RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           6 January 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040001720


      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             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Fred N. Eichorn               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Richard T. Dunbar             |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Yolanda Maldonado             |     |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 earlier request for
promotion reconsideration to colonel and retroactive promotion.

2.  The applicant states that he did not provide the Officer Evaluation
Report (OER) for the period ending 4 December 1996 because he has
repeatedly stated that he could not be expected to have a copy of it since
it is classified "Secret."  He questions why his Aviation personnel
management officer (PMO) had no copy of his fiche after the Inspector
General notified him his record was available and all the boards had
adjourned.  He states he did respond to the advisory opinion dated 1
October 2003.  He sent his response on 26 October 2003.  He used his entire
chain of command in seeking timely corrective action.  He questions what
more reasonable diligence he could have exercised.

3.  The applicant provides his 26 October 2003 response to the advisory
opinion.

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 AR
2003091750 on 25 March 2004.

2.  The applicant's 26 October 2003 response to the advisory opinion is new
evidence which will be considered by the Board.

3.  After having had prior service, the applicant was appointed a
commissioned officer in the U. S. Army Reserve.  He was assigned to the
Individual Ready Reserve effective 16 March 1993.  He was promoted to
lieutenant colonel effective 23 October 1994.

4.  The applicant was originally considered and not selected for promotion
to colonel by the 1998, 1999, and 2000 Reserve Components Selections Boards
(RCSBs).

5.  On 6 June 1998, the applicant had emailed Promotions Branch expressing
his concern at not having received a promotion packet for the 1998 colonel
selection board that was to meet 14 June 1998.  On 9 June 1998, Promotions
Branch notified him that his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) was
missing.  He was advised to find all his rating officials and have them
sign affidavits for any copies of OERs he might have in his possession.  By
memorandum to the president of the promotion board dated 9 July 1998, the
applicant provided 35 documents to include all U. S. Army Reserve OERs
except the one for the period ending          4 December 1996, which he
noted was classified.

6.  The applicant's OMPF was reconstructed using documents he provided and
he was reconsidered for promotion by special selection boards (SSBs) under
the 1998, 1999, and 2000 criteria.  He was once again nonselected for
promotion.

7.  By email dated 4 January 2001, the applicant's PMO told him that there
was still nothing in his electronic PERMS (Personnel Electronic Records
Management System).

8.  In the processing of the applicant's original case, the U. S. Total
Army Personnel Command, Office of Promotions, Reserve Components noted that
the applicant had been notified in February 2000 that a report ending "12
Apr 96" (actually 4 December 1996) was not in his file and asked him to
provide a copy of the report.  That office also noted that his microfiche
record included all of his available reports and completion documentation
for the Command and General Staff Course.

9.  The advisory opinion had been provided to the applicant by letter dated
          1 October 2003.  By letter dated 26 October 2003, the applicant
responded by stating he could not have provided a copy of the 4 December
1996 OER since it was classified.  He also stated that, six months after
the Inspector General assured him his records were available, his PMO told
him that he had no records.  Yet, the advisory opinion referred to an
available microfiche.  He did not understand that contradictory
information.

10.  The applicant's microfiche contains 10 full pages of documents.  All
his OERs (with the exception of the classified OER) and a record of his
completion of the Command and General Staff Course are on his microfiche.

11.  On 15 December 2004, the OER Support Branch, U. S. Army Human
Resources Command – St Louis (USAHRC – STL) informed the Board analyst
that, if an officer has a classified OER and it is possible to redact the
classified portions of the OER, they keep a sanitized version of the OER in
his files.  The Board analyst was also informed that USAHRC – STL records
indicated that a    4 December 1996 OER for the applicant had been
processed but it was not in his restricted personnel file.  A check with
their security office failed to find the classified OER.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board acknowledges that the applicant should not have been expected
to have a copy of the missing 4 December 1996 OER since it was classified.
It appears the OER was received at one time but it cannot currently be
located.  However, a reasonably diligent senior commissioned officer would
not have waited until one week before the promotion board met to express
his concern about not receiving his promotion packet.  Had he discovered
the missing OMPF and OER earlier, he might have been able to contact his
rating officials and had them reconstruct the missing OER.  Even in June
1998 it might have been possible to contact the rating officials to
reconstruct the OER, which at that time was only 18 months old.

2.  Since the applicant provided most of the documents needed to
reconstruct his OMPF, those documents were available in hard copy.  PERMS
is an electronic system.  It appears that, while the hard copy documents
were available to the SSBs and added to his microfiche, they were not
electronically added to PERMS.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__fne___  __rtd___  __ym____  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 AR2003091750 dated 25 March 2004.




            __Fred N. Eichorn_____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040001720                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050106                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |131.11                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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