RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2012-05214
		
		COUNSEL:  NONE

		HEARING DESIRED:  YES

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

1.	His fitness assessments (FAs), dated 10 January 2011, 6 April 
2011, 5 July 2011 and 26 October 2011, be removed from the Air 
Force Fitness Management System (AFFMS).  

2.	The demotion action effective 31 May 2011, be set-aside and 
he be reinstated to master sergeant/E-7 with a date of rank of 
1 June 2008.

3.	The pending discharge action against him be voided.

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

His underlying medical condition was not diagnosed, despite 
attempts to seek treatment.  He believes the FAs are inaccurate 
due to an undiagnosed medical condition, Hallux Valgus.

In an attempt to pass his FA, he ran at least two miles per day.  
Ultimately, he increased the run to three miles in addition to 
an intense physical training (PT) program.  After a couple of 
months of noticing pain throughout his feet and legs, he sought 
medical treatment on 14 February 2011.  

His primary care manager (PCM) prescribed Motrin and told him to 
continue to run.  He explained that he had previously been 
diagnosed with flat feet and asked if that diagnosis could be 
the cause of the pain in his legs.  He was told the pain was 
from him overcompensating due to the pain in his knee.  The 
complaint of his feet was not addressed further, or reflected in 
his record during that appointment.  Additionally, he was not 
issued a profile prohibiting him from running.

During a medical appointment on 1 April 2011, his PCM referred 
him to physical therapy for his knee, again; he was not issued a 
profile for running.  He discussed his past failures and also 
explained that his squadron PT program consisted of running 
three times a week.  The PCM explained that he did not like to 
issue profiles and again stated that he considered his foot pain 
the result of overcompensation from the knee pain.  He attended 
two physical therapy appointments:  14 April 2011 and 10 May 
2011.

On 15 May 2011, he went to the emergency room due to severe 
swelling in his feet.  His foot was swollen to the point that he 
could not walk or wear a shoe.  An x-ray revealed nothing was 
broken.  He left the emergency room with crutches and Motrin and 
told to follow-up with his PCM.  

During the follow-up, the PCM stated that he may have gout.  He 
discussed his FA failures with the PCM; however, the PCM still 
would not issue a profile.  He was prescribed medication for the 
gout and told that he would need to undergo a blood test to rule 
out that diagnosis.  Later his PCM decided he did not need the 
test for gout as he was certain that gout was the correct 
diagnosis.

He continued to run and improve on the FAs despite tremendous 
pain in his foot.  He was administratively demoted from E-7 to 
E-6 on 31 May 2011 after failing the 6 April 2011 FA.  On 
1 August 2011, he had another appointment with his PCM for a 
medical record review to determine if there were any medical 
issues that could have prevented him from passing the FAs.  He 
again brought up the diagnosis of flat feet and the PCM 
dismissed his previous diagnosis as a contributing factor.  He 
requested a profile due to the amount of pain he continued to 
experience while running.  His PCM refused to initiate a profile 
and told him that the diagnosis of gout would not prevent him 
from passing the FAs as long as he took Motrin before the run.  
No other tests were conducted.

He continued to run every day in addition to participating in 
squadron PT in an attempt to improve and pass the FA.  He could 
not run without first taking Motrin.  On 4 October 2011, he was 
notified of a pending discharge action due to the 5 July 2011 FA 
failure.  On 5 October 2011, he attended a rapid discharge 
physical. During this appointment, he learned that his previous 
PCM had separated from the Air Force and he had been assigned 
another PCM.  The new PCM stated that he should not have been 
running or testing if he had gout in his foot.  He explained 
that he had not had any flare ups (extreme swelling) since his 
emergency room visit and requested a review of his medical 
records to see if she would be willing to write a statement.  He 
attempted to contact her for the statement, however, he did not 
hear back from her.

On 17 October 2011, he scheduled another medical appointment due 
to pain after participating in squadron PT.  He saw a different 
medical provider.  After the medical examination and a review of 
his x-ray, he was placed on a profile for two weeks and referred 
to the podiatry clinic.  On 24 October 2011, he spoke with the 
podiatrist.  While no new x-rays were taken, the podiatrist 
stated the x-rays from 15 May 2011 noted irregular appearances 
and should have been further investigated at that time.  He was 
diagnosed with Hallux Valgus based on those same x-rays some 
five months later.   He was told that the previous diagnosis of 
flat feet should have been a trigger to do more tests.  He was 
placed on a profile and told to try the walk his next assessment 
which was scheduled two days later.  The podiatrist explained 
the rigorous walk test would still aggravate his condition, yet, 
he wanted him to try.  He failed the FA and followed up with the 
podiatrist.  His profile was then amended to exempt him from the 
cardio component.  

He has since been reassigned to another base and was referred to 
a civilian podiatrist.  He was seen by this podiatrist on 
30 August 2012.  The civilian podiatrist stated this condition 
should have been diagnosed and corrected long ago.  The new x-
rays revealed a bone spur in his right foot, as well as, the 
Hallux Valgus in his left foot.  In October 2012, he had surgery 
on both feet.  There were five screws placed in his left foot to 
correct the deformity and the bone spur was removed from his 
right foot.  The podiatrist opined that the previous diagnosis 
of gout was incorrect.  He noted the pain in his knee was 
related to the condition of his feet. 

He believes he could have passed the FAs from January, April, 
July and October 2011 had he been exempted from the cardio 
portion.  He had not requested the removal of the January 2011 
FA due to lack of medical documentation.  However, he believes 
that FA was affected by his undiagnosed medical condition, as 
well.  He did not seek medical attention until February because 
he thought he could work through the pain.  Had the proper 
procedures been followed when he did seek medical attention, he 
would not have been required to test for at least 6 months, 
instead of every 90 days.  This may have helped his recovery 
rather than aggravate his condition.

During his discharge board, the Unit Fitness Program manager 
testified that his motivation was never an issue.  He stated 
that they worked out together and spoke of his attitude during 
their workouts.  He also spoke about the specifics of their 
workouts, as well as, the squadron PT program.  There was also 
testimony from the physical training leader stating they ran 
three miles together every day and attended squadron PT.  He 
also testified to his attitude and the specifics of their 
workouts.

The applicant requests the Board consider his 18 years of 
honorable service, his nine deployments and his numerous 
accomplishments during his career.  He further states that his 
superiors, peers and subordinates consider him an asset in 
technical skills, career field knowledge and administrative 
skills in the office.

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

________________________________________________________________



STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant is currently serving in the Regular Air Force in 
the grade of technical sergeant.  He received “unsatisfactory” 
results on his 10 January 2011, 6 April 2011, 5 July 2011 and 
26 October 2011 FAs.  As a result of these failures he was 
demoted to technical sergeant on 31 May 2011.  

A resume of the applicant’s FA results are as follows:

Date 
Composite Score
Rating
  7 Dec 12
82.00 
Satisfactory 
 24 Aug 12
65.75
Unsatisfactory
  9 Feb 12
82.25
Satisfactory 
*26 Oct 11
70.60
Unsatisfactory
* 5 Jul 11
72.40
Unsatisfactory
* 6 Apr 11
69.10
Unsatisfactory
*10 Jan 11
46.20
Unsatisfactory

* Contested FAs

The applicant has a case pending at the Secretary of the Air 
Force Personnel Council (SAFPC) awaiting the outcome of this 
case.

________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPSIM recommends the applicant be exempted from the cardio 
portions of the FAs dated 6 April 2011, 5 July 2011 and 
26 October 2011.  

The applicant has provided significant evidence that he had a 
continuing injury that affected his ability to perform the FAs, 
beginning approximately in February 2011. Considering his 
medical history, it is evident that he should have been exempt 
from the cardio component of the FA.  There is, however, no 
evidence indicating he should have been exempted from any other 
component of the FA.  

The complete DPSIM evaluation, with attachment, is at Exhibit C.

AFPC/DPSOE defers to DPSIM’s recommendation.  The applicant was 
promoted to master sergeant during cycle 07E7 and received a 
date of rank of 1 June 2008.  He received two referral enlisted 
performance reports, 20 October 2010 and 19 August 2011 for 
failing to meet fitness standards.  On 31 May 2011, he was 
demoted to the rank of technical sergeant due to the 6 April 
2011 failed FA and received a suspended discharge resulting from 
the 5 July 2011 FA failure.

DPSIM has recommended the cardio portions of the 6 April 2011, 
5 July 2011 and 26 October 2011, FAs be changed to reflect 
exempt resulting in satisfactory results for those assessments.  
Should the Board agree, the applicant would be eligible for 
restoration of his rank, provided he has his commander’s 
approval. 

The complete DPSOE evaluation is at Exhibit D.

________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant agrees with the Air Force advisory’s position that 
there was no documentation to support removing the entire 
assessments.  He states that he did not provide the AF Form 422 
as he was not issued an exemption at the time.  He also submits 
additional documentation to apprise the Board of his current 
status.

The applicant’s complete response, with attachments, 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 an error or injustice with regard 
to the applicant’s request to remove the contested FAs from the 
AFFMS in their entirety.  After thoroughly reviewing the 
evidence of record and noting the applicant's contentions, we 
are not persuaded the entire contested FAs are in error or 
unjust.  In the absence of documentation indicating the 
applicant should have been exempt from completing the FAs, we 
find insufficient evidence to warrant removal of the entire 
requested FAs.  

4.  Notwithstanding the above, we believe some relief is 
warranted.  We find the applicant’s medical condition had a 
direct impact on his ability to pass the 10 January 2011, 
6 April 2011, 5 July 2011 and 26 October 2011 fitness 
assessments.  Although the applicant provided medical evidence 
subsequent to his 10 January 2011 FA, given the close proximity 
in time, we find it reasonable that his medical condition was an 
issue for the 10 January 2011 FA assessment.  Therefore, in 
addition to the 10 January 2011 FA, we agree with the 
recommendation of the office of primary responsibility to 
“exempt” the applicant from the cardio component of the 6 April 
2011, 5 July 2011 and 26 October 2011 FAs in AFFMS.  Since we 
have favorably considered the correction to the applicant’s FAs, 
we also direct his reinstatement of promotion to master 
sergeant.  In removing the stated FAs from the AFFMS, we have 
confirmed with SAFPC that there will no longer be a basis for 
discharge upon removal of the said assessments.  Accordingly, we 
recommend the applicant’s records be corrected to the extent 
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.	The cardio components of the fitness assessments dated 
10 January 2011, 6 April 2011, 5 July 2011 and 26 October 2011, 
be amended to reflect exempt in the Air Force Fitness Management 
System (AFFMS).

		b.	It is further recommended that he be reinstated to the 
grade of master sergeant (E-7) effective and with a date of rank 
of 1 June 2008.

________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket 
Number BC-2012-05214 in Executive Session on 30 April 2013 under 
the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

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

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 4 Nov 12, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant’s Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPSIM, dated 3 Jan 13, w/atch.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPSOE, dated 13 Jan 13.
    Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 1 Mar 13.
    Exhibit F.  Letter, Applicant’s Response, dated 8 Mar 13.