RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          1 February 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040001977


      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. Walter T. Morrison            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John T. Meixell               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. William D. Powers             |     |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 he be granted fiscal year 2003 (FY03)
Colonel, Medical Corps (MC) promotion reconsideration by a special
selection board (SSB).

2.  The applicant states that after he was not selected for promotion by
the FY03 Colonel, MC promotion board, he discovered that his Command and
General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC) Academic Evaluation Report (AER) was
not included in his promotion file as it should have been.  Although he
subsequently requested promotion reconsideration, his request was denied
based upon the false premise that he should have anticipated the omission
by sending a memorandum to the board.  Since CGSOC completion is becoming
essential for Colonel promotion, it is possible that he might otherwise
have been selected for promotion.

3.  The applicant provides a memorandum to the promotion board dated 14 May
2004; his CGSOC AER; Military Personnel Message Number 03-152 dated
28 April 2003; an Internet extract of U. S. Army Human Resources Command
(USAHRC) promotion reconsideration policy; USAHRC's denial of his request
for promotion reconsideration; a memorandum to promotions branch dated 3
July 2003; a request for supervisory review dated 12 March 2004; and a
denial of his request for supervisory review dated 5 May 2004.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was appointed a commissioned officer in the U. S. Army
Reserve, MC in June 1992 and entered active duty in June 1992.  He was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 20 February 1998.

2.  The applicant was passed over for promotion by the FY02 Colonel, MC
promotion board.

3.  Military Personnel Message Number 03-152, issued 28 April 2003,
announced the FY03 Colonel, MC and Dental Corps promotion board zones of
consideration.  The board would convene on or about 5 August 2003.
Paragraph 3A of the message stated that, in order to be eligible for
consideration by the board, all mandatory or optional officer evaluation
reports must be received in the Evaluation Reports Branch not later than 29
July 2003.  Paragraph 3D stated that commanders at all levels should make a
special effort to ensure any applicable evaluation reports for eligible
officers were expeditiously processed.

4.  Military Personnel Message Number 03-152, paragraph 4 stated that all
officers in the zone of consideration could, if desired, submit
correspondence to the president of the board.  Paragraph 4A stated that
individual memorandums should include only those matters deemed important
in the consideration of an officer's record and should not include comments
or documentation that was already represented by contents within the board
file.

5.  On 3 July 2003, while in Iraq, the applicant wrote to the president of
the FY03 MC and Dental Corps Colonel promotion selection board regarding
problems he had with two previous officer evaluation reports.

6.  On 9 July 2003, the applicant completed the nonresident CGSOC and
received an AER.  The AER was received by the Evaluations Reports Branch,
USAHRC on 14 July 2003.

7.  The applicant was not selected for promotion by the FY03 MC Colonel
promotion selection board.

8.  On 1 March 2004, the applicant requested promotion reconsideration for
three reasons, one of which was that notice of his graduation from CGSOC
("received 9 July 2003, per my electronic OMPF") was not in his promotion
file.

9  On 4 March 2004, Promotions Branch, USAHRC, denied the applicant's
request, in part, they informed him, because his completion of CGSOC
information could also have been included in his memorandum to the
promotion board.

10  Army Regulation 600-8-29 prescribes the officer promotion function of
the military personnel system.  Paragraph 7-3 provides that an officer will
not be considered for promotion by an SSB when an administrative error was
immaterial or the officer, in exercising reasonable diligence, could have
discovered and corrected the error in the Officer Record Brier (ORB) or
Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).  It is the officer’s
responsibility to review his or her ORB and OMPF before the board convenes
and to notify the board, in writing, of possible administrative
deficiencies in them.

11  Army Regulation 600-8-29 defines a material error as being of such a
nature that, in the judgment of the reviewing official (or body), had it
been corrected at the time the officer was considered by the board that
failed to recommend him or her for promotion, it would have resulted in a
reasonable chance that the officer would have been recommended for
promotion.  Reconsideration may also be granted when material information
was missing from the officer's file when seen
by a promotion board.  Examples of requests that may warrant
reconsideration include:

      a.  one or more evaluation reports that should have been seen by a
promotion board were missing from the OMPF.  These reports must have
arrived in the USAHRC Evaluation Reports Branch by the officer evaluation
report cutoff date established in the message announcing the board convene
date or

      b.  an individual's military or civilian education level depicted in
his or her record was incorrect.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Military Personnel Message that announced the FY03 Colonel, MC
promotion board zones of consideration stated that, in order to be eligible
for consideration by the board, all mandatory or optional officer
evaluation reports must have been received in the Evaluation Reports Branch
not later than 29 July 2003.  It also stated that commanders at all levels
should make a special effort to ensure any applicable evaluation reports
for eligible officers were expeditiously processed.

2.  The Military Personnel Message also stated that all officers in the
zone of consideration could, if desired, submit correspondence to the
president of the board but that individual memorandums should include only
those matters deemed important in the consideration of an officer's record
and should not include comments or documentation that is already
represented by contents within the board file.

3.  The applicant's CGSOC AER was received by the Evaluation Reports Branch
on 14 July 2003, more than a week before the cutoff date prescribed in the
message.  It appears the applicant successfully put his trust in the
officials at the CGSOC to ensure the AER reached USAHRC before the cutoff
date.  He also followed the guidance in the message not to include in his
memorandum to the board president (or by writing a second memorandum)
comments or documents that were already represented by contents within the
board file (or should have been already represented by contents within his
board file).

4.  The applicant's CGSOC AER somehow failed to get from the Evaluation
Reports Branch to his promotion file.  However, he is now being penalized
because he failed to send the AER to the president of the board himself,
something he was told not to do by the message.  Clearly, an injustice has
occurred here.

BOARD VOTE:

__wtm___  __jtm___  __wdp___  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  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 relief.  As a result, the Board recommends
that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be
corrected by  submitting his records to a duly constituted special
selection board for reconsideration for promotion under the criteria of the
FY03 MC Colonel promotion selection board.

2.  That if he is selected for promotion his records be further corrected
by promoting him to Colonel and assigning the appropriate date of rank or
assigning him the appropriate promotion sequence number.

3.  That if he is not selected for promotion, he be notified accordingly.




            __Walter T. Morrison__
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040001977                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050201                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |131.11                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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