RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:                       DOCKET NUMBER:  02-03516
                                             INDEX CODE:  110.02
                                             COUNSEL:  NONE
                                             HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His under other than honorable conditions discharge be upgraded  to  general
(under honorable conditions).
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He is a husband and a  father  of  two  great  children.   He  has  owned  a
business for the past 26 years.  He has been a youth hockey  coach  for  his
community and a supporter of girl’s athletics.   He  has  been  living  with
this burden, a mistake he made when he was 19 years of age,  which  was  due
to experimenting with hallucinogenic  drugs  with  some  of  his  Air  Force
friends.  He regrets that day and has changed his life as it  was  prior  to
this mistake, a good  person,  respecting  others  and  living  morally  and
honestly.  If either of his children goes into  politics  or  some  form  of
public work, he does not want them burdened by his military record.   It  is
important to him that he has a military funeral since he is  very  loyal  to
his country.

In  support  of  his  request,  he  submits  a  personal   statement.    The
applicant’s submission is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

On 5 March 1971, the applicant enlisted in the  Regular  Air  Force  in  the
grade of airman basic (E-1) for a period of 4 years.

On 3 December 1971, in accordance with AFM 39-12,  Chapter  2,  Civil  Court
Conviction,  the  commander  initiated  discharge  proceedings  against  the
applicant.  This action was based on the applicant’s conviction by  a  civil
court for unlawfully and feloniously committing a lewd  and  lascivious  act
with the body of a child, who was then and there of the  age  of  12  years,
with the intent  of  gratifying  his  sexual  desires.   The  applicant  was
advised of his rights in  this  matter.   After  consulting  military  legal
counsel,  the  applicant  requested  a  hearing  before  an   administrative
discharge board.  The board recommended  that  he  be  discharged  from  the
service for  misconduct  because  of  a  civil  court  disposition  with  an
undesirable discharge.  In a legal review of the discharge  case  file,  the
staff judge advocate found it legally sufficient and  recommended  that  the
applicant be discharged from the Air Force for misconduct because  of  civil
court disposition with an undesirable  discharge,  without  opportunity  for
probation and rehabilitation.  On 15  June  1972,  the  discharge  authority
directed that the applicant be discharged  from  the  Air  Force  under  the
provisions of AFM 39-12, Chapter 2, result of  a  civil  court  disposition,
with a type of discharge as undesirable.  The applicant  was  discharged  on
20 July 1972 with an under other than honorable  conditions  discharge.   He
served 9 months and 3 days on active duty.

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.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPRS  recommends  the  application  be  denied.   DPPRS   states   the
discharge was consistent with the procedural  and  substantive  requirements
of the discharge regulation.   DPPRS  states  that  the  applicant  has  not
provided any  facts  warranting  a  change  of  his  discharge.   The  DPPRS
evaluation is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

On 20 December 2002, a copy of the Air Force  evaluation  was  forwarded  to
the applicant for review and comment.  As of  this  date,  this  office  has
received no response (Exhibit D).

On 22 January 2003, a letter was forwarded to the applicant suggesting  that
he consider providing evidence pertaining to  his  post-service  activities.
Applicant responded by stating that for the past 33 years he had led a  life
of constant fear.  A fear that someone  close  to  him  would  discover  his
mistake.  He has tried to be a model  person,  both  in  his  community  and
church life.  He has raised two children and has been a loving  husband  and
father.  He has participated  in  several  volunteer  programs  and  charity
events both in his state and community.  During his enlistment  in  the  Air
Force, he served his country to the best of his ability.  His  wife  at  the
time was having an affair with another military person and  he  fell  apart.
He is deeply regretful for what happened.  He is haunted by this  and  feels
that he has paid for it deeply.  He cannot ask his  friends  and  pastor  to
write a letter for fear they will ask, why?  His  family  would  be  crushed
and he would lose them if they were to  find  out  why  he  was  discharged.
Applicant’s response is at Exhibit E.

On 31 January 2003, a copy of the FBI report was forwarded to the  applicant
for review and comment.  As of this  date  no  response  has  been  received
(Exhibit F).

_________________________________________________________________

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, we do not find the evidence provided is sufficient to  warrant  a
recommendation for relief based on clemency.  Therefore, we agree  with  the
opinion  and  recommendation  of   the   Air   Force   office   of   primary
responsibility and adopt their rationale as the  basis  for  our  conclusion
that the applicant has not  been  the  victim  of  an  error  or  injustice.
Accordingly, we find no basis to recommend  granting  the  relief  sough  in
this application.

_________________________________________________________________

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 this application in  Executive
Session on 5 March 2003, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

           Ms. Marilyn Thomas, Panel Chair
           Mr. William H. Anderson, Member
           Mr. Thomas J. Topolski, Jr, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered for AFBCMR  Docket  Number
02-03516:

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 1 November 2002, w/atch.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPRS, dated 4 December 2002.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 20 December 2002.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, undated.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, FBI Report.





                                  MARILYN THOMAS
                                  Panel Chair