RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2013-05186

		COUNSEL:  NONE

		HEARING DESIRED:  NO 



APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Her AF Form 707, Officer Performance Report (OPR) (Lt thru Col), rendered for the period 16 September 2012 through 26 June 2013, be filed in her Officer Selection Record (OSR).  

The corrected AF Form 709, Promotion Recommendation (PRF), be placed in her OSR.  

Her corrected record be considered by a Special Selection Board (SSB) for the Calendar Year 2013B (CY13B) P0613B Colonel Central Selection Board (CSB).  

Her corrected Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) be filed in her OSR and considered by the CY2013 CBS.  (administratively corrected).  



APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

Her final OPR from the Joint Staff, corrected DMSM, or the correct version of her PRF were not timely submitted to be filed in her OSR for consideration by the CY2013B CSB, as required by Air Force directives and policies.  Her supervisor failed to forward her OPR to her senior rater and submitted a DMSM that had significant errors, which resulted in the need for it to be rewritten.  The erroneous version of the DMSM was placed in her records at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) during consideration for the CY2013 Colonel CSB.  Subsequent to the board convening the corrected version of the DMSM was submitted and the corrected version of her PRF was never forwarded to AFPC.  Her case is under investigation by the Joint Staff Inspector General.  

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 lieutenant colonel (0-5).

On 7 November 2014, the applicant was notified that her DMSM citation awarded for the period January 2011 to July 2013 would be filed in her OSR and reflected on her Officer Selection Brief.  In addition, she would be granted SSB consideration by the CY13B (16 Sep 13) Colonel Central Selection Board.  

The applicant filed a complaint through the DoD/IG, alleging her rater reprised against her by not submitting her Officer Performance Report in time for her promotion board.  Additionally, the applicant alleged that her end of tour award did not contain the pertinent information related to the time she spent in Afghanistan.  The DoD/IG referred her complaint of whistleblower reprisal to the Joint Staff IG (JSIG) for further action.  The JSIG conducted an investigation into her allegations.  The investigation failed to disclose any evidence that demonstrated intent on the part of her rater to take any reprisal action against her.  The conduct of which the applicant complained did not rise to the level of behavior that violated any standard, regulation or law.  

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are described in the letters prepared by the Air Force offices of primary responsibility (OPR), which are attached at Exhibits C and D.  



AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPSID recommends denial to the applicant’s request to substitute her contested PRF due to the lack of support from her evaluators.  In accordance with (IAW) Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-2406, Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems, the Board will not consider nor approve requests to change (except for deletions) an evaluator’s ratings or comments if the evaluator does not support the change.  When an evaluator supports changing ratings, all subsequent evaluators must also agree to the change.  In this case, the applicant will need to provide a memorandum of support from the Senior Rater and MLR President, who made the content/rating change(s), detailing the error and the need for a correction.  In addition, the memorandum will need to address any content changes between reports and the reason for the change(s).  

AFPC/DPSID recommends approval with regard to the contested OPR.  The applicant contends that her contested OPR was not included or presented to the CSB for consideration, along with the correct PRF that was forwarded to AFPC.  IAW with AFI 36-2406, the applicant’s OPR was required to be in her records 60 days after its close-out date.  The report was required to be in her records by 26 August 2013.  In this case, by no fault of the applicant, the rating chain failed to meet the 60 days suspense.  The CSB convened on 16 September 2013 and the applicant’s evaluators had not signed and finalized her OPR until 25 September 2013.  

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSID evaluation is at Exhibit C.

AFPC/DPSOO recommends approval of SSB consideration, if the AFBCMR grants approval that the contested OPR be considered by the CY2013 CSB.  However, AFPC/DPSOO recommends denial of SSB consideration based on AFPC/DPSID’s recommendation to deny the applicant’s request to substitute her P0613B PRF. 

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSOO evaluation is at Exhibit D.



APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to the applicant on 12 December 2014 for review and comment within 30 days.  As of this date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit E).



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 respect to the applicant’s request to substitute the corrected version of her P0613B PRF in her OSR.  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 AFPC/DPSID and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion that absent support from her Senior Rater and MLR President, insufficient evidence has been presented to favorably consider this portion of the applicant’s request.  

4.  Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice with respect to the applicant’s contested OPR.  After a thorough review of the applicant’s complete submission and the totality of the evidence provided, we believe some measure of relief is warranted.  In this respect, we note the comments of AFPC/DPSID indicating that through no fault of the applicant, her contested OPR was not processed IAW governing directives; 60 days after its close-out date.  Consequently, the delay in her OPR submission corroborates her assertion that it was not reviewed by the CY2013 CSB.  Therefore, we believe that including the OPR in the applicant’s OSR with promotion consideration by SSB provides the applicant full and fitting relief and equitable promotion consideration.  Based on our recommendation to favorably consider her OPR via an SSB, we also recommend the OPR dates be changed prior to the board convening date as indicated below.  Additionally, we are in agreement with the recommended administrative correction with regard to the DMSM.

5.  The applicant alleges she was the victim of reprisal.  As noted above, the applicant’s allegation of reprisal was investigated by the JSIG and found to be unsubstantiated.  We note the applicant’s contention that she experienced adverse personnel actions in reprisal for making a protected communication to officials in her chain of command.  As such, based on the authority granted to this board pursuant to Title 10 U.S.C. Section 1034, we reviewed the complete evidence of record to determine whether we conclude the applicant has been the victim of reprisal.  Based upon our own independent review, we do not conclude the applicant was the victim of reprisal.  The applicant has not established that the delay in processing her OPR, and that her end of tour award did not contain the pertinent information related to the time she spent in Afghanistan were rendered in retaliation for making a protection communication.  



THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that 

	a.  Her AF Form 707, Officer Performance Report (Lt thru Col), rendered for the period 16 September 2012 thru 26 June 2013, was signed by all evaluators after 26 June 2013 and before 16 September 2013, and accepted for filing in her Officer Selection Record (OSR). 

	b.  Her AF Form 707, rendered for the period 16 September 2012 thru 26 June 2013, be considered for promotion to the grade of colonel by a Special Selection Board (SSB) for the Calendar Year 2013B (CY13B) (16 September 2013) (P0613B) Colonel Central Selection Board (CSB).  



The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2013-05186 in Executive Session on 3 February 2015 and 2 March 2015, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

	Panel Chair
	Member
	Member

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

	Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 1 November 2013, w/atchs.
	Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
	Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPSID, dated 22 October 2014.
	Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPSOO, dated 7 November 2014.
Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 12 December 2014.
Exhibit F.  JSIG Report of Investigation - WITHDRAWN.