RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            28 October 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004100107


      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. Raymond J. Wagner             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Lawrence Foster               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Marla J. Troup                |     |Member               |

      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:

The applicant defers to counsel.

COUNSEL'S REQUEST, STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE:

1.  Counsel requests that the applicant's request for award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge (CIB) be reconsidered.

2.  Counsel states that the applicant was assigned to Company C, 1st
Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment in Vietnam.  As the Board's own case
noted, he participated in two campaigns as a light weapons infantryman.  It
is difficult for counsel and the applicant to believe, with the applicant
holding a combat military occupational specialty (MOS) and serving in an
infantry unit as a combat veteran, that the Board cannot award him the CIB.


3.  Counsel provides no additional evidence.

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
AR2003088806 on 11 September 2003.

2.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 9 December 1968.  He
completed basic combat training and attended advanced individual training
(AIT). While in AIT, he requested a hardship discharge.  On 22 April 1969,
his request was disapproved. He completed AIT and was awarded MOS 11B
(Light Weapons Infantryman).

3.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam and was assigned to Company C, 1st
Battalion, 22d Infantry, 4th Infantry Division on 12 June 1969.  Item 38
(Record of Assignments) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record)
shows he performed duties as an 11B rifleman.

4.  The applicant apparently received a compassionate reassignment and
departed Vietnam on 27 November 1969 for assignment at Fort Devens, MA.  He
remained at Fort Devens until he was released from active duty on 18
December 1970 upon the completion of his required active service.

5.  Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Awards), in effect at the time, and Army
Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), the regulation currently in effect,
provide for the award of the CIB to a soldier who is an infantryman
satisfactorily performing infantry duties, who is assigned to an infantry
unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and
must actively participate in such ground combat.  Campaign or battle credit
alone is not sufficient for award of the CIB. (Campaign credit is granted
for serving in the designated area of operations during the specified
period of the designated campaign; such service is not limited to combat
operations).

6.  On 11 September 2003, in ABCMR Docket Number AR2003088806, the Board
denied the applicant's request for the CIB due to insufficient evidence to
presume he engaged in ground combat with the enemy.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The reasoning behind the 11 September 2003 ABCMR panel's recommendation
to deny the applicant the CIB has been carefully considered and found to be
valid.    Campaign credit is granted for serving in the designated area of
operations during the specified period of the designated campaign; such
service is not limited to combat operations.  Therefore, being an
infantryman assigned to an infantry unit does not necessarily mean that
individual actively participated in ground combat.

2.  It is noted that the applicant was a trained infantryman who served in
Vietnam for only 5 months.  The normal tour in Vietnam was 12 months.
Prior to arriving in Vietnam he had requested a hardship discharge and it
appears he departed Vietnam prior to the completion of a normal tour as a
result of a compassionate reassignment.  Since there is no evidence to show
he was awarded the CIB while he was in Vietnam, an inference could be made
that he was deliberately kept out of harm's way until his compassionate
reassignment could be approved.

3.  In addition, there is no evidence to show the applicant was awarded any
personal decorations that could serve as indicators that he actively
participated in ground combat.  It is also noted that he served in Vietnam
during a time the war was undergoing "Vietnamization."  There is no
evidence to show his unit was awarded any unit decoration (such as the
Presidential Unit Citation, the Valorous Unit Award, or the Meritorious
Unit Commendation) that would serve as an indicator that it had
participated in combat operations so difficult, hazardous, or otherwise so
exceptional that the unit could not have afforded to leave the applicant
out of the operations.

4.  In the absence of evidence to the contrary (such as corroborating
statements from his chain of command that he did actively participate in
ground combat), it must be presumed that he was not awarded the CIB because
he did not meet the eligibility requirements.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__rjw___  __lf____  __mjt___  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 AR2003088806 dated 11 September 2003.




            __Raymond J. Wagner___
                    CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004100107                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041028                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0111                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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