RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2004-00813

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Meritorious Service Medal (MSM), third oak leaf cluster (3OLC),  awarded
for the period 17 December 1999 to 30  September  2002,  be  upgraded  to  a
Legion of Merit (LOM).

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

This award failed to take into account two key  and  critical  factors  that
would have clearly made this decoration worthy of a Legion of  Merit  (LOM).


First, during the timeframe of the award, he served as the Battle  Commander
and Director of Operations, Northeast Air Defense  Sector,  1st  Air  Force,
North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), Rome, New  York.   He  commanded
the sector’s battle cab and air control functions for Operation NOBLE  EAGLE
- America’s homeland defense in the  war  on  terror.   This  fact  was  not
mentioned in the MSM.  He was responsible  for  real-time  24/7  control  of
ground and lethal  airborne  military  assets  (radars,  tankers,  fighters,
electronic platforms, etc) to meet the national  security  requirements  for
homeland defense post September 11, 2001 for external and internal  airspace
in the highly congested northeastern sector of the US -  Maine  to  Virginia
to Missouri to Canadian Border  and  associated  over  water  areas  -  over
1,000,000 square miles.  At times, he became  responsible  for  up  to  two-
thirds of the  sovereign  United  States  (US)  airspace.   These  were  not
training missions.  Lethal assets carried  actual  weapons,  and  could  and
would destroy hostile targets.   He  effected  extensive  coordination  with
multiple DoD, Joint, and other  governmental  agencies  (FAA,  Coast  Guard,
White House, Secret Service,  Canadian,  NORAD,  and  the  National  Command
Agencies) to meet critical mission requirements that at most times  included
the direct protection  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  foreign
dignitaries, many key  national  command  authority  figures,  and  numerous
valuable national security assets.  He fully  met  all  operational  tasking
providing  protection  to  US  sovereign  airspace  from  terrorists   while
simultaneously increasing  the  operational  effectiveness  of  the  mission
through the innovation of  a  fusion  of  intelligence  data  and  real-time
flight management tools that significantly  increased  the  quality  of  the
decision making in a very time-critical operation.

Clearly, the above meets the criteria listed in Air  Force  Instruction  36-
2803 for the consideration and award of the Legion of Merit.

Second, Air Force Instruction 36-2803 states  “Evaluate  all  related  facts
regarding the service of  any  person  before  recommending  or  awarding  a
decoration.” For retirement decorations, “Review records  and  consider  the
individual’s entire career to determine the appropriate level of  decoration
for retirement.”   It  appears  that  this  decoration  did  not  have  that
information available for consideration since it was produced  (20  Feb  04)
well past the retirement date (30 Sep 02) and  his  personnel  records  have
been long  since  archived  and  a  performance  report  for  2002  was  not
accomplished.  The only documents requested  from  him  were  his  last  two
performance reports (timeframe of 2000 and 2001).   Additionally,  personnel
guidance documents for the award of the LOM state, “Upon retirement after  a
long and distinguished career, liberal interpretation of award criteria  can
be exercised for officers serving in the grade of colonel and above.”

In support of his request,  applicant  provided  a  personal  statement  and
documents associated with his request for upgrade of his MSM.

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

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant  was  commissioned  in  the  Regular  Air  Force  on            23
September 1973.  He was progressively promoted  to  the  grade  of  colonel,
with a date of rank of 1 January 1996.  He  served  with  the  20th  Fighter
Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, SC during the
period 17 December 1999 through 30 September 2002.  He was awarded  the  MSM
3OLC as a retirement decoration on 20 Feb 04.  Applicant was retired  on  30
September 2002 after  serving  29  years,  and  8  months  of  total  active
military service.

____________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPR recommends denial and states  that  the  applicant  should  first
exhaust  administrative  channels.   He  was  also  informed  that  official
documents were required, which show  a  recommendation  had  been  submitted
into official channels (signed by the recommending official and endorsed  by
the  next  higher  official  in  his  chain  of  command).   The   applicant
responded, but he did not provide documentation to substantiate  his  claim.
The applicant believes the person that should  review  this  application  is
the Wing Commander at the 20th Fighter Wing  at  Shaw  AFB,  SC.   The  Wing
Commander was the one who awarded the MSM 3OLC at issue, and  the  applicant
believes  that  if  the  Wing  Commander  had  been  made  aware   of   this
information, the outcome would have been to award him the Legion  of  Merit.
If the applicant desires,  he  may  contact  his  recommending  official  to
exercise the procedures for requesting  reconsideration  of  the  Legion  of
Merit.

AFPC/DPPPR complete evaluation, with attachment, is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

He has provided to the best of his  ability  the  necessary  information  to
justify the review and award of a Legion of Merit in two separate inputs  to
SAF/MRBR.  The whole last  year  of  his  service  is  undocumented  by  the
commanders at Shaw AFB, SC and North  East  Air  Defense  Sector  (NY  ANG),
Griffiss, NY (Noble Eagle service).  Therefore,  official  documentation  is
not available.  As stated in his BCMR application, Air Force Instruction 36-
2803 states “Evaluate all related facts regarding the service of any  person
before recommending or awarding a decoration.”  It is  his  contention  that
this decoration did  not  have  all  the  requisite  information  and  facts
available for consideration.

Applicant’s complete submission 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 error or injustice warranting award of  the  Legion  of  Merit.
In  this  regard,  the  applicant’s  contentions   with   respect   to   his
achievements are duly noted;  however,  he  has  not  provided  evidence  to
substantiate his contentions, or that he had been recommended for the  award
through official channels. The majority of  the  Board  also  noted  he  had
previously been advised he should exhaust  all  administrative  channels  to
seek relief by requesting reconsideration of the award through his chain  of
command which he apparently has  not  done.   In  view  of  the  above,  the
majority of the Board finds no compelling basis to  recommend  granting  the
relief sought in this application.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of material 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  Docket  Number  BC-2004-00813
in Executive Session on 30 June 2004, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Ms. Brenda L. Romine, Panel Chair
      Ms. Jean Reynolds, Member
      Mr. Vance E. Lineberger, Member

By a majority vote, the Board voted to deny the application. Mr.  Lineberger
recused himself from voting.

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 9 Mar 04, w/acths.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPR, dated 25 May 04.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 28 May 04.
    Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, undated.




                                   BRENDA L. ROMINE
                                   PanelChair