RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        19 MAY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040005830


      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. Raymond Wagner                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Barbara Ellis                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. LaVerne Douglas               |     |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 2004 separation document be corrected
to show that he was separated in pay grade E-4 as a corporal vice pay grade
E-3 as a private first class.

2.  Although not mentioned in his application to the Board, the applicant
did ask in a letter to his congressional representative that his separation
document also be corrected to show that he did complete his first full term
of military service.

3.  The applicant states that his ID (identification) card shows his rank
as corporal/E-4 and that he was called specialist in a letter from a
colonel.  He notes that he did complete his first full term of service
since he was extended in the Army and actually served more than his 4-year
enlistment.

4.  The applicant provides a copy of his separation document and a copy of
his active duty ID card in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant enlisted in
the Regular Army, for a period of 4 years, on 24 September 1999.  He was
honorably discharged on 3 January 2004 as a result of disability.  His 2004
separation document indicates that he was discharged in pay grade E-3 and
that his date of rank was 2 January 2003.  The applicant was not available
to authenticate his separation document.

2.  A March 2001 Army Achievement Medal certificate identifies the
applicant as a private first class.  However, on 24 September 2003 the
applicant authenticated an affidavit acknowledging that he had been
counseled on the rights and advantages of voluntarily remaining on active
duty beyond his scheduled separation date in order to complete disability
processing.  That affidavit identifies him as a private first class.
Subsequent documents approving the applicant’s retention on active duty
beyond his September 2003 separation date also identified him as a private
first class.

3.  The ID card provided by the applicant in support of his request was
issued on 23 September 2003.  The basis for the information reflected on
the ID card was not in records available to the Board.



4.  Item 18 (remarks) on the applicant’s 2004 separation document contains
the statement “Member has not completed first full term of service.”

5.  Army Regulation 635-5, which establishes the policies and provisions
for the preparation of separation documents, states that item 18 will
contain an entry indicating if a Soldier has or has not completed his/her
first full term of service.  It states that in determining if the Soldier
has or has not completed the first full term of service the individual
preparing the document should refer to the enlistment/reenlistment document
and compare the term of enlistment to the net service in block 12c of the
separation document.  If the Soldier has completed or exceeded the initial
enlistment, enter “has” if the item 12c is less than the Soldier’s initial
enlistment; enter “has not.”  Item 12c on the applicant’s separation
document indicates his net active service as 4 years, 3 months, and 10
days.  His initial enlistment was for a period of 4 years.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence does confirm that the applicant enlisted for a period of 4
years and that by the time of his separation in January 2004 he had
completed 4 years, 3 months, and 10 days of active service.  As such, the
entry in item 18 on his separation document should be corrected to reflect
that he has completed his first full term of service.

2.  Unfortunately, there is insufficient evidence to confirm that the
applicant was in fact serving in pay grade E-4 at the time of his
discharge.  The applicant’s March 2001 Army Achievement Medal certificate
suggests that he was serving in pay grade E-3 at that time.  However, the
fact that his separation document indicates a date of rank for pay grade E-
3 as January 2003 also suggests that he may have been promoted to pay grade
E-4 sometime after March 2001 but subsequently reduced in January 2003.
The fact that the applicant authenticated an affidavit in September 2003,
which identified him as a private first class and not as a corporal,
supports this conclusion.

3.  The absence of more compelling evidence beyond an ID card, such as pay
records or promotion documents, makes it impossible to determine the
accuracy of the grade information reflected on his 2004 separation
document.  It would be inappropriate to correct the applicant’s separation
document based solely on the information recorded on an ID card, which is
not supported by any other official documentation.



BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___RW__  __BE ___  ___LD __  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board
recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual
concerned be corrected by showing in item 18 on his 2004 separation
document that he “has” completed his first full term of service.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
changing his rank and pay grade from private first class/E-3 to corporal/E-
4 on his separation document.




                                  ____Raymond Wagner_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040005830                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050519                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |110.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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