APPLICANT REQUESTS: That his DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, for the period of active duty he served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, be corrected to show that he did not receive complete dental treatment prior to his release from active duty.
APPLICANT STATES: He had experienced pain in the upper and lower right side of his mouth while he was on active duty, and that he had reported that pain, which was recorded on his dental records.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicants military and dental records show:
On 12 September 1990, while serving in an ARNG unit in pay grade E-5, he was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
On 13 May 1991 the applicant received a demobilization physical examination. At that time the applicant reported pain in the upper and lower right portion of his mouth. The dentist conducting the examination wrote in his dental records that the pain the applicant was experiencing in the upper and lower right portion of his mouth existed prior to his entry on active duty and was not considered in line of duty.
The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 10 June 1991 and returned to his ARNG unit. The DD Form 214 he was issued at that time, item 17, Member was provided complete dental examination and all appropriate dental services and treatment within 90 days prior to separation was marked Yes.
Army Regulation 600-8-1, paragraph 41-8 states, in pertinent part, that if an existing prior to service (EPTS) condition was aggravated by military service, the finding will be in line of duty. If an EPTS condition is not aggravated by military service, the finding will be NLD-NDOM, EPTS. Specific findings of natural progress of the pre-existing injury or disease based on well established medical principles alone are enough to overcome the presumption of service aggravation.
The Court of Claims and the Comptroller General of the United States have held that short periods of active duty do not give rise to the presumption of the cause of an illness or disease.
Army Regulation 635-5, as changed, the governing Army regulation for the preparation of the DD Form 214 states that item 17 of the DD Form 214 is applicable to soldiers who had completed at least 180 days of continuous active service at the time of separation. If the soldier had been provided a complete dental examination, and all appropriate dental services and treatment had been completed within 90 days prior to separation, the DD Form 214, item 17, Member was provided complete dental examination and all appropriate dental services and treatment within 90 days prior to separation will be marked Yes. For reservists and guardsmen who entered on short periods of active duty, EPTS dental conditions which were not service aggravated do not have to be treated by the Army and, as such, are not considered to be dental conditions for which the soldier did not receive appropriate services. For soldiers being separated prior to completing 180 days continuous active duty, NA is to be shown in both Yes and No boxes.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. It appears that any dental defect the applicant may have had at the time of his separation existed when he entered on active duty. The Army has no responsibility to treat either medical or dental defects that existed prior to a soldiers entry on active duty.
2. As such, the applicants DD Form 214, item 17, Member was provided complete dental examination and all appropriate dental services and treatment within 90 days prior to separation was appropriately marked Yes.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicants request.
DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
Karl F. Schneider
Acting Director
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