RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2004-02816
            INDEX NUMBER: 110.00

      XXXXXXX    COUNSEL:  NONE

      XXXXXXX    HEARING DESIRED:  YES

MANDATORY CASE COMPLETION DATE:  15 Apr 06

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His general discharge be upgraded to honorable.

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THE APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He is now 74 years old and thinks that he served honorably.  After  so  many
years, he now deserves to have his discharge upgraded.  At the time  of  his
discharge, he was a very young man and things have now changed.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits a  copy  of  his  DD  Form  214,
Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States,  issued  in
conjunction with his 30  December  1955  separation  and  a  Certificate  of
Achievement for his meritorious service during OPERATION CASTLE in 1954.

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

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant served in the Regular Army from  8  April  1947  through  21 April
1950, and received a general discharge upon the expiration of  his  term  of
service (ETS).  He contracted his initial  enlistment  in  the  Regular  Air
Force on 27 June 1951.  On 20 August 1954, he  extended  his  27  June  1951
enlistment for a period of five months for training.  He  was  progressively
promoted to the grade of airman first class,  with  an  effective  date  and
date of rank of 1 August 1952.  He  received  nonjudicial  punishment  under
Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for  being  Absent
Without Leave (AWOL) from 13 Sep to 12 October 1954, and was reduced to  the
grade of airman second  class.   He  received  a  general  discharge  on  30
December 1955, under the provisions of AFR 39-10.  He completed a  total  of
4 years, 6 months, and 4 days of active service which includes  34  days  of
lost time (34 days AWOL 22 - 26 Jan 55 & 13 Sep - 12 Oct 54).

On  30  November  1961,  the  Air  Force  Discharge  Review  Board   (AFDRB)
considered and denied  applicant’s  request  to  upgrade  his  discharge  to
honorable.

Pursuant to the Board’s request, the Federal Bureau of Investigation  (FBI),
Clarksburg, WV, was requested to provide  an  investigative  report  on  the
applicant; however, they indicated that on the basis of the data  furnished,
they were unable to locate an arrest record (Exhibit E).

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPRS recommends the application be denied and states,  in  part,  that
based on the documentation in the applicant’s master personnel records,  the
discharge was consistent with the procedural  and  substantive  requirements
of the discharge regulation.  Further, the  applicant  did  not  submit  any
evidence  or  identify  any  errors  or  injustices  that  occurred  in  the
processing of his discharge.

The AFPC/DPPRS evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A complete copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to  the  applicant
on 29 October 2004 for review and response within 30 days.  By letter of  18
November 2004, the AFBCMR staff offered  the  applicant  an  opportunity  to
provide information pertaining to his post-service activities  and  provided
a copy of the Information Bulletin, Upgrade  of  Discharge  -  Clemency,  to
assist him (Exhibit F).  However, as of this  date,  no  response  has  been
received.

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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 not timely filed; however, it is in the interest  of
justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of error or injustice.  After thoroughly  reviewing  the  evidence
of record and  noting  the  applicant’s  complete  submission,  we  find  no
evidence of  error  or  injustice.   In  this  respect,  we  note  that  the
applicant’s discharge appears to be in compliance  with  the  governing  Air
Force Regulation in effect  at  the  time  of  his  separation  and  he  was
afforded all the rights to which entitled.  The applicant  has  provided  no
evidence to indicate that his  separation  was  inappropriate.  There  being
insufficient evidence to the  contrary,  we  find  no  compelling  basis  to
recommend granting the relief sought.

4.  We  also  find  insufficient  evidence  to  warrant   recommending   the
discharge be upgraded  on  the  basis  of  clemency.   In  this  regard,  we
considered the applicant’s overall  quality  of  service,  the  events  that
precipitated the discharge, and the absence of evidence related to his post-
service activities and accomplishments, and do not believe that clemency  is
warranted.

5.  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 issues involved.   Therefore,  the  request  for  a
hearing is not favorably considered.

_________________________________________________________________

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-2004-02816
in Executive Session on 20 April 2005, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

                       Ms. B. J. White-Olson, Panel Chair
                       Ms. Ann-Cecile M. McDermott, Member
                       Ms. Jan Mulligan, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 9 Oct 04, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPPRS, dated 27 Oct 04.







    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 29 Oct 04.
    Exhibit E.  Request for FBI Information, dated 17 Nov 04
    Exhibit F.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 18 Nov 04.




                                   B. J. WHITE-OLSON
                                   Panel Chair