RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-01919
                                  (Case 2)

            INDEX CODE:  131.00, 131.01

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  YES

_________________________________________________________________


APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be considered for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by a
Special Selection Board (SSB) for the CY98B Lieutenant Colonel Central
Selection Board.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

An administrative error in the Memorandum of Instruction (MOI), issued
to the members of the 22 January 2001 SSB, degraded the impact of  the
Definitely Promote (DP) given to  him  by  his  senior  rater  on  his
Promotion  Recommendation  Form  (PRF)  and  negatively  impacted  his
promotion selection opportunity.

In support of his request, applicant  submits  a  personal  statement,
with  copies  of  MOIs.  The  applicant’s  complete  submission,  with
attachments, is at Exhibit A.
_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant’s Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD) is
12 March 1982.  He was progressively promoted to the grade  of  major,
effective and with a date of rank of 1 March 1994.  The applicant  was
considered and nonselected for promotion to the  grade  of  lieutenant
colonel by the CY97C (convened on 21 July 1997), CY98B (convened on  1
June 1998), CY99A (convened on 19 April 1999) and CY99B  (convened  on
6 December 1999) Central Lieutenant Colonel Selections Boards.

On 21 May 1999, while serving on active duty, applicant applied to the
Air Force Board  for  Correction  of  Military  Records  (AFBCMR)  for
promotion consideration to the grade of lieutenant colonel by  an  SSB
for the CY98B (1  June  1998)  Lieutenant  Colonel  Central  Selection
Board, citing errors  on  his  Officer  Selection  Brief  (OSB).   His
application was partially approved by the Board on  20 July  2000.   A
copy of the ROP, AFBCMR Docket Number 99-01399, is at Exhibit C.

On 21 January 2001, the applicant was considered and  nonselected  for
promotion to lieutenant colonel by an  SSB  for  the  CY98B  selection
board.

On 31 March 2002, the applicant was relieved from active duty  in  the
grade of major  under  the  provisions  of  AFI  36-3203  (Voluntary -
Sufficient Service for  Retirement)  and  retired,  effective  1 April
2002.  He had completed a total of 20 years  and  19  days  of  active
service for retirement.
_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATIONS:

HQ AFPC/DPPB states that  the  challenged  Memorandum  of  Instruction
(MOI) verbiage first appeared in a MOI applicable to the CY99A Central
Colonel Selection Board that convened in August  1999.   The  language
first appeared in the Special Selection Board  (SSB)  MOI  in  January
2001 and continued to  be  included  through  January  2002  when  the
Secretary of the Air Force (SecAF) directed a review of all  MOIs  for
all central boards.  The HQ AFPC/DPPB evaluation is at Exhibit D.


HQ AFPC/DPPPO states that, in  January  2002,  the  SecAF  directed  a
review of all MOIs for all  central  boards,  to  include  SSBs.   The
numerous changes made to the wording of the MOI were not based on  the
instructions being found to be  illegal,  unfair  or  in  error.   The
applicant has not proven that the wording of the MOI was in  error  or
that it contributed to his nonselection to lieutenant colonel. The  HQ
AFPC/DPPPO evaluation is at Exhibit E.


HQ AFPC/JA, recommends the application be denied.   In  JA’s  opinion,
the MOI paragraph in question is consistent with Air Force policy  and
regulation and contains no error.  Moreover,  the  applicant  has  not
shown how this paragraph “degraded” the impact of his DP or  “unjustly
undermined” the overall recommendation of his PRF.   In  fact,  it  is
difficult to ascertain  how  instructing  the  SSB  to  “consider  the
competitive circumstances” under  which  applicant’s  DP  was  awarded
could have operated to his detriment.  JA states  that  the  applicant
has failed to present relevant evidence  of  any  error  or  injustice
warranting relief.  The HQ AFPC/JA evaluation is at Exhibit F.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATIONS:

The applicant reviewed the advisory opinions  and  indicated  that  he
believes the inclusion in the MOI of the sentence, “In  considering  a
DP recommendation, it  is  appropriate  to  consider  the  competitive
circumstances under which the DP was awarded, as indicated on the PRF”
violated the spirit of the SSB process.  The primary reason  he  takes
exception to the addition of the sentence is its  stated  purpose;  to
open the door for members of the promotion board to  rate  competitive
circumstances under which DPs were awarded as indicated  on  the  PRF.
PRFs do not provide such data.  In his opinion,  what  this  statement
does is open the forum to the subjective analysis of  the  quality  of
personnel assigned to given commands.  Based on  the  fact  that  this
statement was not in his original CY98  promotion  board  MOI  and  it
opened the door to the subjective analysis of his DP by  SSB  members,
he requests that the Board grant him an SSB where the  instruction  to
the selection board more closely reflects the original  CY98  MOI  and
the statement in question has been removed.  The applicant’s  complete
submission, with attachment, is at Exhibit H.
_________________________________________________________________

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 an injustice.  After reviewing the applicant’s submission
and the evidence of record, we are persuaded that relief is warranted.
 In this respect, we note that the applicant’s promotion consideration
at  the  22 January   2001   Special   Selection   Board   (SSB)   was
reconstituting the CY98B Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board.  Inasmuch
as the wording of the Memorandum  of  Instruction  (MOI)  for  the  22
January 2001 SSB has since been changed by adding a  preface  sentence
to the MOI language under review, which  states  that  “The  following
paragraph applies to promotion boards  held  after  1  August  1999.”,
doubt exists as to whether or not the applicant received full and fair
consideration when he was considered for promotion by  the  22 January
2001 SSB.  We believe the applicant should have  been  evaluated  with
the same  MOI  in  effect  at  the  original  CY98B  selection  board.
Therefore, in order to offset the  possibility  of  an  injustice,  we
believe any doubt should be resolved in  the  applicant’s  favor.   In
view of the foregoing and in an effort to remove any possibility of an
injustice to the applicant, we recommend that  he  be  considered  for
promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by an SSB for  the  CY98B
Lieutenant Selection Board, with the MOI in effect at that time.
_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT be considered for  promotion  to  the  grade  of
lieutenant colonel by a Special Selection Board (SSB)  for  the  CY98B
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board, with the Memorandum of Instruction
(MOI) in effect at that time.
_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 16 October 2003, under the provisions of AFI  36-
2603:

                  Ms. Charlene M. Bradley, Panel Chair
                  Ms. Martha J. Evans, Member
              Ms. Renee M. Collier, Member

All members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.   The
following documentary  evidence  was  considered  in  connection  with
AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2003-01919.

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 30 May 03, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  ROP, AFBCMR Docket Number 99-01399
   Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPB, dated 7 Jul 03.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPPO, dated 18 Aug 03.
   Exhibit F.  Letter, HQ AFPC/JA, dated 25 Aug 03.
   Exhibit G.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 29 Aug 03.
   Exhibit H.  Letter from Applicant, dated 22 Sep 03, w/atch.




                                   CHARLENE M. BRADLEY
                                   Panel Chair



AFBCMR BC-2003-01919




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 APPLICANT be considered for promotion to the grade
of lieutenant colonel by a Special Selection Board (SSB) for the CY98B
Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board, with the Memorandum of Instruction
(MOI) in effect at that time.




            JOE G. LINEBERGER
                                        Director
                                        Air Force Review Boards Agency