RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        19 OCTOBER 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050002484


      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. Barbara Ellis                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Hubert Fry                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |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 show the dates
and times he was exposed to radiation, Agent Orange, and mustard gas.  He
also requests award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states there is no record of the exposure times and dates
recorded in either his medical or military personnel records.  He implies
the information should have been noted in his records because he performed
duties as a chemical NCO (noncommissioned officer) between September 1961
and December 1983.  He states his exposures occurred at Fort McClellan,
Alabama while attending training in 1961, 1962 and 1966, at Yucker Flats
Nevada Test while assigned to the 50th Chemical Platoon at Fort Ord,
California, and in Vietnam between 1969 and 1970.

3.  The applicant provides no evidence in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active
duty on 15 September 1961 and served continuously through a series of
reenlistment actions until 8 December 1983 when he was retired by reason of
physical disability.  He was trained in the chemical field and performed
duties in that field for the majority of his more than 22 years of active
Federal service.

2.  The applicant served one tour of duty in Vietnam between March 1969 and
March 1970 and several tours of duty in Germany.

3.  There were no service medical records available to the Board, no
evidence the applicant was ever wounded as a result of hostile action, and
his name is not among a list of individuals reported as combat casualties
during the Vietnam War.

4.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple
Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.
Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the
result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a
medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.



5.  U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards)
provided, in pertinent part, for award of the Purple Heart.  The regulation
stated that authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital
commanders.  Further, it directed that all personnel treated and released
within 24 hours would be awarded the Purple Heart by the organization to
which the individual was assigned.  Personnel requiring hospitalization in
excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam would be awarded the Purple
Heart directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 precludes award of the Purple Heart for
injuries or wounds resulting from chemical, biological, or nuclear agents
not released by the enemy.

7.  Army Regulation 40-66 establishes the policies and procedures for
medical records' administration and documentation of health care.  It notes
that entries will be made in an individual service medical record by the
health care provider who observes, treats, or cares for the patient.  It
also establishes the information required to be recorded when an individual
seeks medical treatment from a treatment facility for an injury.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-104 establishes the policies and mandates the
operating tasks for military personnel information management and records.
It notes that information about Soldiers is accumulated at various
locations and that essential personnel information is recorded in a record
for use by personnel managers, commanders, and the individual Soldier.  The
military personnel system is a function which provides a record of critical
personnel information about Soldiers to support battlefield decisions and
to satisfy the nation's obligation to retain historical information for its
veterans.  Only documents listed in the regulation will accompany or be
filed in an individual's military personnel record.  The regulation does
not provided for entries documenting each time an individual is exposed to
a chemical, biological, or nuclear agent.

9.  Army Regulation 50-6 establishes Army policies, assigns responsibility,
and prescribes procedures for the Army Chemical Surety Program.  The
purpose of the program is to ensure that chemical agent operations are
conducted in a safe, secure, and reliable manner.  That regulation, and
regulations in the 385 series, which outline various Army safety programs
and procedures, do not provide for, or require documentation of a Soldier's
exposure to chemical agents in the course of their daily routine military
duties.



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no medical evidence, and the applicant has not provided any,
which confirms that he was wounded as a result of hostile action.  In the
absence of such medical evidence, there is no basis for an award of the
Purple Heart.  The fact that the applicant may have routinely been exposed
to chemicals as part of his military duties does not meet eligibility
criteria for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  While the applicant would have been exposed to chemicals during the
course of his military career as part of his duties in the chemical field,
there are no provisions where by such routine exposures would have been
recorded in his military personnel records.

3.  Documentation in his service medical records would only have occurred
in those instances when the individual would have sought medical treatment
for an injury or condition related to his exposure to chemicals.  Routine
exposures as part of his daily duties, which did not result in medical
treatment would not have been recorded.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must
show, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in
error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would
satisfy that requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__BE ___  __HF ___  __RR  ___  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 for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.





                                  ______Barbara Ellis_________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050002484                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051019                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |110.00                                  |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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