RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2005-03347
            INDEX CODE:  135.02

            COUNSEL:  ALISON L. RUTTENBERG

            HEARING DESIRED: NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His record be corrected to reflect Reserve  participation  points  and
eligibility for full pay and allowances from October 1997 to 6  August
1999, or in the alternative, he be awarded  participation  points  and
eligibility for full pay and allowances from  12 February  1999  to  6
August 1999.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

In 1996, he was ordered to active duty for 120 days and  was  deployed
to  Bosnia-Herzegovina   in   support   of   contingency   operations.
Approximately half way through his tour, he was reassigned to Vicenza,
Italy.  He returned from the deployment in February 1997 and completed
his travel voucher.  Travel personnel asked him for  more  information
to process his voucher and he contends he  supplied  the  information.
He also contends he made significant errors on his  voucher  including
that he had spent the entire deployment in Italy.  He contends he  was
going through a divorce at the  time  and  had  been  distracted  when
filing his voucher.  The travel clerk informed  the  Operations  Group
Commander of the errors on the voucher and the commander referred  the
issue to the Air Force Office of Special  Investigations  (AFOSI)  who
initiated a fraud investigation.

In March 1997, he was deployed to the Congo, Africa for about 45 days.
 He contends he was then assigned to a six-month counter-drug  mission
in Riverside, California.  He was relieved of duty in October 1997 and
told not to return pending the fraud investigation.  Consequently,  he
was put on administrative leave, he was administratively demoted  from
technical sergeant to staff sergeant, and his security  clearance  was
downgraded.  During the time he was waiting to return to duty, he  was
not able to earn points or pay.  He refuted the  above  administrative
actions and appealed.

He contends when he submitted  the  travel  voucher  in  question,  he
provided documentation that clearly showed the dates of his assignment
to Italy, a letter from his deployed commander that authorized him  to
travel from Bosnia to Italy, a receipt for translation  services  that
matched  the  approximate  date  of  his  arrival  in  Italy,  and   a
certificate of appreciation for duty in Bosnia that showed  his  dates
of service.

The Air Force  Reserve  Personnel  Center  Vice  Commander  (AFRPC/CV)
reviewed the administrative actions and  the  applicant’s  appeal  and
found there was no  attempt  to  defraud,  that  only  a  mistake  had
occurred.  On 12 February, applicant  contends  the  AFRPC/CV  ordered
that his rank to technical sergeant be  reinstated.   The  applicant’s
commander who initiated the original investigation disagreed with  the
CV’s findings and re-filed the case against him.  His  supervisor  was
compelled by the commander to write a  referral  Enlisted  Performance
Report (EPR) on  the  applicant  even  though  the  investigation  was
pending.  This action violated Air Force regulations  governing  EPRs,
but the EPR was eventually  placed  in  his  file  anyway.   Applicant
appealed the EPR to the Evaluation Reports Appeal Board  (ERAB)  which
granted the appeal on 14 July 2004.

The second filing against the applicant was eventually denied  and  he
was returned to duty.  He had been absolved of any willful  intent  to
defraud.  His security clearance was reinstated and he was returned to
the Intelligence career field.

In support of his appeal, the applicant has provided a statement  from
counsel and copies of pertinent documents regarding the correction  of
the administrative actions taken against him.

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

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant, a current member of  the  Air  Force  Reserve  (AFRES),
began his military career on  6  April  1981.   He  was  progressively
promoted to the grade of master sergeant (MSgt) with an effective  and
date of rank (DOR) of 16 November 2005.   He  has  over  20  years  of
satisfactory service.

In October 1997, he was relieved  of  duty  and  told  not  to  return
pending an investigation  into  his  filing  of  a  fraudulent  travel
voucher.  Further, he  was  administratively  demoted  from  technical
sergeant to staff sergeant, and received a referral EPR.   He  refuted
all charges and administrative actions  levied  against  him.   On  12
February 1999, his vice commander approved the appeal of his  demotion
and ordered he be reinstated to the grade of technical  sergeant  with
his original DOR.  On 6 August 1999, he was officially notified via  a
Return to Duty memorandum wherein he was found to be absolved  of  any
willful intent to defraud.  On 14 July  2004,  the  referral  EPR  was
removed from his record by the ERAB.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ AFRC/DPM recommends, at a minimum, the applicant’s military  record
should be corrected to reflect 14 active duty (AD) points, 48 inactive
duty points (IDT), and 15 membership points, as well as  pay  for  the
time frame of 1 October 1997 to 6 August  1999.   Therefore,  for  the
retention/retirement (R/R) year of 8 September  1997  to  7  September
1998, he should be awarded an  additional  48  IDT  points  to  points
already earned.  For R/R year 8 September 1998 to 7 September 1999, he
should be awarded 14 AD points and 44 IDT points to the points already
earned.  Further, all pay due the applicant should be awarded  to  him
in the grade of technical sergeant (E6).

Alternatively, should the Board grant his request, DPM notes he should
be awarded an additional 209 AD points and 29 paid IDT points for  R/R
year 8 September 1997 through 7 September 1998, resulting in 267 total
points and that he should be awarded an additional 235 AD  points  and
22 paid IDT points for R/R year 8 September 1998 through  7  September
1999, resulting in 276 total points.

DPM’s complete evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit B.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Counsel for the applicant requests the Board approve  his  request  by
granting the relief listed in paragraph 3 of the DPM advisory.

Counsel’s response is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing  law
or regulations.

2.  The application was timely filed.

3.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the
existence of an error or injustice.  The Board is of the opinion  that
the initial investigation into  the  applicant  filling  a  fraudulent
travel voucher was reasonable and prudent.  However,  we  note  on  12
February 1999 the HQ AFRC Vice Commander (CV) approved the applicant’s
appeal of administrative demotion, finding there  was  no  attempt  to
defraud, only a  mistake,  and  reinstated  the  applicant’s  rank  to
Technical Sergeant with his original date of rank and effective  date.
 The Board further noted the second  investigation  requested  by  the
applicant’s commander was  denied,  the  Enlisted  Performance  Report
(EPR) referencing the investigation was removed by the  ERAB  and  the
applicant was returned to duty. Therefore, to provide full and fitting
relief, we recommend the applicant’s records be corrected as indicated
below.

______________________________________________________________

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that:

            a. He was credited with an additional 48 paid  IDT  points
for retention/retirement year 8  September  1997  through  7 September
1998; and, that the period 8 September 1997 through 7 September  1998,
is a year of satisfactory Federal service.

            b. He was credited with an addition 20 paid IDT points and
100 AD points for retention/retirement year 8 September  1998  through
7 September 1999; and,  that  the  period  8  September  1998  through
7 September 1999, is a year of satisfactory Federal service.

______________________________________________________________

The following members of the  Board  considered  this  application  in
Executive Session on 16 February 2006, under the provisions of AFI 36-
2603:

      Mr. Michael J. Maglio, Panel Chair
      Ms. Donna Jonkoff, Member
      Ms. Patricia R. Collins, Member

All members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.   The
following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 28 Oct 05, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Letter, HQ AFRC/DPM, dated 7 Dec 05, w/atchs.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 29 Dec 05.
    Exhibit D.  Counsel’s Response, dated 27 Jan 06.




                                   MICHAEL J. MAGLIO
                                   Panel Chair



                         DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
                                WASHINGTON DC

[pic]
Office Of The Assistant Secretary



AFBCMR BC-2005-03347




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 APPLICANT, be corrected to show that:

            a. He was credited with an additional 48 paid  IDT  points
for retention/retirement year 8  September  1997  through  7 September
1998; and, that the period 8 September 1997 through 7 September  1998,
is a year of satisfactory Federal service.

            b. He was credited with an additional 20 paid  IDT  points
and 100 AD points  for  retention/retirement  year  8  September  1998
through 7 September  1999;  and,  that  the  period  8 September  1998
through 7 September 1999, is a year of satisfactory Federal service.





     JOE G. LINEBERGER

     Director

     Air Force Review Boards Agency