RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         25 JANUARY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004106340


      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:

|     |Ms. Kathleen Newman               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. James Anderholm               |     |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, via his congressional representative, that
numerous documents in his Official Military Personnel Record be corrected
to show his rank as Specialist Five, vice Private First Class or Specialist
Four.  He specifically asks that recent orders awarding him the Purple
Heart and Army Good Conduct Medal be corrected to reflect that rank.  He
also asks that the term “expert gunner, 11C20” be added to those documents
and that in cases where his specialty was shown as something other than
11C20, that those documents be corrected as well.

2.  The applicant also requests that the Social Security Account Number
(SSAN) on some of those same documents be corrected to show that the last
four digits are 2333.  He also notes that the SSAN is incorrect on his
Bronze Star Medal and Army Commendation Medal certificates, citation, and
on his Army Commendation Medal orders.  He notes that the SSAN is also
incorrect on orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge, and on his
1970 discharge document from the Army National Guard.

3.  The applicant states that his award of the Purple Heart and Army Good
Conduct Medal cite different ranks for the “same period of active military
service….”  He states he “answered the call to active duty to serve [his]
Country with the skills and duties in the slot of a specialist 5 as a
Gunner” and that his orders should be corrected to “reflect [his] true rank
and level of service [he] fulfilled.”

4.  The applicant provides copies of all of the awards and decoration
orders and certificates which he states should be corrected.  He also
submits copies of separation documents from active Federal service and from
the Army National Guard.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant was a member
of the Hawaii Army National Guard when he was promoted to the permanent
grade of private first class, pay grade E-3.  Orders issued by the 2nd
Battalion, 299th Infantry, Hawaii Army National Guard, confirmed the
promotion.  He was serving in pay grade E-3 when he was ordered to active
duty on 13 May 1968.

2.  On 7 June 1968 the applicant qualified as an expert with the 81mm
mortar and was awarded the associated badge and component bar, along with
nine other Soldiers.
3.  His records indicate that on 10 July 1968 he was awarded specialty 11C
(infantry indirect fire crewman).

4.  In February 1969 the applicant was assigned to Vietnam where, according
to an entry on his Department of the Army Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification
Record), he performed duties as an ammo bearer.

5.  On 18 June 1969 he was wounded as a result of hostile action.  He was
serving in pay grade E-3 at the time he was wounded.  Action to correct his
records to reflect award of the Purple Heart, however, was not accomplished
until this Board determined that an error had occurred in June 1969, and as
such, granted relief of his petition for award of the Purple Heart in July
2003. Orders awarding him the Purple Heart were issued on 23 September
2003.  Those orders reflect information about the applicant “as of” 18 June
1969, the date he was wounded, including the fact that he was serving in
pay grade E-3 at the time.

6.  On 23 August 1969, while the applicant was still serving on active duty
in Vietnam, he was promoted to the temporary grade of specialist four, pay
grade E-4.  Orders issued on 27 August 1969, by an element of the 101st
Airborne Division in Vietnam, announced the promotion.

7.  The applicant returned to the United States in November 1969 and on
12 December 1969, while still serving in the temporary grade of specialist
four, was released from active duty, and returned to the Hawaii Army
National Guard.

8.  He was promoted to the permanent rank of specialist four on 13 December
1969, the day following his release from active duty, by his Army National
Guard unit.

9.  In September 2001 the applicant’s records were corrected, as a result
of a directive by this Board, to award the applicant the Army Good Conduct
Medal for the period 13 May 1968 to 12 December 1969, when the Board
determined that an error had occurred by not awarding him the decoration
upon his release from active duty in 1969.  Orders announcing the award
were published reflecting the applicant’s information, including his rank,
as of 12 December 1969.

10.  The applicant was honorably discharged from the Army National Guard in
April 1973, in the rank of specialist four, pay grade E-4.  There is no
indication that he had ever been promoted to pay grade E-5 during any of
his periods of military service.

11.  Documents contained in the applicant’s file confirm that the last four
digits of his SSAN are 2333 as he states.  His Bronze Star Medal
certificate and citation, his Army Commendation Medal certificate,
citation, and award orders, and his Combat Infantryman Badge orders do
reflect incorrect final four digits.  His 1970 separation document from the
Army National Guard, which initially reflected an incorrect SSAN, has
already been corrected.  A copy of the corrected document will be provided
to the applicant.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While there is no evidence that the applicant was ever promoted to pay
grade E-5, the evidence does confirm that the applicant was serving in pay
grade E-3 at the time he was wounded in action, and in pay grade E-4 at the
time of his release from active duty in 1969 when he should have been
awarded the Good Conduct Medal.  As such, when his records were corrected
to reflect award of the Purple Heart and the Army Good Conduct Medal, those
orders reflected his grade at the time the events should have occurred.
There is no error or injustice.

2.  Although the applicant may have qualified as an expert with the 81mm
mortar, that is a weapon qualification level, not a military specialty.
The applicant’s military specialty was 11C and as such is correctly
recorded on documents, which required a military specialty annotation.

3.  The evidence does, however, confirm that the last four digits on the
applicant’s Bronze Star Medal certificate and citation, his Army
Commendation Medal certificate, citation, and award orders, and his Combat
Infantryman Badge orders, are incorrect and should be corrected
accordingly.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__KN ___  ___JA  __  ___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 that the last four digits of the
applicant’s SSAN on his Bronze Star Medal certificate and citation, his
Army Commendation Medal certificate, citation, and award orders, and his
Combat Infantryman Badge orders, are 2333.

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 his rank as specialist five and pay grade E-5 on documents in file,
that his specialty was expert, 81mm mortar, vice 11C, and correction of his
SSAN on his 1970 discharge document from the Army National Guard.



                                  ____Kathleen Newman_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004106340                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050125                                |
|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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