RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         28 OCTOBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004103646


      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          |
|     |Mr. Lawrence Foster               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Marla Troup                   |     |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 reflect award
of two Valorous Unit Awards (4-20 November 1966 and 1 January-31 December
1967), a Meritorious Unit Commendation (1 January-31 December 1967), and
two awards of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with
Palm, which he refers to as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross.  He also asks
that his records be corrected to reflect a third award of the Air Medal and
that item 30 (remarks) on his separation document be corrected to reflect
"SP5 E5" as is shown in item 5a on the separation document, vice "SP4 E-4."

2.  The applicant also states that he never received orders or the medal
for his award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that the unit awards were awarded to
his unit while he was a member but were omitted from his record.  He states
that he was told he was being awarded his third Air Medal (2nd Oak Leaf
Cluster) for the period 17 February 1967 to 17 March 1967 but never
received it, or the orders.

4.  The applicant provides a copy of a listing of unit decorations, from a
unit web site, in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 18 April 1969.  The application submitted in this case is
dated
21 January 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 limitation 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 do confirm that the applicant was
awarded two awards of the Air Medal.  The initial award was made for the
period 21 January 1967 to 30 January 1967 while the second award (1st Oak
Leaf Cluster) was



made for the period 30 January 1967 to 7 February 1967.  Orders issued by
the 1st Aviation Brigade confirmed the awards.  However, there are no
orders or other evidence authorizing award of a third Air Medal.  In the
absence of a proper award authority for this decoration, the applicant may
request award of the third Air Medal under the provisions of Section 1130
of Title 10, United States Code.  The applicant has been notified by
separate correspondence of the procedures for applying for this decoration
under Section 1130 and, as a result, it will not be discussed further in
the Record of Proceedings.

4.  Information contained in file available to the Board indicate that the
applicant initially entered active duty on 13 April 1966 and was discharged
for the purpose of immediate reenlistment on 18 April 1966.  He was trained
as a helicopter repairman and following training was assigned to the 116th
(Aviation) Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam in November 1966.

5.  His temporary promotion to pay grade E-4 occurred in November 1966 and
the permanent promotion was effective on 11 May 1967.

6.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 confirms that the applicant's
unit, 116th Aviation Company, was awarded one Valorous Unit Award (4-20
November 1966), a Meritorious Unit Commendation (1 January-31 December
1967), and two awards of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit
Citation with Palm, while he was a member of the organization.  The
pamphlet does not indicate that the unit was awarded a Valorous Unit Award
for the period 1 January 1967 to
31 December 1967, although it was awarded one for the period 13 June to
23 September 1968, after the applicant had already departed the unit.  The
unit awards that the applicant is entitled to were omitted from his
separation document.

7.  The applicant departed Vietnam on 30 October 1967 and completed his
enlistment contract in Georgia.  He was promoted to the temporary grade of
SP (Specialist) 5, pay grade E-5, effective 29 November 1968.

8.  On 18 April 1969 the applicant was released from active duty with an
honorable characterization of service.  Item 5a (grade, rate or rank) on
his separation document notes that he was separated in the temporary grade
of SP5.  His permanent grade, SP4 E-4, is recorded in item 30 (remarks) on
the separation document.




9.  Army Regulation 600-200, in effect, at the time, provided for the
temporary promotion of enlisted personnel of the Active Army to pay grades
E-4 through
E-6, made against periodic temporary promotion quota allocations.  The
temporary appointment of a Regular Army enlisted Soldier automatically
becomes permanent on the date of completion of specific time in grade and
time service requirements.  Permanent promotion to pay grade E-5, during
the period in question, required 1 year time in grade and 6 years time in
service.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5, which established the policies and procedures
for the preparation and distribution of separation documents, stated that
item 5a would reflect the individual’s grade at time of separation and that
if the grade at time of separation was not the permanent grade, the
permanent grade, date of appointment, and date of rank, if different from
date of appointment, would be entered in item 30 (remarks).

11.  The applicant separation document does confirm that he was awarded an
Army Good Conduct Medal, but orders confirming the award were not in files
available to the Board.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence does confirm that the applicant is entitled to one
Valorous Unit Award, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and two awards of the
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm which were
awarded to his unit in Vietnam while he was a member of the organization.

2.  There is no evidence that the applicant is entitled to a second
Valorous Unit Award.

3.  Item 5a and item 30 on the applicant's separation document correctly
reflects that while he may have been separated in pay grade E-5, it was a
temporary grade and his permanent grade was SP4 E-4.    The earliest his
temporary promotion to pay grade E-5 could have become permanent would have
been in 1972 when the applicant would have attained 6 years of military
service, had he remained on active duty.

4.  Although the applicant's separation document does reflect award of the
Army Good Conduct Medal, no orders confirming the award were in records
available to the Board.  As such, it would be appropriate to confirm the
award in orders and to issue him the decoration when his unit decorations
are issued.


BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___RW__  ___LF___  ___MT __  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 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:

      a.  showing that he is entitled to one Valorous Unit Award, a
Meritorious Unit Commendation, and two awards of the Republic of Vietnam
Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm;


      b.  confirming his award of the Army Good Conduct Medal in appropriate
orders; and


      c.  issuing him the Army Good Conduct Medal in addition to the unit
awards which are being added to his record.


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 the information in item 27 (remarks) to show SP5 E-5, and to a
second award of a Valorous Unit Award.





                            ____Raymond Wagner_______
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004103646                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041028                                |
|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.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |110.00                                  |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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