RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-00301
            INDEX NUMBER:  131.00
      XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX    COUNSEL:  None

      XXX-XX-XXXX      HEARING DESIRED:  No

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be considered for promotion to major  by  special  selection  board
(SSB) for the Calendar Year  1997C  (CY97C)  Central  Major  Selection
Board, with the information that he  completed  an  advanced  academic
degree (AAD) thru the Air Force  Institute  of  Technology  (AFIT)  in
1992, included in his Officer Selection Record (OSR).

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He completed the AAD in 1992 and  ensured  that  AFIT  and  AFPC  were
aware.  However, when the board considered his records, there  was  no
evidence that he had completed the degree.

The CY97C major promotion  board  masked  data  on  advanced  academic
degrees.  He had  understood  that  the  masking  of  data  for  major
promotion selection boards was to focus  operators  on  their  primary
duties rather than working on a master’s degree.  As such, it was  not
obvious that the policy action would have  negative  implications  for
science and engineering officers who  didn’t  complete  their  degrees
upon leaving AFIT.   Training  reports  (TRs)  are  not  automatically
accomplished on officers who  complete  their  degrees  after  leaving
AFIT.  Officers must request a TR as a result of having read  AFI  36-
2406 or having been counseled.   The  TRs  are  dated  when  they  are
requested rather than when the AAD has been completed.   If  AFIT  had
generated a TR when he turned in his final transcript,  he  would  not
have been affected by the AF policy change to mask AADs for the  major
promotion selection boards.

He does not believe that his military record is in  error  or  unjust.
However, the AF promotion policy  change  altered  his  record  for  a
promotion board and  decreased  his  ability  to  compete  with  other
officers for promotion.  He submitted his  appeal  to  the  Evaluation
Reports Appeal Board (ERAB); however, since there are  no  records  or
reports to be corrected, they couldn’t grant him an SSB.

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is  at  Exhibit
A.
_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant is presently serving on active  duty  in  the  grade  of
major.  His Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) is  15
Jun 86.  The applicant was considered, but not selected, for promotion
to major in-the-primary zone by the CY97C  major  promotion  selection
board.  However, he was promoted above-the-promotion zone by the CY98B
Central Major Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO recommends denial of the applicant’s request.  Each officer
eligible for promotion by the CY97C major  promotion  selection  board
received an officer preselection brief (OPB) 90-100 days prior to  the
central board convening date.  The OPB contains data that will  appear
on the officer selection brief  (OSB)  at  the  central  board.   Each
member is instructed to carefully examine the brief for  accuracy  and
completeness and to take corrective action prior  to  the  board,  not
after it.  The instructions, as well as AFI 36-2501,  state  “Officers
will not be considered by a Special Selection Board if, in  exercising
reasonable diligence, the officer should have discovered the error  or
omission in his/her records and could  have  taken  timely  corrective
action.”

Additionally, it should be noted that the only way  to  update  degree
completion  is  for  the  applicant  to  request  that  his   official
transcript be forwarded to  AFIT  from  his  educational  institution;
thereby requesting to have a TR filed in his record reflecting  degree
completion.  In addition to  contacting  AFIT,  applicant  could  have
elected to write a letter to the promotion board president identifying
that he was awarded the degree and included copies of his  transcript.
The applicant has not provided any  evidence  that  he  wrote  such  a
letter or that he requested a final TR.  Therefore, they conclude that
he did not exercise reasonable diligence to insure  his  records  were
accurate prior to the CY97C board.

The complete evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

In his response, applicant indicates that he did receive  an  OPB,  as
indicated  by  AFPC/DPPPO,  and  carefully  examined  the  brief   for
completeness and accuracy.  He found no errors.  Since the  Air  Force
had decided to mask master’s degrees on the CY97C board, completion of
his master’s degree was not included on the OPB.  Therefore, he  could
not report any errors or omissions.  Since his OPB did not contain any
errors, it was not clear to him that he should have written  a  letter
to the board identifying that he had been awarded the master’s degree.
 He did send his transcript to AFIT in  1992  when  he  completed  the
degree in order to update his records both at AFIT and AFPC.  However,
AFIT  did  not  automatically  complete  a  TR  upon  receipt  of  his
transcript nor did they suggest or offer a final TR at that time.   He
did not know that he could ask AFIT for a final TR report upon  degree
completion.

The applicant indicates  that  he  would  have  had  to  make  several
assumptions to know to write the board president, e.g.:

        a.  Although master’s degrees were  masked,  the  board  would
take a critical look at completion  of  AFIT’s  in-residence  master’s
degree.

        b.  Based on TRs,  the  board  would  assume  that  he  didn’t
complete his master’s degree and downgrade his records.

Applicant also provides an explanation regarding the timeliness of his
claim.  During his post-board briefings with AFPC and unit leadership,
his AFIT degree  situation  was  not  identified  as  a  non-promotion
factor.  Although he was promoted to major on the next board,  he  did
not feel that his AFIT degree situation was the driving factor in  his
first non-selection, so he did not feel it was appropriate  to  pursue
an SSB.

In 2001, a colonel assigned to  Air  University  (AU)  with  extensive
experience in personnel reviewed his records and advised him  to  seek
an SSB for his nonselection to major.  By this time, he had heard that
non-completion of an  AFIT  degree  was  a  very  negative  factor  on
promotion boards.  He states that in a discussion with a long time  AU
personnel specialist, he was told that the  personnel  specialist  had
feared that the AFIT degree problem would happen to some officer.   As
a result, he filed an AF Form 948 request  to  AFPC,  but  was  denied
consideration of his request since he was not requesting a  correction
to an evaluation report.

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

_________________________________________________________________

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.  While the Board  believes  that  the
applicant could have exercised greater diligence in getting a training
report accomplished and filed in his records, we also believe that the
procedures in place to do this contributed to the lack of a report  in
the applicant’s records when he was considered for  promotion  by  the
CY97C promotion board.  Given the applicant’s selection for  promotion
above-the-promotion-zone by the CY98B promotion board, it appears that
a case can be made that the absence of the training  report  may  have
adversely impacted his promotion opportunity.   As  such,  we  believe
that  any  doubt  should  be  resolved  in  favor  of  the  applicant.
Therefore, the  Board  recommends  that  the  applicant’s  records  be
corrected as indicated below.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT be corrected to  show  that  the  AF  Form  475,
Education/Training Report, reflecting that he was  awarded  a  Masters
Degree in Meteorology in December 1992, was signed by the evaluator on
1 Jun 97 rather than 9 Dec 97, and was accepted for file on 5 Jun 97.

It is further recommended that he be considered for promotion  to  the
grade of major by a Special Selection Board  (SSB)  for  the  Calendar
Year (CY) 1997C Central  Major  Selection  Board  with  the  corrected
record.

_______________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered Docket  Number  BC-2003-
00301 in Executive Session on 21 May 2003, under the provisions of AFI
36-2603:

      Mr. Thomas J. Topolski, Panel Chair
      Ms. Marilyn Thomas, Member
      Ms. Ann-Cecile McDermott, Member

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

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 21 Jan 03 w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Memorandum, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 14 Mar 03.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 21 Mar 03.
     Exhibit E.  Memorandum, Applicant, 7 Apr 03, w/atchs.




                                   THOMAS J. TOPOLSKI
                                   Panel Chair


AFBCMR BC-2003-00301


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 XXXXXXXXXXXX, XXX-XX-XXXX, be corrected to show that
the AF Form 475, Education/Training Report, reflecting that he was
awarded a Masters Degree in Meteorology in December 1992, was signed
by the evaluator on 1 June 1997 rather than 9 December 1997, and was
accepted for file on 5 June 1997.

      It is further directed that he be considered for promotion to
the grade of major by a Special Selection Board (SSB) for the Calendar
Year (CY) 1997C Central Major Selection Board with the corrected
record.




            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency