appropriate
measures to obtain the additional month.  We believe it is  reasonable
to assume that the applicant’s aviation assignment history would  have
been different had he been aware that he would have been so  close  to
obtaining his third gate, as opposed to the 11  months  he  was  short
prior to the policy change.  Furthermore, we also  took  note  of  the
statement of support  provided  by  the  Principal  Deputy,  Assistant
Secretary of the  Air  Force  (Acquisition)  who  indicated  that  the
applicant’s assignments best suited the Air Force’s need  to  mitigate
the pilot shortage and prevented him from obtaining 132 or 144  months
of OFDA.  In view of the foregoing, and to remove the  possibility  of
an injustice, we recommend that the applicant’s records  be  corrected
to reflect that he was awarded an additional one  (1)  month  of  gate
credit for a total of 132 months under the provisions of the  Aviation
Career Incentive Act (ACIA) of  1974,  and  that  he  is  entitled  to
receive continuous Aviation Career Incentive Pay (ACIP) until his 25th
year of aviation service.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that  he  was  awarded  an
additional one (1) month of gate credit for  a  total  of  132  months
under the provisions of the Aviation Career Incentive  Act  (ACIA)  of
1974, and that he is entitled to receive  continuous  Aviation  Career
Incentive Pay (ACIP) until his 25th year of aviation service.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number 02-
02022 in Executive Session on 15 Oct 02, under the provisions  of  AFI
36-2603:

      Mr. Richard A. Peterson, Panel Chair
      Ms. Marcia Jane Bachman, Member
      Mr. Grover L. Dunn, Member

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 8 Jun 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Letter, HQ USAF/XOOT, dated 29 Jul 02.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 2 Aug 02.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, applicant, dated 29 Aug 02.




                                   RICHARD A. PETERSON
                                   Panel Chair










AFBCMR 02-02022




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 he was awarded an
additional one (1) month of gate credit for a total of 132 months
under the provisions of the Aviation Career Incentive Act (ACIA) of
1974, and that he is entitled to receive continuous Aviation Career
Incentive Pay (ACIP) until his 25th year of aviation service.







    JOE G. LINEBERGER

    Director

    Air Force Review Boards Agency