RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-01381
            INDEX CODE:  131.01

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Officer Selection Record (OSR)  for  the  Calendar  Year  2002B  (CY02B)
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board be corrected to include the citation  for
the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM), for the period  July  1998  to
July 2000 and that he receive Special Selection  Board  (SSB)  consideration
for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel  for  the  CY02B  Selection
Board.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

The citation for the DMSM was omitted  from  his  record  during  the  CY02B
lieutenant colonel  board  despite  his  diligent  efforts  to  correct  the
omission.  The omission of the DMSM citation was a legal and material  error
because the  board  did  not  consider  material  information  available  in
compliance with pertinent Air Force directives and policies.

In support of his appeal,  the  applicant  provided  a  personal  statement,
Officer Pre-Selection Brief, dated 26 June 2002, the  citation  accompanying
the award of the DMSM for the period July  1998  to  July  2000,  and  other
documentation.

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
major effective and with a date of rank (DOR) of 1 March 1999.

The citation for the  Defense  Meritorious  Service  Medal  (DMSM)  for  the
period  July  1998  to  July  2000  was  filed  (8 November  2002)  in   the
applicant’s OSR before the CY02B board.
The Officer Selection Brief (OSB) prepared for  the  CY02B  Selection  Board
reflected award of the DMSM.

Applicant was considered and not selected for  promotion  to  the  grade  of
lieutenant colonel by  the  CY02B  (12  November  2002)  Central  Lieutenant
Colonel Selection Board.

OPR profile since 1996 follows:

           PERIOD ENDING          EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

                  6 Mar 96        Meets Standards(MS)
                  6 Mar 97                   (MS)
                  6 Mar 98                   (MS)
                  6 Mar 99                   (MS)
                  6 Mar 00                   (MS)
                 31 Jul 00                   (MS)
                 24 Jul 01        Training Report (TR)
                 31 Jul 02                   (MS)

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO recommended denial.  They indicated that the  applicant  contends
his DMSM citation was not in his OSR when his record met  the  CY02B  board.
They disagree.  In researching his request to include  the  alleged  missing
citation, they found a copy of the citation, date stamped 8  November  2002,
in his OSR.  The date stamp on each document filed in the OSR  reflects  the
date the document was filed and became an official matter of record.   Also,
as evidence that the citation was on file for the CY02B  board,  they  found
that the sequence number on the right-hand corner of  the  citation  matched
the sequence number on his OSB, indicating that the citation met  the  CY02B
board.  Therefore, since the DMSM citation was in his  OSR  when  the  board
convened, SSB consideration is not warranted.

The evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The  applicant  reviewed  the  evaluation  and  indicated  that   AFPC/DPPPO
indicates two reasons to support its  recommendation  of  denial  (the  date
stamp on the citation reflects the date it was filed and became a matter  of
record and the sequence number on the citation by itself indicates that  the
citation was in his OSR at the time the board met).  AFPC has  not  provided
any reliable evidence to show that the DMSM citation actually was  filed  in
his OSR before the board.  The date stamp is  not  reliable,  conclusive  or
convincing.  AFPC did not cite any instruction or procedure to  support  the
idea that a date stamp has any particular meaning or significance.   Nothing
in AFI 36-2608 (Military Personnel Records System) places  any  significance
on a date stamp.  The sequence number (030066) is  less  reliable  than  the
date stamp.   Again,  DPPPO  did  not  cite  any  instruction  or  procedure
designating any significance to the notation  of  a  sequence  number  on  a
document.  They have not provided any explanation of what a sequence  number
means or its purpose.

The irregularities in the processing of the citation  and  OSR  are  crystal
clear, and any doubt on this matter must  be  resolved  in  his  favor.   He
followed the instructions  he  was  given  when  he  attempted  to  add  the
citation to his OSR.  After the board results were  publicized,  he  made  a
request for his As Met Record, and the routine response disclosed  that  the
DMSM citation was not in his OSR when it met the  board.   These  facts  are
the most reliable indicators of whether the citation was in his OSR and  the
only reasonable conclusion is  that  it  was  not.   The  integrity  of  the
promotion system demands that any error or doubt be resolved in his favor.

Applicant’s 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 timely filed.

3.    Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to  demonstrate  the
existence of an  error  or  injustice.   The  applicant  contends  that  the
citation for the DMSM was omitted from his Officer  Selection  Record  (OSR)
for the  CY02B  Central  Lieutenant  Colonel  Selection  Board  despite  his
diligent efforts to correct the omission; and, therefore, this omission  was
a legal and material error because  the  board  did  not  consider  material
information available in compliance with pertinent Air Force directives  and
policies.  However, after reviewing the evidence of record, to  include  his
official  officer  selection  record,  we  are  not   persuaded   that   the
applicant’s record was incomplete at the  time  it  was  considered  by  the
CY02B lieutenant colonel selection board.  In  this  respect,  we  note  the
citation for the DMSM filed in the OSR is date stamped 8 November  2002  and
the board convened on 12 November 2002,  therefore,  we  are  persuaded  the
citation was in his record when it was  considered  by  the  board;  and  as
such, the board members were aware of the citation for the period July  1998
to July 2000.  As noted by the Air Force office of  primary  responsibility,
the date stamp on each document filed in  the  OSR  reflects  the  date  the
document was filed and became an official matter of  record.   In  addition,
we note the citation also contains  the  sequence  number  assigned  to  the
applicant’s file which matches the officer selection brief.   Therefore,  on
the basis of evidence presented, we are not  persuaded  that  the  applicant
has established that the citation was missing from his records when  it  was
considered by the CY02B selection board.  In view of the  foregoing  and  in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no  compelling  basis  upon
which to recommend granting the requested relief.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of an 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 AFBCMR Docket Number  BC-2003-
01381 in Executive Session on 30 July 2003, under the provisions of AFI  36-
2603:

                  Mr. Roscoe Hinton, Jr., Panel Chair
                  Ms. Kathleen F. Graham, Member
                  Ms. Cheryl Jacobson, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 15 April 2003, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 28 May 2003, w/atchs.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 3 June 2003.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 3 July 2003, w/atch.





                                ROSCOE HINTON, JR.
                                Panel Chair