RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-02639 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 HEARING DESIRED: YES 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

1. He be awarded the Airman’s Medal (AmnM). 

 

2. He be awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM). 

 

3. He be awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal (JSCM). 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

He was submitted for the awards; however, he never received them. 
He explains how he earned each medal in the following paragraphs: 

 

 a. While assigned to the Third Ranger Battalion, Korea, he was 
considered to be attached to the Third Ranger Battalion out of 
all the Tactical Air Control Party’s (TACP) in the United States 
and overseas. He was hand-picked to represent the Air Force as 
an enlisted forward air controller. After returning from Korea, 
he was assigned to Detachment 4, Fort Benning, Georgia. While 
participating in an Operations Readiness Inspection, their goal 
was to defend against the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Air 
Assault Division; however, during the exercise he came upon a car 
that was in a ditch in the middle of the desert. He and his 
teammates looked into the car and found an elderly man who 
appeared to not be breathing. After performing CPR on the man, 
the man responded, but was in a weakened state due to not having 
any food or water. The man was a diabetic and did not have his 
medicine for over 12 hours which attributed to his weakened 
state. A call was made to 911 and he stayed with the man until 
the ambulance arrived. The captain put him in for the AmnM for 
his life saving efforts no matter the consequences. 

 

 b. After returning from an exercise with the 10th Mountain 
Division, he and his captain were nominated for the JSCM for 
their services during this rigorous duty. After much time 
passing, he was not told whether he would receive the AmnM and 
JCSM or not. 

 

 c. He had to retrain into a non-combatant career field due to a 
parachute accident which crushed two of his lower vertebrae discs 
and caused his medical. Prior to his medical discharge in 1992, 


he was told by his commander that he was put in for the MSM. 
However, to this day he has yet to receive any of these medals. 
He wrote several letters to his Congressmen, Governor, and local 
Mayors requesting to be awarded these medals without success. He 
is hopeful this will be the last letter he will have to write 
concerning the medals he earned through hard work and dedication 
to his country. 

 

 d. He is 100 percent disabled through the Department of 
Veterans Affairs (DVA) and unemployable for the rest of his life. 
However, he will never complain and would not change anything 
that he did in the past. In fact, if he were able to serve his 
country today he would. 

 

He hopes the Board sees it fit to award these forgotten medals, 
which he believes were lost in the shuffle somewhere. He would 
be honored to have the Secretary of the Air Force or any of his 
staff personally award him these medals. 

 

In support of his request, the applicant provides personal 
statements, excerpts from his personnel records, a copy of a 
letter from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), a 
copy of NA Form 13059, Transmittal of and/or Entitlement to 
Awards, and a copy of a letter from the National Personnel 
Records Center. 

 

His complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

The applicant enlisted into the Regular Air Force on 1 Jun 81 and 
was progressively promoted to the grade of staff sergeant (E-5), 
having assumed that grade effective and with a date of rank of 
1 Mar 89. The applicant was medically retired on 6 Apr 92 after 
serving 10 years, 10 months, and 6 days on active duty. 

 

Additional relevant facts pertaining to this application, 
extracted from the applicant’s military records, are contained in 
the letter prepared by the appropriate office of the Air Force. 
Accordingly, there is no need to recite these facts in this 
Record of Proceedings. 

 

The AmnM Criteria: It is awarded to any member of the Armed 
Forces of the United States or of a friendly nation who, while 
serving in any capacity with the United States Air Force after 
the date of the award's authorization, who have distinguished 
himself or herself by a heroic act, usually at the voluntary risk 
of his or her life but not involving actual combat. The saving of 
a life or the success of the voluntary heroic act is not 
essential. Do not award for normal performance of duties. 

 


The MSM Criteria: The Meritorious Service Medal may be awarded 
to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who 
distinguishes themselves by either outstanding achievement or 
meritorious service to the United States. 

 

The JSCM Criteria: Any member of the Armed Forces who 
distinguishes himself or herself by meritorious achievement or 
service while serving in any specified activity after 1 Jan 65 is 
eligible for this award. However, it will not be awarded for any 
period of service for which any of the commendation medals of the 
branches of the armed forces are given. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSIDR recommends denial. DPSIDR states they were unable to 
verify the applicant’s entitlement to the AmnM, MSM, and JSCM. 
DPSIDR cannot support his request without a special order or 
other documentation that would qualify him for these awards. 
DPSIDR notes that any recommendation for decorations, including 
the AmnM, MSM and JSCM is submitted on an individual basis and is 
a voluntary act on the part of the recommending official. Under 
1996 NDAA, veterans may be recommended for a decoration by 
following these procedures. However, the written recommendation 
must meet two criteria: 1) be made by someone, other than the 
member himself, in the member’s chain of command at the time of 
the incident, and, who has firsthand knowledge of the acts or 
achievements; and, 2) be submitted through a congressional member 
who can ask a military service to review a proposal for a 
decoration based on the merits of the proposal and the award 
criteria in existence when the event occurred. The recommending 
official must sign the recommendation. 

 

The DPSIDR complete evaluation is at Exhibit B. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant 
on 10 Sep 10 for review and comment within 30 days. As of this 
date, this office has received no response. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

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 agree with the opinion and recommendation of 
the Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt its 
rationale as the basis for our conclusion that the applicant has 
not been the victim of an error or injustice. Therefore, in the 
absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend 
granting the relief sought in this application. 

 

4. 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 AFBCMR Docket Number 
BC-2010-02639 in Executive Session on 15 Mar 11, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 , Panel Chair 

 , Member 

 , Member 

 

The following documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 16 Jul 10, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Letter, AFPC/DPSIDR, dated 23 Aug 10. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 10 Sep 10. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair