RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         02 NOVEMBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004101054


      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             |
|     |Mr. Kenneth H. Aucock             |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Margaret Patterson            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Joe Schroeder                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Duecaster              |     |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 his 1946 separation document show his rank as
sergeant major or master sergeant.

2.  The applicant states that he was not in the 69th Infantry Division as
shown on his Honorable Discharge Certificate and his rank on that
certificate is incorrect.  The documents showing that he was promoted were
not available at the time of his discharge.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 100 (Separation
Qualification Record); a copy of a personnel roster of the Fourth Service
Command, Oliver General Hospital; and a copy of a 22 April 2003 letter to
the Army Reserve Personnel Center at St. Louis, wherein he stated that he
was the sergeant major of Oliver General Hospital separation point, which
called for the rank of master sergeant.  He also provided a copy of his
Honorable Discharge Certificate.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s military records are not available to the Board for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the
applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

2.  This is the second request that the applicant has made to the Board.
In response to his initial application, on 17 December 2003, he was advised
of the 1973 fire, and that the Board could not make a decision on this
application because of the lack of available records.  He was informed,
however, that his final pay record showed his rank as sergeant, and that
the rank of sergeant major was not established until 1 June 1958 [years
after his discharge].

3.  The applicant's separation qualification record shows that he entered
on active duty on 17 September 1942 and was separated at Camp Atterbury,
Indiana on 10 February 1946 in the grade of sergeant.  That portion of his
record that lists his military occupations shows that he was a clerk, light
mortar crewman, investigator, and administrative NCO (noncommissioned
officer).  It shows that while serving as administrative NCO he supervised
and directed the activities of the administrative section of a separation
point in a general hospital and that his duties as sergeant major of the
specific section were principally of a supervisory nature.  It indicates
that he was captain of the Oliver General Hospital varsity [basketball
team] and editor and commentator of the Oliver General Hospital weekly
sports broadcast.

4.  A copy of a World War II period newspaper article apparently published
at the above-mentioned hospital submitted by the applicant, comments on the
applicant's abilities as a basketball player with the hospital, and refers
to the applicant as the sergeant major of the separation point.

5.  The personnel roster that he submits with his request is that of the
Army Service Forces, Fourth Service Command, Oliver General Hospital at
Augusta, Georgia, issued on Thanksgiving Day in 1945.  It shows that the
applicant was one of the two master sergeants with the separation
detachment of that hospital.

6.  The applicant's 10 February 1946 Honorable Discharge Certificate shows
his rank as sergeant and his unit as Company E, 272nd Infantry, 69th
Infantry Division.

7.  The applicant's final payment work sheet dated 10 February 1946 shows
his rank as sergeant and his previous organization as [unreadable] General
Hospital, Augusta, Georgia.

8.  On 14 December 1987 the National Personnel Records Center issued a
"Certification of Military Service" showing that the applicant was
honorably discharged on 10 February 1946 in the rank of sergeant.  On 20
January 1988 another certificate was issued, but only to correct the
spelling of his name.  Another such certificate was issued to him on 29
February 1996, and again on   10 April 2003.

9.  In an 8 January 2004 letter to the Director of the Army Board for
Correction of Military Records, the applicant disputed the information
provided to him in December 2003, stating that he served in World War II
between 1942 and 1946 and knew many men who had the rank and were listed as
sergeants major.  He also called attention to his separation qualification
record which he stated listed him as a sergeant major, and the hospital
roster that listed him as a master sergeant.  With respect to his final pay
record, he stated that his papers [promotion] to first sergeant never
reached him before his discharge, a not unusual situation.  He queried, "So
why pay the higher rank to someone who is on his [way] out of the
military?"  He resubmitted his documentation with the letter.

10.  On 19 March 2004 a Member of Congress wrote the Director on behalf of
the applicant.

11.  On 23 September 2004 the applicant wrote a member of this agency
regarding his case, stating that there was hundreds of thousands of
Soldiers being discharged weekly, and that many mistakes were made [in the
preparation of separation document].  He cites as an example his discharge
certificate showing that he was in the 69th Infantry Division, when in fact
he had left the division in September 1944, and the fact that his name and
then his social security number were listed as inaccurate by the National
Personnel Records Center.  He stated that when he moved to the separation
detachment in the late summer of 1945 it did not have official ranks and
rank numbers.  In January 1946 he applied for a release from active duty to
attend the next semester at Akron University.  His stated that his
commanding officer wondered if he would be willing to wait until his master
sergeant [promotion] came through, and then apply.  He stated that his
commanding officer also stated that his rank of master sergeant was already
an accepted fact at the hospital and in the unofficial rosters.  He stated
that he replied that [by remaining] it would be one week too long in his
returning to school.  He stated that his commanding officer indicated that
he would approve his discharge and would do everything to ensure that his
rank [of master sergeant] would be on his discharge documents.  It did not
happen.  He stated that he noticed the error but was reluctant to insist on
a correction at that time because he did not want to clog up the machinery
presently in motion.  He stated that it was well known that pay changes did
not catch up with Soldiers for two or three months, and sometimes longer.
He stated that during World War II it was not unusual for the ranks of
first sergeant, sergeant major, and master sergeant to be used
interdependently.  The rank name quite often depended upon the type of unit
involved and the duties of the NCO.

12.  A history of the enlisted grade structure shows that the rank of
sergeant major first appeared in 1776 and continued either as a rank or a
duty title throughout the Army's history.  The 1920 grade structure,
however, showed six pay grades, with master sergeant being the first pay
grade and first sergeant the second pay grade.  There was no sergeant major
pay grade.

13.  The enlisted grade structure changed again in 1942.  The grade
structure of the Army from 1 September 1942 and prior to 1 August 1948
included Grade 1, Master Sergeant and First Sergeant through Grade 7,
Private.  There was no sergeant major grade.  On 21 January 1951 the
structure changed to show an inversion of the numerical pay grades, for
instance, Grade 7, was now a Master Sergeant, Grade 6, a Sergeant First
Class, and so forth.
14.  On 1 June 1958 the "super grades" were added to the enlisted structure
–   Sergeant Major, pay grade E-9, and First Sergeant or Master Sergeant,
now pay grade E-8.  The pay grade of a Platoon Sergeant or Sergeant First
Class was now E-7.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was a member of the Oliver General Hospital, Fourth
Service Command, when he was discharged in 1946, as he contends.  There is,
however, no means to correct his Honorable Discharge Certificate or his
Separation Qualification Record.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, report of
discharge, which could be corrected, is not available.  Consequently, these
proceedings will serve as proof that the applicant was a member of the
above-mentioned organization at the time of his discharge on 10 February
1946.

2.  The Board does not dispute the applicant's contentions that there were
Soldiers during the war with the duty position title of a sergeant major,
and that they were so designated and performed the duties of a sergeant
major with the authority given them.  The fact that his separation
qualification record shows that his duties were as sergeant major of the
administrative section of a separation point supports his contention.
Nonetheless, and absent evidence to the contrary, there was no grade of
sergeant major in the sense that the applicant states.  That grade did not
exist until 1958.  Evidently, during World War II, a Soldier could be
designated duties as a sergeant major of an organization, section, unit,
etc., depart that organization and revert to his former grade, i.e.,
technical sergeant, staff sergeant, etc., and as in the applicant's case,
be discharged in that grade.  During World War II, while apparently a duty
position title, there was no sergeant major grade.  Consequently, he could
not have been discharged as a sergeant major.

3.  The Board also does not dispute the applicant's contentions regarding
his possible promotion to master sergeant prior to his discharge in
February 1946.  He himself, however, has stated that he was discharged
prior to being promoted; qualifying his statement somewhat by stating that
the promotion papers were on the way but did not reach him before he was
discharged.  Nonetheless, there is no evidence to support his contentions.
Even so, he was discharged as a sergeant and his pay records show that he
was a sergeant.  Moreover, he did not dispute his rank at the time of his
discharge, nor did he dispute it in 1987, 1988, and 1996, when he was
issued certifications of his military service showing his rank as sergeant.


4.  Consequently, the applicant's request to correct his record to show
that he was discharged in the rank of sergeant major or master sergeant is
not granted.
BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___MP __  ___JS __  ___RD___  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 this document serve as proof that the applicant was a
member of Oliver General Hospital, Fourth Service Command, when he was
discharged on 10 February 1946.

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
correcting his records to show his rank as sergeant major or master
sergeant when he was discharged on 10 February 1946.




                                  ____Margaret Patterson______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR200410154                             |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041102                                |
|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.       |112.02                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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