RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-01704
            INDEX CODE:  107.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) for the period of  1
October 1993 to 30 September 1995.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

His active duty supervisor turned in a package for his MSM  before  he
retired and he was not awarded this medal because the three year limit
was exceeded.  The fact that he was submitted for the  award  and  the
package was lost somewhere should not prevent him from  receiving  the
award.

The bottom line here is he earned the  MSM,  his  retiring  supervisor
submitted the appropriate paperwork, and because someone  dropped  the
ball he did not get the award.  He has since been awarded  a  MSM  for
later service in Japan and he has three Air Force Commendation Medals,
this data is provided to give an indication that his service has  been
outstanding.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits a copy of  an  email  from
his supervisor with the narrative for the award.

Applicant's complete submission,  with  attachments,  is  attached  at
Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The following  information  was  extracted  from  the  Personnel  Data
System.

On 1 October 1987, the applicant was appointed  a  second  lieutenant,
Reserve of the Air Force.   He  is  currently  serving  in  an  active
Reserve assignment in the grade of major, having been promoted to that
grade on 1 October 2000.  Based  on  his  Reserve  service  and  prior
Regular and Reserve enlisted service,  his  Paydate  is  30  September
1977.  As of the Retirement Year Ending (RYE) 25  June  2002,  he  was
credited with 24 years of satisfactory Federal  service.   He  has  an
established mandatory retirement date of 30 October 2015.

During the period under review,  the  applicant  was  serving  in  the
Reserve grade of captain and was assigned to duties as an Intelligence
Applications Officer at --- AB, Republic of Korea.

During his career, the applicant  has  been  awarded  the  Meritorious
Service Medal (in 2001) and three Air Force Commendation Medals.   The
applicant has  received  a  total  of  13  performance  reports  as  a
commissioned officer for the periods ending 1 October 1990 through  30
September  2002,  in  which  the  overall   evaluations   are   “Meets
Standards.”

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

ARPC/DPS states that they  recommend  denial.   DPS  stated  that  the
applicant was informed by his former supervisor that he would  be  put
in for an MSM for the period 1 October  1993  to  30  September  1995.
There is no evidence that  the  decoration  was  ever  submitted  into
official channels.  The applicant states he  discovered  the  MSM  was
never  processed  on  29  October  1998.   He  contacted  his   former
supervisor by e-mail  to  see  about  reaccomplishing  the  MSM.   The
applicant’s major air command of assignment received a  fax  from  the
applicant concerning his  OPR  inputs  plus  his  former  supervisor’s
inputs concerning the decoration on 29 October 1998.  His  request  to
reaccomplish the MSM was denied based on the  provisions  of  AFI  36-
2803, Chapter 3 (the 3-year limit of eligibility).  DPS notes that the
applicant is now requesting the Board to correct his records  to  show
he was awarded the MSM--over four and one-half years after the initial
discovery and seven and one-half  years  after  the  closeout  of  the
original MSM.

DPS does not believe  it  is  in  the  interest  of  justice  for  the
applicant to resubmit a  decoration  seven  and  a  half  years  after
closeout for him to be competitive for promotion.

If the AFBCMR disagrees with  their  recommendation,  the  applicant’s
original supervisor (Mr. T--- P---)  should  resubmit  the  decoration
through HQ PACAF (original approval authority) and if approved, change
the first MSM (1 October 1996 - 23 March 2001) to second award  (first
oak leaf cluster).

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

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant states that he has been on active duty, continuously serving
since November 2001, and  this  has  been  his  first  opportunity  to
correct the injustice as he earned the MSM.

A sad side note is often times as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee
(IMA), administrative paperwork is lost in a black hole.  An IMA  does
not have the same continuity, especially when you live  in  Texas  and
are a PACAF IMA.  You believe when a supervisor  tells  you  something
has been done, that it truly has been done, although there  is  not  a
closed loop for you to verify the action actually took place.

He states that he earned the MSM and  he  feels  it  is  not  just  to
conclude time limits were passed although it was no fault of his.

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 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.  In this respect,  we  note  that
the applicant met the criteria of award  of  the  Meritorious  Service
Medal (MSM) for the period 1 October 1993 to 30 September 1995,  while
he was serving at ---  AB,  Republic  of  Korea.   The  applicant  was
informed by his former supervisor that he would be put in for an  MSM.
His supervisor, at the time in question, turned in a package  for  the
MSM before he retired, however, the award package was  misplaced.   In
view of the above and in an effort to remove  any  possibility  of  an
injustice to the applicant, we recommend that he be  awarded  the  MSM
for the period 1 October 1993 to 30 September 1995.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that he  was  awarded  the
Meritorious  Service  Medal  for  the  period  1   October   1993   to
30 September 1995.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered  this  application,  BC-
2003-01704,  in  Executive  Session  on  28  August  2003,  under  the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

                  Mr. Thomas S. Markiewicz, Chair
                  Mr. James E. Short, Member
              Mr. Laurence M. Groner, Member

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

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 15 May 03, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, ARPC/DPS, dated 6 Jun 03.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 11 Jun 03.
   Exhibit E.  Applicant's Response, dated 25 Jun 03.




                                   THOMAS S. MARKIEWICZ
                                   Chair








AFBCMR BC-2003-01704
INDEX CODE:  107.00



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 he was awarded the
Meritorious Service Medal for the period 1 October 1993 to 30
September 1995.





            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency