RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-00584
            INDEX CODE:  107.00, 131.01

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Officer Selection Brief (OSB) prepared for  consideration  by  the
Calendar Year 2002B Central Major  Selection  Board  be  corrected  to
reflect the award of the Air Force Commendation Medal, First Oak  Leaf
Cluster (AFCM, 1OLC), for the period 18 November 1999 to 2  July  2001
and he be considered for promotion to the grade of  major  by  Special
Selection Board (SSB).

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

The OSB that met the CY2002B Selection Board listed only his 1999 AFCM
and did not list his 2002 AFCM, 1OLC.  This missing item  on  the  OSB
that met the selection board  would  very  likely  mislead  the  Board
members in their evaluation of his promotion potential.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits a copy of his OSB dated 19
September 2002, a copy of his preselection briefs dated 27  June  2002
and 11 January 2003, copies of his AFCMs for the periods  12  December
1996 to 15 November 1999 and 18 November 1999 to 2 July  2001,  and  a
statement relating his attempts  to  correct  the  preselection  brief
dated  13  February  2003.   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 captain.  His OPR profile since 1996 follows:

      PERIOD ENDING            EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

       11 Dec 96               Education/Training Report
       10 Nov 97               Meets Standards (MS)
       26 Jul 98                      MS
       26 Jul 99                      MS
       26 Jul 00                      MS
        2 Jul 01                      MS
        2 Jul 02                      MS

Applicant was considered and not selected for promotion to  the  grade
of major by the CY02B central major selection board, which convened on
3 October 2002.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO states that a copy of the citation was filed in his Officer
Selection Record (OSR) on 26 August 2002, about forty (40) days  prior
to convening of the CY02B board.  Central boards evaluate  the  entire
OSR (including the promotion recommendation form, officer  performance
reports, officer effectiveness reports, training reports,  letters  of
evaluation, decorations, and officer selection brief), assessing whole
person factors such as job performance, professional qualities,  depth
and breadth of experience, leadership, and academic  and  professional
military education.  Although the AFCM, 1OLC, was not reflected on the
OSB, the citation was filed in his OSR for the  board’s  review.   The
selection board had his entire OSR, including the AFCM, 1OLC citation,
at their disposal during promotion  consideration.   Since  the  board
members had a copy of the citation to review and  were  aware  of  the
level of the award, they do not support SSB consideration.  Therefore,
they recommend denial of applicant’s request.

A complete copy of the evaluation is attached at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant states that in accordance with  AFI  36-2501,  paragraph
6.3.3, the AFBCMR may grant SSBs  when  they  determine  an  officer’s
nonselection for promotion resulted because of an error  or  injustice
in the officer’s record.  Additionally,  paragraph  2.11.1  identifies
the OSB as an item of information included in an officer’s record that
meets a promotion board.  The advisory letter readily admits the AFCM,
1OLC, was not reflected on the OSB.  Therefore, there can be no  other
conclusion than an error or injustice existed in his officer’s  record
that met the CY02B central major selection board.

The only remaining issue is whether his nonselection for promotion was
a result of this error or injustice.  It is impossible for  either  he
or AFPC/DPPPO to show, with direct evidence, what was in the minds  of
the board members  at  the  time  they  scored  his  specific  record.
Therefore,  he  provides  the  following  circumstanial  evidence   to
demonstrate that you may sufficiently determine that his  nonselection
for promotion was a result of the error in his record.

First, the “Instruction Sheet for Review of Preselection Brief”  given
to all officers meeting a promotion board states in  its  introductory
paragraph, “Errors left uncorrected could have a  negative  effect  on
your promotion opportunity.”  He first  notified  his  servicing  MPF,
Bolling AFB, of the corrections needed to his OPB in August 2002.   He
notes that his  servicing  MPF  is  in  Washington  DC,  while  he  is
physically located in the Denver, CO area, thereby adding  significant
difficulty  in  getting   these   corrections   made   and   verified.
Nevertheless, he discovered the  error  in  his  decoration  was  left
uncorrected in February 2003.

Second, the uncorrected OSB indicates only a single AFCM decoration in
1999.  As he understands it, the OSB  acts  as  a  cover  page  to  an
officer’s record.  As such, it provides  a  first  impression  to  the
board member reviewing the  record.   It  is  not  a  stretch  of  the
imagination that an OSB, such as his, with a single decoration  listed
in comparison to other records having 2-4 (or more)  decorations  will
certainly  be  expected  to  leave  a   significant   negative   first
impression.  If this is combined with a record organized in  a  manner
that places the decorations at the bottom (or end) of the  record,  it
is certainly possible that the board member may never find, let  alone
consider, the weight  of  a  contradictory  document  on  the  missing
decoration.

Third, he notes, according to AFPC’s website, the promotion  rate  for
the CY02B major’s  board  was  92.2%--a  significantly  high  rate  of
promotion.  One may reasonably infer from this high rate of  promotion
that the nonselects were likely a  result  of  something  negative  in
their record, i.e., a disciplinary action, a  referral  OPR,  lack  of
PME, etc.  His record has no such negative documentation - unless,  of
course, you  take  into  account  that  his  OSB  indicates  only  one
decoration over a period of 6 years of service.

Finally, AFI 36-2501, paragraph 2.1 states, “the fundamental  purposes
of the officer promotion program are to select officers through a fair
and competitive selection process.”  One  may  reasonably  infer  from
this language that it is the intent of the program to err on the  side
of fairness whenever a fact is in question.  His officer record with a
significant error in the listing of decorations on  the  OSB  unfairly
competed against other officer records without such  errors.   If  the
AFBCMR determines that (1) he was nonselected, (2) there was an  error
or injustice, and (3) this error  or  injustice  was  in  his  officer
record, but is unable to factually determine whether his  nonselection
was a result of the error, he requests the Board err on  the  side  of
fairness and determine that the  nonselection  was  a  result  of  the
error.  Such a finding would further the fundamental purposes  of  the
officer promotion program.

If the  Board  takes  all  of  the  circumstances  into  account,  the
applicant requests the Board determines that his  nonselection  was  a
result of the significant error that his OSB indicated only  a  single
AFCM  decoration,  instead  of  the  additional  AFCM,  1OLC,  he  was
authorized.  Accordingly, he requests correction  of  this  error  and
consideration by a Special Selection Board.

Applicant's complete response is attached at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

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 error or injustice.  The Air Force has indicated that
the applicant's Officer Selection Brief  (OSB)  did  not  reflect  the
citation for the award of the Air Force Commendation Medal, First  Oak
Leaf Cluster (AFCM, 1OLC) for the period 18 November 1999  to  2  July
2001.  It appears that the applicant made reasonable efforts to ensure
that his record was correct  when  the  selection  board  in  question
considered him for promotion.  There is no way of knowing for  certain
the impact the absence  of  this  information  may  have  had  on  the
applicant’s promotion opportunity.  In view of the  above  and  in  an
effort to remove any possibility of an injustice to the applicant,  we
recommend that his record, to include his corrected OSB reflecting the
award of the contested award, be considered for promotion to the grade
of major by a Special Selection Board  (SSB)  for  the  CY02B  Central
Major Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, to include a corrected Officer Selection  Brief
reflecting the award of the Air Force Commendation  Medal,  First  Oak
Leaf Cluster (AFCM, 1OLC) for the period 18 November 1999  to  2  July
2001, be considered for promotion to the grade of major by  a  Special
Selection Board (SSB) for the CY02B Central Major Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 28 May 2003, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

                  Ms. Patricia D. Vestal, Panel Chair
                  Mr. James W. Russell, III, Member
              Ms. Martha Maust, Member

All members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.   The
following documentary evidence was considered in connection  with  BC-
2003-00584:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 13 Feb 03, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 18 Mar 03.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 28 Mar 03.
   Exhibit E.  Applicant's Response, dated 9 Apr 03.




                                   PATRICIA D. VESTAL
                                   Panel Chair








AFBCMR BC-2003-00584
INDEX CODE:  107.00, 131.01



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, to include a corrected Officer Selection Brief
reflecting the award of the Air Force Commendation Medal, First Oak
Leaf Cluster (AFCM, 1OLC) for the period 18 November 1999 to 2 July
2001, be considered for promotion to the grade of major by a Special
Selection Board (SSB) for the CY02B Central Major Selection Board.





            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency