RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBERS:  BC-2003-01413
            INDEX CODE 106.00
            COUNSEL:  None

            HEARING DESIRED:  No

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His 1984 general discharge be upgraded to honorable.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He does not dispute or believe his discharge to be in error.  However,
he believes his case is mitigated based on the fact  that  he  was  an
arrogant young man who crossed swords with very unforgiving vice  wing
and squadron commanders. He has since redeemed himself  as  a  Federal
law enforcement officer and as member  of  the  Vermont  Air  National
Guard (VTANG). In support, he provides his resume and two 1989 letters
of appreciation from the chief patrol agent with  the  Border  Patrol,
Immigration  and  Naturalization  Service  (INS),  US  Department   of
Justice.

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

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant’s active duty military personnel  record  is  no  longer
available,  apparently  having  been  “purged”  by  the  Air   Reserve
Personnel Center (ARPC) in 2001.  Remaining existing documents reflect
the following:

The applicant enlisted in the Regular Air Force on 23  Sep  81  for  a
period of four years. He was assigned as a law enforcement  specialist
to the XXX Security Police Squadron in the United Kingdom (UK).

On 2 Mar 84, the applicant’s commander found him  guilty  of  stealing
some amount of gasoline, of some value, at  RAF  Welford,  UK,  on  or
about 15 Feb 84, and imposed nonjudicial punishment  in  the  form  of
reduction from airman first class to airman and seven  days  of  extra
duty. The applicant made a written and oral
presentation to  the  commander  and  his  subsequent  appeal  of  the
punishment was denied on 28 Mar 84. The Article 15 was  found  legally
sufficient on 29 Mar 84.

The discharge package is not available, but the  applicant’s  DD  Form
214 reflects he was discharged on 19 Apr 84 in  the  grade  of  airman
with a general  characterization  for  misconduct,  pattern  of  minor
disciplinary infractions. He had a total of 2 years, 6 months  and  27
days of active service.

On 24 Feb 00, the applicant enlisted  in  the  Vermont  Army  National
Guard for three years and on 8 Mar 01 requested a conditional  release
to transfer to the VTANG.

The applicant’s request was approved and on 9 Mar 01 he enlisted for a
period of three years in the VTANG in the grade of airman first class.
On 11 Sep 01, he was called to active duty and  assigned  to  the  XXX
Security Forces Squadron. He supported Operations Noble Eagle/Enduring
Freedom in Burlington, VT and Southern Watch/Al Jaber in  Kuwait.   He
was promoted to senior airman on 1 May 01 and  to  staff  sergeant  on
1 Aug 02. He was honorably released from active duty on 10 Apr 03 with
one year and seven months  of  active  service  for  that  period  and
transferred to the VTANG.

Pursuant to the Board's request, the Federal Bureau of  Investigation,
Washington, D.C., indicated that on the basis of the  data  furnished,
they were unable to locate an arrest record (Exhibit C).

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ  AFPC/DPPRS  notes  there  are  no  documents  in  the  applicant’s
personnel record pertaining to his discharge process or the misconduct
leading  up  to  his  discharge  from  active  duty  since  they  were
apparently  purged  by  the  ARPC  in  2001.   The  discharge  appears
consistent with the procedural and  substantive  requirements  of  the
pertinent  regulation  and  the  applicant  has  provided   no   facts
warranting an upgraded discharge. Denial is recommended.

A complete copy of the evaluation is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A complete copy of the Air  Force  evaluation  was  forwarded  to  the
applicant on 30 May for review and comment within 30 days.  As of this
date, this office has received no response.

_________________________________________________________________

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  to  warrant  upgrading   the
applicant’s 1984 general discharge to honorable. According to  his  DD
Form 214, the  applicant  was  discharged  for  a  “pattern  of  minor
disciplinary  infractions.”  Unfortunately,  the   ARPC   purged   the
applicant’s records in 2001, leaving the 1984 Article 15 for  gasoline
theft  as  the  only  existing  evidence  of  a  specific  episode  of
misconduct. The general discharge may  well  have  been  justified  in
1985, but by its own expungement action  the  Air  Force  now  appears
unable to support its  claim  of  a  “pattern  of  minor  disciplinary
infractions.”  By  contrast,  the  applicant  has  demonstrated  that,
whatever his minor infractions may have  been  in  the  past,  he  has
overcome them with subsequent honorable service in the  Army  and  Air
National Guards. While on active duty, he supported  Operations  Noble
Eagle/Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch/Al Jaber.  Further,  he  has
been promoted twice and the FBI reported no arrest record based on the
data furnished. We believe any doubt in this case should  be  resolved
in favor of the applicant as he appears to have redeemed himself  with
honorable service since Feb 00. We therefore recommend that  his  1984
general discharge be upgraded to honorable on the basis of clemency.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that on 19 April 1984,  he
was  honorably  discharged  and  furnished  an   Honorable   Discharge
certificate.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 21 August 2003 under the provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

                 Ms. Patricia D. Vestal, Panel Chair
                 Ms. Martha J. Evans, Member
                 Mr. E. David Hoard, Member

The following documentary evidence relating to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-
2003-01413 was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 19 Apr 03, w/atch.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Available Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Negative FBI Report.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPRS, dated 20 May 03, w/atchs.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 30 May 03.




                                   PATRICIA D. VESTAL
                                   Panel Chair




AFBCMR BC-2003-01413




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   , be corrected to show that on 19 April 1984, he
was honorably discharged and furnished an Honorable Discharge
certificate.





   JOE G. LINEBERGER

   Director

   Air Force Review Boards Agency