RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         23 NOVEMBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004103559


      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. Fred Eichorn                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John Meixell                  |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Osborn                 |     |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 reconsideration of his previous request to be
awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant states that he is submitting a statement from his platoon
leader. He notes that the statement is self-explanatory and should be
sufficient to establish his entitlement to the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  The applicant provides the statement from his former platoon leader in
support of his request for reconsideration.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were
summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number
AR2003086715, on
13 November 2003.

2.  The statement from the applicant’s former platoon leader is considered
new evidence which requires review by the Board.

3.  The statement from the applicant’s former platoon leader was
authenticated on 30 January 2004.  The former platoon leader indicated that
he served as the applicant’s platoon leader for “4 months starting in May
1969.”  He states that the applicant served as his radio operator “for most
of my time there…” and that he “kept track of [the applicant] more or less
for the remainder of his time in Vietnam.”  He stated that from his “direct
observation as platoon leader and indirect knowledge in other assignments”
that the applicant “functioned during his tour in Vietnam as a frontline
infantryman” and that he “was required to use the same skills, and he
endured the same hardships.”  He noted he did not “think we knew that [the
applicant] did not have an infantry MOS [military occupational specialty]”
and that “there must have been an administrative error.”  He states that he
qualified for his Combat Infantryman Badge with his service in the
applicant’s platoon and that the applicant was there with him and deserves
the Combat Infantryman Badge as much as he, and other members of his
platoon did.

4.  As noted in the previous summary of the Board’s consideration, the
applicant was initially trained as an infantryman (11B).  He was, however,
assigned duties in specialty 76Y (supply) upon his arrival in Germany on 25
January 1969.

5.  On 14 March 1969, while still assigned to an infantry unit in Germany
his primary specialty of 11B was withdrawn and replaced with specialty 76Y,
which he had been working in.  In spite of the fact that other individuals,
whose names are on the same reclassification order, were awarded secondary
specialties when their primary specialties were withdrawn, the applicant
was not awarded a secondary specialty.

6.  On 17 March 1969 orders were issued announcing the applicant’s
promotion to pay grade E-3 in specialty 76Y, retroactive to 27 February
1969.

7.  On 24 May 1969 the applicant arrived in Vietnam where he was assigned
duties in his primary specialty 76Y, as an armorer with Company B, 2nd
Battalion, 503rd Infantry.  The applicant’s assignment instructions to
Vietnam were issued in Germany on 3 April 1969.  Those reassignment orders
were based on a Department of the Army message from the Army’s Enlisted
Personnel Division dated 12 March 1969, just two days prior to the
applicant’s reclassification from specialty 11B to specialty 76Y.

8.  The applicant’s records indicate that he was assigned duties in
specialty 76Y for the duration of his tour of duty in Vietnam.

9.  In October 1969 the applicant was promoted to pay grade E-4 in
specialty 76Y.

10.  On 15 April 1970, less than 20 days prior to the applicant’s scheduled
departure from Vietnam, he was awarded a secondary specialty of 11B
effective 14 April 1970.

11.  Upon his return to the United States he served in his secondary
specialty of 11B at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for approximately 12 months
before returning to duties in his primary specialty.  On 29 July 1971 the
applicant was released from active duty.  His separation document shows a
primary specialty of 76Y; secondary specialties were not recorded at the
time of the applicant’s 1971 separation.

12.  In 1980 the applicant submitted an inquiry requesting that his
specialty on his 1971 separation document be changed to 11B and that an
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge be added.  His inquiry was responded
to by officials from the United States Army Reserve Components Personnel
and Administration Center in St. Louis.  They informed the applicant that
his primary specialty could not be changed based on information in his
official file and that he was not eligible for an award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the applicant may very well have performed infantry duties as a
matter of necessity while in Vietnam, the fact remains that he did not hold
an infantry specialty during the period in question.

2.  The evidence shows that the applicant’s original specialty of 11B was
withdrawn within days of announcement that he was being reassigned to
Vietnam.  He was promoted in specialty 76Y just after reclassification
orders were published and was promoted a second time in that specialty
while in Vietnam.  Orders awarding him a secondary specialty of 11B were
not published until shortly before his departure from Vietnam.  Clearly had
an “error” occurred, or had the applicant’s primary duties been that of an
infantryman, as his former platoon leader suggests, the effective date for
award of his secondary specialty would have been earlier than 14 April
1970, just prior to his departure from Vietnam.

3.  Many soldiers, who do not hold infantry specialties, and even those who
may have at one time been formally trained as infantryman, are often called
upon to perform infantry duties periodically while in combat situations.
However, the Combat Infantryman Badge is intended as an inducement for
individuals to join the infantry and serves as a morale booster for
infantrymen whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and
to seize and hold terrain.  While the applicant may have held an infantry
specialty before and after his tour of duty in Vietnam, he did not hold
that specialty during the period for which he claims he performed infantry
duties and such, there continues to be no basis for an award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___FE  __  ___JM __  ___RO __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis to amend the decision of
the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR2003086715, dated 13 November 2003.



                                  _____  Fred Eichorn_______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004103559                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041123                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|SSUES         1.        |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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