RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2004-01299
            INDEX CODE:  131.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His Officer Selection Record (OSR)  for  the  Calendar  Year  2003B  (CY03B)
Major Selection Board be corrected to  include  the  citation  for  the  Air
Force Achievement Medal (AFAM), for the period 10 February 2003 to 25  March
2003, and it be annotated on his Officer Selection Brief (OSB), and that  he
receive Special Selection Board (SSB) consideration  for  promotion  to  the
grade of major for the CY03B Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

Operations tempo precluded timely processing  of  the  AFAM.   Although  the
inclusive dates of the award ended on 25 March 2003 it did not  get  entered
into his record via Special Order GA-002, dated 1  March  2004,  almost  one
full year later.  The fact that it was earned prior to his promotion  board,
but entered after his promotion board was  an  error  due  entirely  to  the
operational impact upon his  flying  squadron  and  operations  group.   His
chain of command supports the inclusion of the award and SSB.

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
captain effective and with a date of rank (DOR) of 31 May 1999.

Applicant was considered and not selected for  promotion  to  the  grade  of
major by the CY03B (8 December 2003) Central Major Selection Board.

Special Order GA-002, dated 1 March 2004, awarded the AFAM to the  applicant
for service performed during the period 10 February 2003 to 25 March 2003.

The citation accompanying the Air Force Achievement  Medal  (AFAM)  for  the
period 10 February 2003 to 25 March 2003 was not filed  in  the  applicant’s
OSR when it met the CY03B Central Major Selection Board which convened on  8
December 2003.

The Officer Selection Brief (OSB) prepared for  the  CY03B  Selection  Board
did not reflect award of the AFAM.  While the  award  is  annotated  in  the
Military Personnel Data System (MilPDS), as of this date,  the  citation  is
still not filed in his OSR.

OPR profile since 1998 follows:

           PERIOD ENDING          EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL

                 11 Apr 98        Meets Standards (MS)
                 11 Apr 99                   (MS)
                 11 Apr 00                   (MS)
                 11 Oct 01           Education/Training Report (TR)
                  4 Feb 02                   (MS)
                  4 Feb 03                   (MS)
                 20 Oct 03                   (MS)

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO recommended denial.  They indicated in accordance with  published
guidance, the decoration award authority announces its final  decision  when
approving an award by publishing special orders.  These orders serve as  the
source document for updating the decoration in  the  MilPDS.   Although  the
closing date of the decoration is 25 March 2003, the special order  was  not
published until 1 March 2004.  Therefore,  the  decoration  would  not  have
been updated in MilPDS nor the citation included in his selection folder  at
the time the CY03B board convened on 8 December 2003.

The evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant states that although the Special Order incorporating the  AFAM  is
dated post the CY03 CSB, the 13-month processing time to  process  the  AFAM
was due to no fault of his own.  Yet the missing decoration  had  an  impact
on his perceived desirability for  promotion.   His  chain  of  command  has
signed statements supporting this  viewpoint,  attributing  high  operations
tempo as the cause for the delay in closing the special order  in  time  for
the promotion board.



Applicant’s complete 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 is timely filed.

3.    Sufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of an error or injustice.  The applicant  contends  the  AFAM  was
earned prior to the CY03B Major Selection Board; however, due to  Operations
Tempo connected to Operations Enduring Freedom and  Iraqi  Freedom,  it  was
not awarded until after the convening of the CY03B major board  (8  December
2003).   After  reviewing  the  evidence  of  record  and  the   applicant’s
submission, we believe the award in question should have been a part of  his
record prior to the CY03B Major Central Selection Board.  In  this  respect,
we note the statement from  his  commander  indicating  due  to  Operational
Tempo connected  to  Operations  Enduring  Freedom  and  Iraqi  Freedom  the
document processing time was slowed as a result  of  TDYs  and  deployments.
These delays precluded early submission and the  timely  processing  of  the
applicant’s AFAM due to reasons outside of the applicant’s control,  and  it
unjustly impacted his viability for promotion.  The Board is of the  opinion
it was the rating chain’s intention to have  the  AFAM  in  the  applicant’s
record prior  to  the  convening  of  the  CY03B  board.   While  we  cannot
determine what impact this omission would have had on  the  outcome  of  the
CY03 Board, we are persuaded it deprived the  applicant  of  full  and  fair
consideration.  In view of the foregoing and in an effort  to  preclude  any
possibility of an injustice to the applicant, we recommend  his  record,  to
include  his  corrected  OSR  reflecting  the  citation  for  the  AFAM,  be
considered by a Special  Selection  Board  (SSB)  for  the  CY03B  Selection
Board.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air  Force  relating
to APPLICANT, be corrected to show the Air Force  Achievement  Medal  (AFAM)
for the period 10 February 2003 to 25 March 2003 was awarded  on  8  October
2003, rather than on 27 February 2004, was accepted to file on or  before  8
December 2003, and was reflected on the  Officer  Selection  Brief  for  the
Calendar Year 2003B (CY03B) Major Central Selection Board.





It is  further  recommended  that  the  corrected  record,  to  include  the
citation for the above referenced AFAM, be considered for promotion  to  the
grade of major by a Special Selection Board  for  the  CY03B  Major  Central
Selection Board.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered this application in  Executive
Session on 19 August 2004, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

                 Mr. Wayne R. Gracie, Panel Chair
                 Ms. Jean A. Reynolds, Member
                 Ms. Beth M. McCormick, Member

All members voted to correct the records,  as  recommended.   The  following
documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket  Number  BC-2004-01299  was
considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 6 April 2004, w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 30 June 2004.
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 9 July 2004.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 26 July 2004, w/atchs.




                       WAYNE R. GRACIE
                       Panel Chair


AFBCMR BC-2004-01299





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 the Air Force Achievement Medal (AFAM)
for the period 10 February 2003 to 25 March 2003 was awarded on 8 October
2003, rather than on 27 February 2004, was accepted to file on or before 8
December 2003, and was reflected on the Officer Selection Brief for the
Calendar Year 2003B (CY03B) Major Central Selection Board.

      It is further directed that the corrected record, to include the
citation for the above referenced AFAM, be considered for promotion to the
grade of major by a Special Selection Board for the CY03B Major Central
Selection Board.




            JOE G. LINEBERGER
            Director
            Air Force Review Boards Agency