RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  02-02272
            INDEX CODE:  110.00
            COUNSEL:  None

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His DD Form 214, Block 13A, Character of Service, be  changed  to  something
better than “Under Other Than Honorable Conditions.”

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

When he returned from a one-year tour in Vietnam, he was  put  into  a  unit
that he believed was  being  assigned  back  to  Vietnam.   He  went  Absent
Without Leave (AWOL) in excess of 30 days.  His  first  sergeant  talked  to
him regularly and he insisted he return to duty but  he  did  not.   He  was
eventually returned to his base and court-martialed.  He was given a  choice
to either serve his remaining 3 ½ months or  accept  an  “UOTHC”  discharge,
which would change automatically to “honorable” within 12 months.

The  applicant  provided   no   supporting   documents.    The   applicant’s
application is at Exhibit A.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant enlisted in the Regular Air  Force  in  the  grade  of  airman
basic (E-1) on 27 May 1966 for a period of 4 years.  During his service,  he
was credited with 11 months and 26 days of foreign and/or  sea  service  and
was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam  Service  Medal  and
the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.  Prior to the events  under  review,
he was progressively promoted to the grade of  A1C  (E-3).   He  received  4
enlisted Performance Reports, in which he was rated “Highest 20%,”  “Highest
30%”, 6 (1-9, 9 being the highest rating) and 9.

On 13 January 1970, applicant was convicted by a special  court-martial  for
being Absent Without Leave from on or about  11  August  1969  until  on  or
about 25 November 1969 and sentenced to be discharged  with  a  bad  conduct
discharge, to forfeit 2/3 pay per month for 6 months and to be  confined  at
hard labor for 6  months.   The  sentence  was  affirmed  and  ordered  into
execution on 26 January 1970.  Records indicate his discharge  was  executed
on 15 May 1970. He was credited with 3 years, 5 months and 3 days  of  total
active service.  Time lost was 199 days due to AWOL and confinement.

The remaining 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 at Exhibit C.

On 1 May 1972, the Air Force Discharge Review Board  considered  and  denied
the applicant’s requests for a discharge upgrade.

The Federal Bureau  of  Investigation  (FBI)  provided  a  negative  finding
pertaining to the applicant.
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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPRS recommends the application be  denied.   DPPRS  states  that  the
discharge was consistent with the procedural  and  substantive  requirements
of the discharge regulation.  In addition, DPPRS states that  the  applicant
did not submit any new evidence or identify any  error  or  injustices  that
occurred in the discharge processing.

The AFPC/DPPRS evaluation is at Exhibit C.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant states that after his year of service in Bein Hoa, Vietnam  as  an
aircraft technician, he was thankful to be alive as they were  under  attack
the whole time.  While in Vietnam, his first child was born and he  did  not
know of his daughter’s birth until a month later.  Upon  returning  home  on
30 days of leave, he found  his  wife  and  four-month  old  baby  basically
homeless and in need of his fatherly duties.  At the time of his  leave,  he
was assigned to Wright Patterson Base, OH where an order was being  prepared
for him to return to Vietnam.  He had no intention of returning to  Vietnam.
 When he did not return after the end of his leave, he  remained  in  weekly
contact with his sergeant.  He requested from his  sergeant  to  change  his
orders to a unit that would not deploy to  Vietnam  since  he  had  only  10
months left to serve and had no desire to reenlist.  He became AWOL and  was
extradited to Chanute  AFB  IL  to  await  his  trial.   In  hindsight,  the
applicant now feels that his legal counsel was  weak,  even  though  in  his
defense the fact that his  wife  and  child  were  homeless  was  used,  his
counsel neglected to mention important factors such  as  his  time  left  to
serve and being ordered to return to  Vietnam  despite  the  mandatory  six-
month retainability law.  Most importantly,  his  psychological  state  upon
returning from Vietnam was not mentioned by his attorney during  his  trial.
He was not offered any psychological/medical  evaluations  or  treatment  in
dealing with his mental exhaustion.  He now  believes  these  reasons  could
have played an important part in his  decision  making  process  during  his
court-martial.

Although he has let many years go by with no rebuttal to his  court-martial,
his bad judgment  in  not  handling  this  sooner  has  left  him  medically
uninsured as his health will no longer permit him to  work  and  his  health
condition has made any personal insurance policy unaffordable.  He  believes
it shall be proven that his health condition is contributed to his  exposure
to Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam.  Additionally, he is  interested
in scheduling a hearing in the near future.

The applicant’s submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit E.

On 21 August 2002, a letter was forwarded to the applicant  suggesting  that
he consider providing evidence pertaining to  his  post-service  activities.
As of this date, this office has received no response (Exhibit F).

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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.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of  error  or  injustice.   After  careful  consideration  of  the
applicant’s request  and  the  available  evidence  of  record,  we  see  no
evidence that would warrant an upgrade of his characterization  of  service.
In view of the seriousness of the  offense  of  which  the  applicant  stood
convicted and the fact that it has been 32 years since  his  separation,  we
do not find the  limited  evidence  provided  is  sufficient  to  warrant  a
recommendation for relief based on clemency.  In our opinion,  the  evidence
submitted is not of  a  sufficient  quality  and  quantity  to  warrant  the
approval of the  requested  relief  at  this  time.   Should  the  applicant
provide more expansive evidence of his post-service activities, we would  be
willing to reconsider his  petition.   In  the  absence  of  such  evidence,
favorable action is not recommended.

___________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of probable 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  this  application  AFBCMR
Docket Number 02-02272 in Executive Session on 18 September 2002, under  the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mr. Charles E. Bennett, Panel Chair
      Mr. Michael V. Barbino, Member
      Ms. Kathleen F. Graham, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 2 Jul 02, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPRS, dated 2 Aug 02.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 9 Aug 02.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, undated w/atchs.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 21 Aug 02.





                                  CHARLES E. BENNETT
                                  Panel Chair