RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2004-03596
            INDEX CODE:  110.00

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO


_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His under other than honorable conditions  discharge  be  upgraded  to
honorable.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

A Korean shack burned down, the Korean owner blamed him as he rented a
small room there.  He was on base and they blamed him because they had
no insurance.  These shacks were firetraps and burned all the time.

His appointed counsel advised him to take an early discharge  in  lieu
of court-martial.  The fact is, he served his country well and all  he
asks is to receive an honorable discharge and be allowed  the  typical
benefits he earned and deserves.

In support of the appeal, applicant submits a personal statement.

Applicant's complete submission, with attachment, is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant enlisted in the Regular Air Force on 23 January 1978 in  the
grade  of  airman  basic  for  a  period  of  four  years.    He   was
progressively promoted to the grade of airman  on  23  July  1978  and
airman first class  on  23  January  1979.   He  received  one  Airman
Performance  Report  closing  22  March  1979  in  which  the  overall
evaluation was “7.”

In April 1979, court-martial charges were preferred against  applicant
for the following offenses:  (1) On  or  about  27 February  1979,  29
January 1979, 3 February 1979, 5 February 1979, 9 February  1979,  and
24 February 1979, he attempted to steal foodstuffs of a value of  less
than $50.00 (each time, totaling the amount of $300.00), the  property
of the Noncommissioned Officers (NCO)  Open  Mess;  (2)  On  or  about
4 January 1979, he willfully and maliciously set on fire an  inhabited
dwelling; (3) On or about  9 March  1979,  he  willfully  disobeyed  a
lawful order from superior NCO, (4)  On  or  about  9 March  1979,  he
willfully  disobeyed  a  lawful  command  from  superior  commissioned
officer; (5) During or about August 1978 (two times),  November  1978,
and December 1978,  he  wrongfully  used  marijuana  while  performing
Security Police duties.

On 10 April 1979,  after  consulting  with  legal  counsel,  applicant
requested to be discharged for the good of  the  service  in  lieu  of
trial by court-martial.  He understood if his  request  for  discharge
was  approved,  he  could  receive  an  under  other  than   honorable
conditions discharge.  The base legal office  reviewed  the  case  and
found it legally sufficient and recommended  applicant’s  request  for
discharge for the good of the service be approved and  he  receive  an
under other than honorable conditions discharge.  Headquarters 5th Air
Force legal office reviewed the case and found it  legally  sufficient
and recommended applicant’s request for discharge for the good of  the
service be approved and he be discharged in lieu of court-martial with
an under other than honorable  conditions  discharge.   The  discharge
authority approved applicant’s request for discharge for the  good  of
the service and directed that he receive an under other than honorable
conditions discharge.

Applicant was separated from the Air Force on 14 June 1979  under  the
provisions of AFM 39-12,  Separation  for  Unsuitability,  Misconduct,
Resignation, or Request for Discharge for the Good of the Service  and
Procedures for the Rehabilitation Program (request  for  discharge  in
lieu of trial by court-martial), with an under  other  than  honorable
conditions discharge.  He served 1 year,  4  months  and  22  days  on
active duty.

Pursuant to the Board’s request, the Federal Bureau of  Investigation,
Clarksburg, West Virginia, provided an investigative report  which  is
attached at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPRS states based on the documentation on  file  in  the  master
personnel records; the discharge was consistent  with  the  procedural
and  substantive  requirements  of  the  discharge  regulation.    The
discharge was within the discretion of the discharge authority.

A complete copy of the evaluation is attached at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________


APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

On 17 December 2004, a copy of the Air Force evaluation was  forwarded
to the applicant for review and response within 30 days.  On 7 January
2005, applicant was invited to provide information pertaining  to  his
activities since leaving the service.  On 18 January 2005, a  copy  of
applicant’s FBI Report was  forwarded  to  applicant  for  review  and
response within 14 days (Ex E).

On 19 January 2005, the applicant provided a letter  stating  none  of
the incidents were facts.  He certainly never burned down a  building,
it was a shack and he was nowhere near the location at the  time.   He
was on base at Osan and there were plenty of witnesses.   He  did  not
steal foodstuffs; he simply mistakenly transposed his barracks  number
on his receipt.  Everyone ran a monthly tab, charged  to  their  room.
Lastly the allegations of smoking marijuana was the silliest  of  all.
He does remember one fellow airman was caught by  some  authority  and
pressured to  release  names  of  other  people  he  believed  smoked.
Evidently his name and many, many others ended up on that list.   That
was it.  That was the sum total of his proven guilt.

His life since the Air Force has been very interesting.  He has  never
had any trouble with the law and he has no prior criminal history.  In
closing he would like to say, notwithstanding a few meals in the  Osan
AFB NCO Club, none of the allegations were true, in fact nothing  more
than hearsay.  The only real fact in all of this is that  he  did  his
job, and did it well.  He was a young kid shipped halfway  around  the
world to serve his country, and that’s exactly  what  he  did.   Since
then the record will speak for itself.  He and his wife  has  been  an
ideal, mainstream American family.

He thanks the Board for taking the time and effort to hear  his  case.
He has carried this shame around for a long time, and  just  wants  to
receive credit for all the good things he has done.

Applicant's complete response, with attachments, is at Exhibit F.

The applicant provided a statement regarding the  FBI  Report  stating
one thing he has learned is that anyone can have anyone  arrested  for
any reason at any time and the police are only too  happy  to  oblige.
The charges were  dropped  in  the  first  incident.   In  the  second
incident, his wife dropped the charge but the District Attorney’s (DA)
office said the state would not allow that in any domestic  situation.
So the state prosecuted, he plead guilty.  Due to  no  prior  criminal
record, he received a 12-month probation sentence and had  to  take  a
class on domestic violence.  His  probation  ends  in  July  and  this
blemish will be wiped off his  record.   For  the  failure  to  appear
warrant, that was for his court date for the second incident.  He  did
not receive the notice from the DA’s office.  He  and  his  wife  were
called and a new date  was  set.   They  received  their  notice  back
undelivered.  Case closed.

In his very limited dealings with the police these past 47  years,  he
has  noticed  that  they  are  very  adept  at  arresting  people  and
prosecuting them, but seem rather  inept  at  cleaning  up  their  own
records and mistakes.  The only incident that should be on this report
is number 2, and by law that must be cleaned off in July.

A copy of applicant’s response, with attachment, is at Exhibit G.

_________________________________________________________________

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.    We find no impropriety in the  characterization  of  applicant’s
discharge.  It appears that responsible officials applied  appropriate
standards in effecting the separation, and we do not  find  persuasive
evidence that pertinent regulations were violated  or  that  applicant
was not afforded all the rights to  which  entitled  at  the  time  of
discharge.  We conclude, therefore,  that  the  discharge  proceedings
were proper and characterization of the discharge was  appropriate  to
the existing circumstances.

4.    We also find insufficient evidence to warrant  a  recommendation
that the discharge be upgraded on the  basis  of  clemency.   We  have
considered applicant’s overall quality of service,  the  events  which
precipitated the discharge, and available evidence  related  to  post-
service activities and accomplishments.  On balance, we do not believe
that clemency is warranted.

________________________________________________________________

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  this  application  in
Executive Session on 17 February 2005, under the provisions of AFI 36-
2603:

                       Mr. Michael K. Gallogly, Panel Chair
                       Mr. Gregory A. Parker, Member
                       Mr. Christopher D. Carey, Member

The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket  Number
BC-2004-03596 was considered:

      Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 17 Nov 04, w/atch.
      Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
      Exhibit C. FBI Report.
      Exhibit D. Letter, AFPC/DPPRS, dated 10 Dec 04.
      Exhibit E. Letters, SAF/MRBR, dated 17 Dec 04, AFBCMR, dated
                 7 Jan 05, w/atch, and 18 Jan 05.
      Exhibit F. Applicant’s Responses dated 19 Jan 05 and
                 undated.




                             MICHAEL K. GALLOGLY
                             Panel Chair