RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        05 APRIL 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040003891


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Mark Manning                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas O'Shaughnessy          |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Jeanette McCants              |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests that his records be corrected to show that his
SSAN (social security account number) is XXX-XX-XXXX vice XXX-XX-XXXX.

2.  The applicant states that his service number was utilized to make up
his SSAN because he did not have a SSAN at the time.  He states that he
would like his separation document updated so that he no longer has to
explain the discrepancy between his separation document and his SSAN.

3.  The applicant provides a statement from the Social Security
Administration confirming his SSAN and the date the number was first
issued.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 13 January 1967.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
22 June 2004.

2.  Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552(b), provides that applications for
correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery
of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant entered
active duty as a Regular Army (RA) Soldier on 20 January 1967.  He was 17
years old at the time of his enlistment and his statement of personal
history indicates that he had no employment prior to his enlisting.

4.  At the time the applicant entered active duty he was issued a service
number (RAXXX-XX-XXX) and utilized that service number throughout the
duration of his enlistment.

5.  A handwritten, pencil notation in item 1 (name and service number) on
his Department of the Army Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record)
indicates that he did not have a SSAN, but that the CO (company) was
initiating one.  The pencil notation continued by merely adding a “0” in
front of his RA service number in order to “make-up” a SSAN.  Hence his
SSAN for military purposes was subsequently recorded as “XXX-XX-XXXX.”

6.  The applicant was released from active duty on 13 January 1970 and his
separation document reflects the Army initiated SSAN of XXX-XX-XXXX in item
3 (Social Security Number).

7.  The statement from the Social Security Administration, submitted by the
applicant in support of his request, confirms that the applicant was issued
the SSAN of XXX-XX-XXXX in October 1965.  He would have been 16 years old
at the time.

8.  In 1920 Congress enacted a new National Defense Act which established
the Army of the United States and divided it into three components; the
Regular Army, the National Guard, and the Organized Reserve.  Service
numbers were issued by the armed forces as a means of identifying
individual members.  The two letters, which preceded the numbers, denoted
whether the individual was a member of the Regular Army (RA), the Army
National Guard, the Army Reserve, or was an individual who had been
appointed, enlisted, or drafted into the Army without component.  Once
issued, only the letters preceding the number changed.  In July 1969 the
Army discontinued the use of service numbers and adopted an individual's
social security number as the means of identification.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence indicates that the applicant did have a SSAN at the time
he entered active duty in 1967, but had only received that SSAN less than 2
years earlier when he was just 16 years old.  The evidence also suggests
that the applicant had no civilian employment prior to his enlistment and
hence would likely not remember his SSAN when the Army commenced using the
SSAN as a means of identifying Soldiers in July 1969.

2.  Additionally, the fact that the Army began utilizing SSANs only 6
months prior to the applicant’s separation could also explain why neither
the applicant nor the Army was unable to locate and verify his real SSAN
before his separation document was prepared and as such continued to
utilizing the “made up” number of XXX-XX-XXXX when in fact he did have a
SSAN of XXX-XX-XXXX.

3.  As such, an error did occur, and in the interest of justice and
clarity, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s separation
document to show that his SSAN at the time of his separation was XXX-XX-
XXXX and not XXX-XX-XXXX as currently shown.
BOARD VOTE:

__MM___  ___TO __  ___JM __  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected by showing on his 1970 separation
document that his SSAN is XXX-XX-XXXX vice XXX-XX-XXXX.




                            ______Mark Manning________
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040003891                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050405                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |110.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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