RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        1 NOVEMBER 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050003079


      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:

|     |Mr. James Anderholm               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas O’Shaughnessy          |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Carol Kornhoff                |     |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 training
as a Jungle Expert and Ranger Elite.  He also requests that his records be
corrected to show award of the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Combat
Infantryman Badge, and qualification as an expert with several weapons,
including the 45 caliber pistol, the grenade, and possibly a rocket
launcher which he identifies as tow and cannon.

2.  The applicant states the items were omitted from his separation
document.  He implies he underwent jungle expert training in Panama and
ranger training at Fort Knox.  He also states that he trained with Special
Forces at Fort Bragg and was sent north of Saigon in September 1976 to
assist in evacuations from Vietnam soil.  He suggests that his entitlement
to the Combat Infantryman Badge stems from that deployment.

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

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 7 March 1978.  The application submitted in this case is
dated
18 February 2005.

2.  Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552(b), provides that applications for
correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery
of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant enlisted and
entered active duty on 23 September 1976.  He successfully completed basic
combat training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and advanced individual training,
including airborne training, at Fort Benning, Georgia.  In March 1977 he
was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina as an assistant machine gunner.

4.  There is no indication that he completed any additional training while
in the Army and his records contain no evidence of an award of the Expert
Infantryman Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, or qualification in any
weapons other than as a sharpshooter with the M-16 rifle.  There is no
evidence he was ever deployed to an overseas location.

5.  By October 1977 the applicant had been reduced to pay grade E-1, been
punished three times under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military
Justice and been barred from reenlisting.  Between August 1977 and December
1977 he had been counseled on several occasions for a variety of issues
including tardiness, failing to properly perform his duties, lack of
cooperation, and violating various directives.  Between November and
December 1977 he was AWOL (absent without leave) for 8 days.  The applicant
indicated that the reason he was AWOL stemmed from an incident at the CCF
(Central Confinement Facility) where he states he was raped by another
Soldier at gunpoint and shot up with heroin.  There is no evidence in
available records confirming this incident.

6.  In January 1978 the applicant's unit commander initiated actions to
administratively separate the applicant from active duty under the
expeditious discharge program.  The commander's recommendation was approved
and on
7 March 1978 the applicant was discharged under honorable conditions.  His
separation document reflects qualification as a sharpshooter with the M-16
rifle and entitlement to the Parachutist Badge.

7.  Army Regulation 635-5 establishes the policies and procedures for
completion and distribution of separation documents.  Although currently
formal in service training courses are recorded on the separation document,
at the time of the applicant's separation such courses were not recorded.

8.  Although the Army does not have a training course with the title Jungle
Expert, or a badge by that name, prior to 1999 there was a Jungle Warfare
Training Course conducted at the Jungle Operations Training Center in
Panama. The course consisted of core training of individual Soldier skills
and squad collective tasks that would be performed in a jungle environment.
 These tasks included: jungle plants and living, land navigation, mines and
booby traps, jungle combat techniques, waterborne operations, and squad
react to contact live fire lanes.  Scout, mortar, and combat engineer
platoons received additional specialized training during core week.
Situational training exercises (STX) that included platoon deliberate
attacks, raids, ambushes, a company cordon and search, and demolition
missions were also conducted as part of the training.  A battalion field
training exercise (FTX) was conducted during the final week of the training
course.  The FTX was normally a four-day long, free-play exercise that
pitted the training battalion against a company-sized opposition force.

9.  The Army does have an 8 week Ranger Course and a Ranger Tab, but does
not have a course or badge by the name of Ranger Elite.  Ranger training is
conducted at Fort Benning, Georgia, not Fort Knox, Kentucky.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that candidates for the Expert
Infantryman Badge must be in an Active Army status and must possess an
infantry or Special Forces specialty as their primary specialty.  They must
meet prerequisites and take a proficiency test prescribed by the U.S. Army
Infantry Center.  Division commanders, commanders of separate infantry
brigades and regiments, and certain commanders who have been delegated such
authority, may award the badge to qualified Soldiers in their command.
There is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which
confirms he was ever awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge.

11.  There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.  The Soldier must be an infantryman (11 series
specialty), assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is
engaged in active ground combat, and must have actively participated in
such ground combat.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that a marksmanship qualification
badge is awarded to indicate the degree in which an individual qualified in
a prescribed record course.  An appropriate bar is furnished to denote each
weapon with which he or she qualified.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which
confirms he underwent any training beyond his initial entry training and
the airborne course.  Even if he had completed such training, it would not
have been recorded on his separation document because there were no
provisions for recording military training on the separation document at
the time the applicant was separated.  If, however, the applicant is
implying that he is entitled to some sort of badge denoting training as a
jungle expert or ranger elite, no such badges exist in the Army's
inventory.

2.  There is also no evidence the applicant met eligibility requirements
for award of the Expert Infantryman Badge or the Combat Infantryman Badge.
In the absence of such evidence there is no basis to award either of those
badges.



3.  The applicant's records indicate he qualified as a sharpshooter with
the M-16 rifle.  The qualification level is recorded on his separation
document.  There is no evidence in available records, or provided by the
applicant, which confirms qualification with any other military weapons.

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.

5.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 7 March 1978; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on
6 March 1981.  The applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of
limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or evidence to
show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__JA____  __TO ___  ___CK __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that 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.

2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.

                                  ____James Anderholm______
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003079                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051101                                |
|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.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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