RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:                       DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2008-00158
                                             INDEX CODE:  106.00
      XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                 COUNSEL:  NONE

                                             HEARING DESIRED:  NO

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

His under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC) discharge be  upgraded  to
honorable.

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

When he was discharged in 1957, he was told his discharge would be  upgraded
to honorable after a three-year period.  In 1960, he received the  paperwork
to request the upgrade, completed it, submitted it in good faith, and  never
heard a thing.

He is hoping his discharge can  be  upgraded  so  he  can  receive  Veterans
Administration (VA) hospital  care.   His  honorable  military  service  far
outweighs the one period of other than honorable service which  he  received
for applying for a pass for a female.  At  the  time,  he  believed  he  was
divorced and found out later his divorce was not final.

In support of his appeal, he has provided copies of  a  personal  statement,
four Certifications of Military Service, two WD AGO  Form  53-55s,  Enlisted
Record and Report of Separation  Honorable  Discharge,  and  three  DD  Form
214s.

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

________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant’s military personnel records were in the  area  that  suffered
the most damage in the July 1973 National  Personnel  Records  Center  fire,
and many of the  documents  are  unavailable,  were  reconstructed,  or  are
partially burned.

Reconstructed records indicate the applicant was inducted  into  the  United
States Army (USA) on 31 December 1941, and served continuously as  indicated
below:


            PERIOD FROM/ENDING               SERVICE CHARACTERIZATION

       31  Dec   1941   –    5   Dec   1945   (USA)                HONORABLE
6 Dec 1945 – 17 Feb 1948 (USARes)            HONORABLE               18  Feb
1948 – 17 Feb 1951 (USAF)               HONORABLE
      18 Feb 1951 -  5 Mar 1956 (USAF)             HONORABLE
       6 Mar 1956 – 20 Nov 1957 (USAF)             UOTHC

On 21 October 1957, the applicant’s commander recommended he  be  discharged
due to his disregard of any of the traits  required  of  a  non-commissioned
officer and airman of the USAF,  for  which  he  received  several  punitive
actions to include  Letters  of  Reprimand,  two  courts-martials,  and  one
Article 15.   The commander also stated his character rating  was  poor  and
his efficiency rating was unsatisfactory.

The commander stated the  following  reasons  for  the  proposed  discharge:


        a. Numerous instances of indebtedness requiring numerous hours spent
           in an effort to clear them up, in most cases to  no  avail.   The
           applicant showed no remorse, offered no  legitimate  reasons  for
           the indebtedness and late payments, continuously offered promises
           of payment which were never kept, and there was no indication  he
           intended to change his attitude.

        b. Applicant’s performance of duty was on the downgrade the previous
           twelve months and, prior to his demotion to the grade  of  airman
           basic (E-1), was at low-ebb for a staff sergeant.


        c. Applicant had been consistently warned as to personal hygiene and
           wearing of the uniform, culminating in a  Summary  Courts-Martial
           on 22 March 1957, for which he  received  a  restriction  to  the
           installation and a fine of $62.40.

        d. An Article 15 for, on or about 19 June 1957,  failure  to  repair
           and violation of a Station Regulation for  failure  to  meet  the
           alert requirements of the station.  Applicant  was  reduced  from
           the grade of technical sergeant (TSgt –  E-6)  to  the  grade  of
           Staff Sergeant (SSgt – E-5).

        e.  Living  with  a  local  female  of  questionable  character  and
           falsifying the record to obtain a dependent’s pass for her.  As a
           result, he was tried by a Special Courts-Martial  on  11  October
           1957, and found guilty of two specifications and charges.  He was
           sentenced to three months confinement, a reduction to  the  grade
           of airman basic (E-1), and fined $44.00 a month for three months.
            At that time, it was  believed  that  several  other  counts  of
           falsifying records had occurred but could not  be  proven.   This
           same woman was also the cause of the applicant’s being tried  for
           assault  by  civil  authorities.   He  was  acquitted  by   local
           authorities, even though it had  been  established  he  shot  his
           rival twice with a  twelve-gauge  shotgun  since  the  victim,  a
           fellow airman, was reputedly carrying  a  weapon.   Investigation
           during the trial also brought to light that in addition to living
           with this local woman, he was the father of an illegitimate child
           who was residing with his mother in another state.

On  25  October  1957,  the  applicant  voluntarily   signed   a   statement
acknowledging he had  been  informed  of  his  rights  and  his  commander’s
initiation of involuntary  discharge  action  against  him.   The  applicant
waived his right to a hearing before an administrative discharge  board  and
requested to be discharged without the benefit  of  board  proceedings.   In
the same statement, he acknowledged he understood that  if  his  application
was approved, his separation from the Air Force could  be  under  conditions
other than honorable, and that  this  could  deprive  him  of  rights  as  a
veteran under both Federal and State legislations.

On 20 November 1957, the applicant was discharged in  the  grade  of  airman
basic (E-1) under the provisions of AFR 39-17, paragraph 4c,  with  a  UOTHC
service characterization.

Pursuant to the Board’s request, the Federal Bureau of Investigation  (FBI),
Clarksburg, WV, indicated they were unable to identify  the  applicant  with
an arrest record on the basis of the information furnished.

On 29 February 2008, a request for post-service  information  was  forwarded
to the applicant for response within 30 days.  In response to  our  request,
the  applicant  provided  post-service  information  which  is  attached  at
Exhibit E.

_______________________________________________________________

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.   We  took  notice  of  the  applicant's
complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we  find  no
evidence  of  an  error  or  injustice  that  occurred  in   the   discharge
processing.  Based on the available  evidence  of  record,  it  appears  the
discharge was consistent with the substantive requirements of the  discharge
regulation  and  within  the  commander's  discretionary   authority.    The
applicant has provided no evidence  which  would  lead  us  to  believe  the
characterization of the service  was  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the
governing regulation, unduly harsh,  or  disproportionate  to  the  offenses
committed.   We  considered  upgrading  the  discharge  based  on  clemency;
however, we do not find the evidence presented is sufficient  to  compel  us
to recommend granting the relief sought on that basis.   Therefore,  in  the
absence of evidence to  the  contrary,  we  find  no  basis  upon  which  to
recommend granting the relief sought.

________________________________________________________________

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-  BC-2008-
00158 in Executive Session on 1 May 2008, under the provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

                       Mr. James W. Russell, III, Panel Chair
                       Ms. Jan Mulligan, Member
                       Mr. Kurt R. LaFrance, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 5 Dec 07, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant’s Available Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  USDOJ Negative FBI Report, dated 25 Jan 08.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 29 Feb 08, w/atchs.
    Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 13 Mar 08, w/atchs.




                                   JAMES W. RUSSELL, III
                                   Panel Chair