| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. P. A. Castle | Analyst |
| Ms. Joann H. Langston | Chairperson | |
| Mr. George D. Paxson | Member | |
| Mr. Charles Gainor | Member |
2. The applicant requests that he be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
3. The applicant states, in effect, that he should have been awarded the CIB for his service as an infantryman in Vietnam.
4. The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted on 29 November 1968, for a period of 2 years. He completed his training and was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a light weapons infantryman. He remained at Fort Bragg until he was transferred to Vietnam on 20 December 1970, and was assigned to Company D, 2d Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. He remained with that unit and the unit was transferred to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on 23 May 1971.
5. On 17 January 1972, the applicant was convicted by a special court-martial of being absent without leave (AWOL) from 23 May to 18 June 1971, 27 August to 1 October 1971, from 30 November to 14 December 1971 and for operating a motor vehicle without an operators’ license. He was sentenced to confinement at hard labor for 2 months, reduction to the pay grade of E-1 and a forfeiture of pay.
6. He was transferred to the Army Retraining Brigade at Fort Riley, Kansas, where he remained until he was released from active duty under honorable conditions on 8 March 1972, under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 5-3, at the convenience of the government. He had served 2 years, 9 months and 16 days of total active Federal service and had 176 days of lost time due to AWOL and confinement.
7. His records show that he participated in the Sanctuary Counteroffensive and Counteroffensive Phase VII campaigns, which entitles him to two bronze service stars. He was also awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Parachutist Badge. A review of his records also fails to show any evidence that would indicate that the applicant engaged the enemy as an infantryman while assigned to Vietnam.
8. Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, established the criteria for award of the CIB. It states, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for the CIB, an individual must be an infantryman with an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS) and must perform duty as an infantryman, as a member of an infantry unit of brigade or smaller size, during any period in which that unit was engaged in ground combat. Battle participation credit alone is not sufficient.
9. Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register-Vietnam Era) was published to assist commanders and personnel officers in determining or establishing the eligibility of individual members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit citation badges awarded during the Vietnam Conflict. Table 1 (Army Units in Numerical Order) of the pamphlet indicates that the applicant’s unit was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm (RVNGC w/palm) Unit Citation and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class (RVNCAHM-FC) Unit Citation for service in Vietnam during the period the applicant served with the unit.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that bronze service stars are awarded to represent participation in designated campaign periods. During the Vietnam era the bronze service stars were affixed to the Vietnam Service Medal.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. Although the applicant was an infantryman assigned to an infantry unit in Vietnam, the Board can find no evidence to show that he engaged the enemy in Vietnam in that capacity. Accordingly, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Board must presume that he was not entitled to or recommended for the award of the CIB.
2. However, the applicant’s unit was subsequently awarded the RVNGC w/Palm Unit Citation and RVNCAHM-FC Unit Citation. Therefore he is entitled to be awarded those awards.
3. The applicant is eligible for two bronze service stars to affix to his already awarded Vietnam Service Medal, by virtue of his participation in two campaigns during his service in Vietnam.
4. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the RVNGC w/Palm Unit Citation, the RVNCAHM-FC Unit Citation, and two bronze service stars to be affixed to his already awarded Vietnam Service Medal.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
___cg___ ___jhl __ ___gp___ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
____Joann H. Langston____
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2001062285 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 2002/04/25 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. 157 | 107.0111/CIB |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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