RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2004-01787
            INDEX CODE:  100.00
            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  YES

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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be offered continuation in the grade of captain so that he may reach  the
sanctuary.

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He was twice non-selected  for  promotion  to  the  grade  of  major  and  a
mandatory date of separation (DOS)  of  31  Aug  04  was  established.   The
mandatory DOS is less than five months short of him  reaching  18  years  of
service, which would place him in the sanctuary  and  allow  him  to  retire
with 20 years of service.  A normal  captain  twice  passed  over  to  major
would be at 9 or 10 years of service.  Because he is prior enlisted, he  has
already over 17 years of service.  He is able to  return  to  the  grade  of
senior airman but  doing  so  will  create  a  severe  and  undue  personal,
medical,  and  financial  hardship  on   his   family.    Humanitarian   and
Exceptional Family member Program (EFMP) assignments and  his  struggles  to
ensure adequate medical treatment for his wife and son directly  contributed
to his nonselection for promotion.  It is unjust to  penalize  him  for  the
circumstances,  which  were  beyond  his  control.   He  has  a  breadth  of
experience as an Air Force officer and continuation as a captain is  in  the
best interest of the Air Force.

In support of his request,  applicant  provided  personal  statements.   His
complete submission, with attachments is at Exhibit A.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant served as an enlisted member for 7  years,  9  months  and  1  day
prior to his appointment as a second lieutenant, Reserve of  the  Air  Force
on 14 May 94.  He was voluntarily ordered to extended active duty on 18  Oct
94.  He was progressively promoted to the grade of captain,  having  assumed
that grade effective and  with  a  date  of  rank  of  1  Aug  98.   He  was
considered and not selected for promotion to the  grade  of  major  for  the
second time by the Calendar Year  2003B  (CY03B),  Central  Major  Selection
Board and was not selected for continuation by the CY03B  Captain  Selective
Continuation Board.   As  a  result,  a  mandatory  DOS  of  31 Aug  04  was
established. He will reach 18 years of total active military service  on  17
Jan 05.

He is prior enlisted and is authorized to reenlist as a senior  airman.   He
will then be able to complete 20 years  TAFMS  on  31 Jan  07  and  will  be
eligible for enlisted retirement.  However, he will be 2 months short of  10
years of active commissioned service and will be required to retire  in  the
enlisted grade.  After 30 years of service (active service  time  plus  time
on the retired list) he may be advanced for  pay  purposes  to  the  highest
officer grade satisfactorily held on active duty.

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPPO recommends denial.  DPPPO states his  Air  Force  Specialty  Code
(AFSC)  13S,  did  not  meet  the  eligibility  criteria   established   for
continuation at the CY03B continuation board.   The  board  only  considered
rated line officers with a valid rate distribution and  training  management
code in AFSC  13B.   His  current  mandatory  DOS  of  31 Aug  04  puts  him
approximately 5 months short of sanctuary.   His  Officer  Selection  Record
reveals no  derogatory  data  that  would  have  prevented  him  from  being
selected for promotion.  The DPPPO evaluation is at Exhibit C.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant states that continuance was only offered to a  select  few  AFSC’s
for the CY03 major’s board.  The last time continuance was  not  offered  to
all AFSC’s was during the Reduction in Forces on  the  1990’s.   Even  then,
officers with more than 14 years of service were offered continuance  to  15
years and authorized early retirement.  The CY03B board  is  apparently  the
first time that early retirement has not been offered to  officers  over  15
years of service when continuation was  denied.   An  unfortunate  oversight
must have been made which did not take into  account  the  small  number  of
officers that would be affected.  The Air Force moved his major’s  board  up
by two years, which removed the time in which he should have had  to  finish
PME,  ending  his  career.   The  applicant  reiterated  the   circumstances
surrounding his family’s medical situation and adds that because he  has  an
involuntary separation date of 31 Aug 04, the  Air  Force  Academy  hospital
will no longer support his wife’s medical  treatments  since  it  took  away
from their training funds.  At the same time, Tri-Care announced they  would
no longer authorize out-of-state visits.   These  decisions  made  it  vital
that he accept earlier than mandated separation in order to provide for  his
wife and son.  He is now a senior airman and due to paperwork errors, he  is
experiencing pay problems.

His complete response is at Exhibit E.

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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.   We  took  notice  of  the  applicant's
complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however,  we  do  not
find his contentions  sufficiently  persuasive  to  override  the  rationale
expressed by the Air Force.  While we are not without sympathy  towards  the
applicant's circumstances, we are not persuaded that based on his  proximity
to reaching the sanctuary he has been the victim of an injustice nor  do  we
find evidence that  he  was  treated  differently  from  similarly  situated
individuals.  We note  that  he  is  eligible  to  continue  serving  as  an
enlisted member until he reaches retirement eligibility  and  upon  reaching
30 years of total service,  he  will  at  that  time  be  advanced  for  pay
purposes, to the grade of captain.  Therefore, we  agree  with  the  opinion
and recommendation of the Air Force office  of  primary  responsibility  and
adopt their rationale as the basis for our  conclusion  that  the  applicant
has not been the victim of  an  error  or  injustice.   In  the  absence  of
persuasive evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  find  no  compelling  basis  to
recommend granting the relief sought in this application.

4.  The applicant's case is adequately documented and it has not been  shown
that a personal appearance with or without counsel will  materially  add  to
our understanding of the issue  involved.   Therefore,  the  request  for  a
hearing is not favorably considered.

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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.

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The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number  BC-2004-
01787 in Executive Session on 15 Jul 04, under the  provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

      Mr. David W. Mulgrew, Panel Chair
      Mr. James E. Short, Member
      Mr. Gary G. Sauner, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 26 May 04, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPPO, dated 22 Jun 04.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 25 Jun 04.
    Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 25 Jun 04




                                   DAVID W. MULGREW
                                   Panel Chair