RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           05 AUGUST 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004101038


      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. Walter Morrison               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Linda Barker                  |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Richard Dunbar                |     |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, in effect, that her uncharacterized discharge
be changed to either a medical discharge or an honorable discharge.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that she needs the uncharacterized
discharge changed to a medical discharge or an honorable discharge to
receive Department of Veterans Affairs benefits for her service related
injuries.  She states that she was separated from active duty for “medical
reasons only.”

3.  In a self-authored statement, she relates how she reported to basic
combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and injured her left foot,
that she was recycled through the training unit, received various medical
treatments, and how she had to ice her feet to alleviate the pain.

4.  The applicant provides several copies of various medical treatment
forms and physical profiles associated with her foot condition, as well as
a copy of her separation document.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Attempts to secure copies of the applicant’s military personnel file
were not successful.  Information contained herein was reconstructed
entirely from the documents provided by the applicant.

2.  According to the applicant’s separation document, she was a member of
the Alabama Army National Guard when she was ordered to active duty on 11
June 2002 to undergo training.  The applicant indicated in her application
that she was assigned to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic combat
training.

3.  Medical records provided by the applicant indicate that on 8 July 2002
she reported to medical personnel at Fort Jackson that she was experiencing
bilateral ankle problems with pain and swelling over the previous 2 weeks.
The medical treatment document indicated that the applicant was in the 3rd
week of her 9-week basic training course and that she had failed the run
and push-up portions of her APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test).  She related
that she hoped to complete her training.

4.  A “radiologic examination report,” prepared on 16 July 2002, noted
there was “focal uptake at the left 3rd metatarsal base and also at the
right navicular” consistent with stress fractures.  The applicant related
that she felt “60% better since last visit” and that she was ready to
return to duty without limits and demonstrated in the medical office that
she could run and jump with minimal pain.  She was advised to return to the
clinic at Fort Jackson if she had further problems and was told to ice the
area three times a day.

5.  The applicant apparently successfully completed basic training and had
no further visits to the health clinic.

6.  According to the documents provided by the applicant, on 19 November
2002 she reported to the health clinic at Fort Lee, Virginia with a
complaint of bilateral foot pain.  Although there was no copy of a physical
profile, it appears from an entry on the 19 November 2002 medical treatment
form that the applicant was given a temporary profile.

7.  On 2 December 2002 the applicant returned to the clinic to have her
profile updated.  A 12 December 2002 profile indicates that the applicant
was issued a 90-day profile for “fractured both feet.”  The profile
precluded physical fitness training, aerobic exercise, and running,
jumping, marching, and prolonged standing over 5 to 10 minutes.  It also
precluded exposure to temperatures below 38 degrees for more than 5 to 10
minutes.

8.  On 13 December 2002 the applicant was released from active duty.  Her
separation document indicates that the reason for her separation was
“completion of required active service.”  At the time of her release from
active duty she had completed 6 months and 3 days (183 days) of active
Federal service.  However, her service was “uncharacterized.”

9.  Army Regulation 635-40, which establishes the policies and provisions
for the separation of Soldiers as a result of physical disabilities which
are unfitting notes that disability compensation is not an entitlement
acquired by reason of service-incurred illness or injury, rather, it is
provided to Soldiers whose service is interrupted and they can no longer
continue to reasonably perform because of a physical disability incurred or
aggravated in service.

10.  Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 4, establishes the policies and
provisions for the separation of enlisted Soldiers upon the expiration of
their enlistment or completion of their service contract.  It states that
Soldiers of the Army National Guard or United States Army Reserve ordered
to active duty for a period in excess of 90 days will, upon released from
active duty, revert to control of the appropriate Reserve Component.  It
also notes that a Soldier being separated upon expiration of enlistment or
fulfillment of service obligation will be awarded a character of service of
honorable, unless the Soldier is in an entry-level status, in which case
their service is uncharacterized.
11.  Army Regulation 635-200 also states that for Army National Guard and
United States Army Reserve Soldiers, entry level status begins upon
enlistment in the Army National Guard or United States Army Reserve and
terminates 180 days after beginning training for Soldiers ordered to IADT
(Initial Active Duty Training).

12.  The National Guard Bureau PERMS (Personnel Electronic Records
Management System) indicates that the applicant is still a member of the
Alabama Army National Guard.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the medical documents provided by the applicant do confirm that
she was treated for foot problems while undergoing her initial entry
training, unfortunately, they do not indicate that she was medically unfit
for military service or that the basis for her release from active duty was
for medical reasons.  That she continues to be a member of the Alabama Army
National Guard supports this conclusion.

2.  In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Board concludes that
the applicant’s separation from active duty upon “completion of required
active service” was appropriate.

3.  The evidence does, however, indicate that the applicant did have more
than 181 days of active Federal service and as such was no longer
considered to be in an “entry level status.”  Her service should have been
characterized as honorable upon her release from active duty, rather than
uncharacterized.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___WM__  ___LB __  ___LB___  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 that the applicant’s service was
characterized as honorable at the time of her release from active duty on
13 December 2002.

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 showing
she was separated from active duty in December 2002 for medical reasons.




            ____Walter Morrison______
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004101038                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040805                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          | GRANT PARTIAL                          |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |108.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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