RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2007-01209
            INDEX CODE:  107.00; 131.00
            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

MANDATORY COMPLETION DATE:  20 SEPTEMBER 2008

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

The following corrections be made to his Officer Selection Brief  (OSB)  and
he be granted a Special Selection Board (SSB):

      1)  Under duty title, the 16 Oct 06 entry be changed to read:

"2 Dec 05, Q111F3G, Chief, Command & Ctrl/F-15E FE, WB, AFE,  FIGHTER  WING,
LAKENHEATH."

      2)  Under decorations:

            (a) add Distinguished Flying Cross, 2007, 1;

            (b) change YR and NR for Merit Svc Med to read "2004"  and  "2,"
respectively;

            (c) change YR and NR for Air  Medal  to  read  "2006"  and  "3,"
respectively.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

His Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) was submitted for approval in  Feb  06,
shortly after his deployment.  The citation was signed just over  one  month
before his Permanent Change of Station (PCS);  however,  the  Special  Order
(SO) was not issued until 22 Feb 07.

His second Meritorious Service Medal  (MSM)  was  absent  from  his  Officer
Selection Record (OSR).  He was assured that  the  medal  would  be  in  his
records before the promotion board met.

His two Air Medals (AM) were absent from his OSR.   The  original  paperwork
was misplaced  during  processing,  but  have  since  been  resubmitted  for
approval.

In  support  of  the  application,  the  applicant  submits   his   personal
statement, a copy of the SO, citation and award for the DFC, a copy  of  the
SO,  award,  and  support  letter  for  the  MSM,  and  copies  of  his   AM
justification sheets (2).

The applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Information extracted from  the  Military  Personnel  Data  System  (MilPDS)
indicates the applicant’s Total Active Federal Military Service  Date  is  1
Jun 92.  He is currently serving on active  duty  in  the  grade  of  major,
effective and with a date of rank of  1  Oct  02.   The  applicant  has  one
nonselection for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by  the  CY06C
(28 Nov 06) Central Lieutenant Colonel Selection Board (CSB).

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application, extracted  from
the applicant’s military records, are contained in the letters  prepared  by
the appropriate office of the Air Force at Exhibits C and D.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ AFPC/DPAO recommends correcting the applicant's duty history as  per  his
request.  DPAO defers the SSB consideration to HQ AFPC/DPPPO.

The complete DPAO evaluation is at Exhibit C.

HQ AFPC/DPPPO recommends denial.  DPPPO states what was  actually  incorrect
on his OSB was the effective date,  MAJCOM  and  organization  of  his  duty
title.  However,  his  corresponding  Officer  Performance  Report  for  the
period in question reflected the correct information.

DPPPO states the decoration award authority  announces  its  final  decision
when approving an award by publishing  orders.   The  orders  serve  as  the
source document decision when approving  an  award  and  when  updating  the
decorations in the MilPDS which is subsequently reflected on  the  OSB.   As
the SO for the MSM (1OLC) was published on 16 Mar 07 and the DFC on  22  Feb
07, the citations were not filed in the applicant's OSR and updated  on  his
OSB  for  the  CY06C  CSB.   Additionally,  decoration  recommendations  are
entered into official channels within 2 years and awarded within 3 years  of
the act, achievement, or service performed.  The decorations were  processed
in a timely manner, and there is no compelling reason to include  decoration
in the applicant's OSR that did not exist prior  to  the  convening  of  the
board.

The applicant was aware that he  had  been  recommended  for  two  AM's  and
should have elected to write a letter to the  board  members  prior  to  the
convening  of  the  board  informing  them  of  the  decorations.   The   AM
justification sheet is not authorized to be filed in the OSR.

The complete DPPPO evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

In  his  response  dated  22  Jun  07,  the  applicant  states  that   three
significant omissions in his official record caused  his  nonselection.   He
initiated corrective action through his  Military  Personnel  Flight  (MPF).
He states the MSM was not written when it was supposed to  be  written  (Oct
06) and he has attached a letter stating the administrative oversight.

Several medals for other members, along  with  his  DFC,  were  written  and
submitted for processing at the same time.  He inquired on a  monthly  basis
for the status of the DFC up until his PCS,  and  was  told  the  medal  was
being staffed.  He alleges all the other medals were processed  and  updated
in MilPDS for the affected members before  the  end  of  Oct  06.   His  DFC
citation was signed by the recommending officer in Sep 06 – one  full  month
before his PCS.  The SO was produced on 22 Feb 07.  This  action  took  five
months to complete; not timely processing.  If the  responsible  office  had
processed the award in a timely  manner,  it  would  have  been  updated  in
MilPDS and reflected on his OSR before the CY06C board convened.

He was not aware he could write a letter to the board regarding the AM's.

He concludes there is no such thing as an infallible process  and  sometimes
oversights lead to an incorrect outcome.  He firmly believes  that  had  the
three issues been correct in his OSR for the CY06C board, the outcome  would
have been different.

The applicant's complete response is at Exhibit F.

_________________________________________________________________

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 warranting corrective action by this  Board.
 In this respect, applicant contends his OSR contained numerous errors  when
his record was considered by the CY06C lieutenant colonel  selection  board.
Applicant contends that various decorations were absent from  his  OSR.   We
carefully reviewed the evidence  of  record  along  with  the  documentation
provided in support of his appeal.  However, we agree with the  Air  Force's
position that since the DFC and MSM  (1OLC)  were  not  officially  approved
until after the selection board adjourned, they were not a matter of  record
and therefore, not required to be included in his CY06C OSR.  We agree  with
the Air Force that justification sheets for awards and decorations  are  not
authorized for inclusion in  OSRs  and  it  is  our  opinion  as  well  that
allowing the applicant to do so would provide him an unfair  advantage  over
his peers.  Amongst the errors identified by the applicant was  that  the  2
Dec 05 duty title reflected on his OSB was incorrect.  Information  provided
by the Air Force and a review of the evidence of record  verifies  that  the
duty title section of his OSB apparently contained a  discrepancy  and  data
currently contained in the Military Personnel  Data  Systems  indicates  the
information has been subsequently corrected.  We carefully  weighed  whether
or not SSB consideration was warranted as a result of this error.   However,
noting the Air Force's assessment that the correct duty title was  reflected
on his OPR covering the contested period and  therefore,  available  to  the
selection board members,  and  finding  no  persuasive  evidence  that  this
discrepancy in and of itself, caused  his  nonselection  for  promotion,  we
agree with the Air Force that SSB consideration was not warranted. In  other
words, we believe the minor errors constitutes nothing  more  than  harmless
error.  Therefore, in view of the above and absent  persuasive  evidence  to
the contrary, we find no compelling basis upon which to  recommend  granting
the relief sought in this application.
_________________________________________________________________

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 1 Aug 07, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Ms. Kathleen F. Graham, Panel Chair
            Ms. Renee M. Collier, Member
      Mr. Don H. Kendrick, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-2007-01209:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 16 Apr 07, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPAO, dated 23 Apr 07.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPO, dated 31 May 07.
    Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 9 Jun 07.
    Exhibit F.  Letter, Applicant, 22 Jun 07.




                                   KATHLEEN F. GRAHAM
                                   Panel Chair