AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

 
DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2012-00377 
COUNSEL:  NONE 
HEARING DESIRED:  YES 

IN THE MATTER OF: 
   
    
    
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 
 
1.  Her  husband  be  posthumously  promoted  to  the  rank  of  chief 
master sergeant (CMSgt, E-9). 
 
2.  His tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery be corrected to 
include his service in the Army.  Currently it only reflects his 
service in the Air Force. 
 
3.  A  determination  be  made  if  there  was  a  correlation  between 
her  husband’s  premature  death  after  suffering  acute  myocardial 
infarction and his participation in Operation Greenhouse. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 
 
Her husband died suddenly on 17 July 1963 at the age of 44.  His 
cause of death was deemed acute myocardial infarction. 
 
Prior  to  his  death,  he  told  her  that  all  of  his  paperwork  had 
been submitted and he would soon to be promoted to the rank of 
Warrant Officer (WO). 
 
The  Air  Force  discontinued  the  WO  rank  and  replaced  it  with 
CMSgt. 
 
At  the  time  of  her  husband’s  death,  his  promotion  and  other 
military honors were still being processed.  Unfortunately, as a 
grieving widow, with children to care for, she did not follow up 
on  all  the  important  documentation  and  paperwork  her  husband 
submitted. 
 
He served in the Army from 1941 through 1945. 
 
In  support  of  her  request,  the  applicant  provides  copies  of 
correspondence  between  her  and  her  state  senator,  WD  AGO  Forms 
53,  Enlisted  Record  and  Report  of  Separation  –  Honorable 
Discharge;  DD  Forms  214,  Armed  Forces  of  the  United  States 
Report  of  Transfer  or  Discharge;  DD  Form  1300,  Report  of 
Casualty;  AF  Form  7,  Airman  Military  Record,  special  orders, 
photographs, and other voluminous documents. 

 

 

 
Her complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
STATEMENT OF FACTS: 
 
The  member’s  DD  Form  7  reflects  he  served  a  isolated  tour  in 
Kwajalein Island from 9 Jun 1950 to 15 Apr 1951. 
 
The  remaining  relevant  facts  pertaining  to  this  application, 
extracted  from  the  applicant's  available  military  records,  are 
contained  in  the  letter  prepared  by  the  appropriate  office  of 
the  Air  Force  Office  of  Primary  Responsibility  (OPR).  
Accordingly,  there  is  no  need  to  recite  these  facts  in  this 
Record of Proceedings. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
 
HQ  AFPC/DPSOE  recommends  denial.    DPSOE  states  the  applicant's 
delay  regarding  a  matter  now  dating  back  almost  48  years  has 
greatly  complicated  the  ability  to  determine  the  merits  of  her 
position.  DPSOE recommends the request be time barred.  Should 
the  Board  choose  to  decide  the  case,  DPSOE  recommends  it  be 
denied based on lack of official documentation. 
 
Promotions during this timeframe were made at the major command, 
unless  delegated  by  the  major  command  to  the  wing,  group,  or 
squadron  levels.    HQ  USAF  distributed  promotion  quotas  to  the 
major  commands  based  on  projected  vacancies  within  each  Career 
Field  Subdivision.    Promotion  boards  selected  individuals  and 
the  quotas  received  determined  the  number  that  could  be 
promoted.    Some  career  fields  received  more  promotions  than 
others  based  on  vacancies  and  the  needs  of  the  Air  Force.    In 
accordance with promotion regulations in effect at that time, in 
order  to  be  eligible  for  promotion  consideration  to  the  pay 
grade  of  E-9  the  member  must  have  a  9-skill  level,  24  months 
time-in-grade, and the written recommendation from the immediate 
commander.    These  were  the  minimum  eligibility  requirements  to 
be  considered  by  the  promotion  board  but  in  no  way  ensured  or 
guaranteed  a  promotion.    Based  on  the  applicant's  date  of  rank 
to  SMSgt  of  1 Mar  1961,  he  would  have  been  time-in-grade 
eligible for promotion consideration to CMSgt on 1 Mar 1963. 
 
A review of the former member's record reveals no documentation 
recommending  or  selecting  him  for  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
Warrant Officer/CMSgt (E-9).  This, coupled with the passage of 
time, makes it impossible to determine if promotion to a higher 
grade was appropriate.  While the member may have been deserving 

 

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of  promotion,  no  official  documentation  supporting  this  claim 
has been provided by the applicant or is present in the member's 
record. 
 
The complete DPSOE evaluation is at Exhibit C. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
 
On 27 Apr 2012, a copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded 
to the applicant for review and comment within 30 days.  As of 
this date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit 
D). 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE BOARD: 
 
1.  After  careful  consideration  of  applicant’s  request  and  the 
evidence  of  record,  we  find  the  application  untimely.    The 
applicant  did  not  file  within  three  years  after  the  alleged 
error  or  injustice  was  discovered  as  required  by  Title  10, 
United  States  Code,  Section  1552  and  Air  Force  Instruction  36-
2603.  The applicant has not shown a sufficient reason for the 
delay  in  filing  on  a  matter  now  dating  back  almost  48  years, 
which  has  greatly  complicated  the  ability  to  determine  the 
merits  of  her  position.    We  are  also  not  persuaded  the  record 
raises issues of error or injustice which require resolution on 
the merits.  A review of the former member's record reveals no 
documentation recommending or selecting him for promotion to the 
rank  of  Warrant  Officer/CMSgt  (E-9).    This,  coupled  with  the 
passage  of  time,  makes  it  impossible  to  determine  if  promotion 
to  a  higher  grade  was  appropriate.    As  pointed  out  by  DPSOE, 
while  the  member  may  have  been  deserving  of  promotion,  no 
official  documentation  supporting  this  claim  has  been  provided 
by the applicant or is present in the member's record.  Thus, we 
cannot conclude it would be in the interest of justice to excuse 
the applicant’s failure to file in a timely manner. 
 
2.  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  issue(s) 
involved.  Therefore, the request for a hearing is not favorably 
considered. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 

 

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DECISION OF THE BOARD: 
 
The application was not timely filed and it would not be in the 
interest  of  justice  to  waive  the  untimeliness.    It  is  the 
decision  of  the  Board,  therefore,  to  reject  the  application  as 
untimely. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
The  following  members  of  the  Board  considered  this  application 
in Executive Session on 23 Apr 2012, under the provisions of AFI 
36-2603: 
 
 
 
 
The following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-
2012-00377: 
 
   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 28 Dec 2011. 
   Exhibit C.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPSOE, dated 4 Apr 2012. 
   Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 27 Apr 2012. 
 
 
 
 

 Panel Chair 
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