| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mrs. Nancy L. Amos | Analyst |
| Mr. Arthur A. Omartian | Chairperson | |
| Ms. Eloise C. Prendergast | Member | |
| Mr. Ronald E. Blakely | Member |
2. The applicant requests reconsideration of her earlier application to correct her military records to show her current sex. She also requests that her military records be corrected to show her new name.
3. The applicant states that she has already changed her sex to female and so is not requesting the correction to obtain intersex surgery. She understands that her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) is not in error. She appreciates the previous Board's graciousness in filing her request in her Official Military Personnel File, thereby having her gender change noted in her records. However, that proved to be insufficient for her needs. She needs her records, particularly her Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS) records, corrected so she may obtain those medical services unique to her new sex.
4. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in a memorandum prepared to reflect the Board's original consideration of her case on 12 September 2002 (AR2002069185).
5. On 4 September 2001, the Circuit Court of the City of Colonial Heights, VA ordered the State Registrar to amend the applicant's certificate of birth to show the change of her sex (to female). Upon the submission of a certified court order showing her name change, her certificate of birth would be corrected to show her new name (of DaleLynn L___ S___). A copy of the court order changing the applicant's name is not available; however, the amended birth certificate she provided is under her new name.
6. In a 15 November 2002 response to the applicant, the U. S. Total Army Personnel Command, Army DEERS/RAPIDS Program Manager, Chief, ID Policy Section, informed the applicant that, in the Office of The Judge Advocate General's view, changing her gender designation on military records that are used to determine both the applicant's and her spouse's eligibility for medical benefits was not a mere clerical matter. Rather, it required a discretionary determination of error and injustice that clearly falls under the purview of the Secretary of the Army.
7. Army Regulation 635-5 prescribes the separation documents prepared for soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. It establishes standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214. In pertinent part it states that the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the soldier’s most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement or discharge.
8. Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552 authorizes the Secretary of a military department to correct any military record of the Secretary's department when the Secretary considers it necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records. The data and information contained in those records should actually reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created. In the absence of a showing of material error or injustice, this Board is reluctant to recommend that those records be changed.
2. The applicant appropriately served on active duty and was discharged under the name and sex she provided upon her entry. She changed her name and underwent sex reassignment surgery (from male to female) after her discharge. Therefore, as the applicant recognizes, her current discharge documents are correct as currently constituted and, as a result, there is no basis for changing them.
3. However, the applicant served in the Army for over 20 years and earned not just a retirement check but also all other benefits afforded retirees. Changing her gender and name in DEERS (a compilation of data collected at the individual Service level for the purpose of administering programs common to all) will allow her to obtain an identification card that accurately presents her likeness and name and ease her ability to access medical care and other retiree benefits.
4. While the correction may provide the applicant with certain medical services she would not have normally obtained prior to intersex surgery (such as mammograms), it denies her certain medical services she would have otherwise obtained (such as testing for prostate cancer). No net advantage will be given to the applicant.
5. The applicant must understand that eligibility for medical treatment under TRICARE is still governed by the Department of Defense. TRICARE may or may not rely upon the requested correction in determining her eligibility for certain medical benefits. Her spouse may or may not have her eligibility for medical benefits disrupted as a result of this correction.
6. Although the court documents legally changing the applicant's name are not available, the Board presumes that they were properly submitted in accordance with the Circuit Court of the City of Colonial Heights, VA order changing her sex. Otherwise, the applicant's certificate of birth would not have been amended to show her new name.
7. The Board has determined that as a matter of justice that the applicant should be issued a DA Form 1569 (Transcript of Military Record) showing her current sex (female) and in her current female name and that DEERS should be corrected to reflect this new information.
8. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected but only as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by issuing to the applicant a DA Form 1569, in the name of DaleLynn L___ S___ and showing her current sex to be female.
2. That DEERS records be corrected to reflect the applicant's current name and sex.
BOARD VOTE:
__aao___ __ecp___ __reb___ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
_Arthur A. Omartian
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2002082178 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | |
| DATE BOARDED | 20031113 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | Mr. Schneider |
| ISSUES 1. | 100.11 |
| 2. | 100.01 |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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