RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        5 JANUARY 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050003612


      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. William Powers                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas Ray                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Randolph Fleming              |     |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 1966 separation document be corrected
to show that he served in Vietnam and that he is entitled to the Vietnam
Service Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant states he served in Vietnam with the 119th Aviation
Company and was in firefights while stationed there.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his separation document, a copy of
orders awarding one individual assigned to the 119th Aviation Company an
Air Medal, and a copy of an undated letter signed by him indicating that he
had served in Vietnam between February 1964 and June 1964 and received an
Air Medal.  The letter contains a date stamp indicating it was received in
December 1969.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 26 February 1966.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
March 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 entered active
duty on
1 April 1963.  He successfully completed basic combat training and in June
1963 was assigned as an infantryman to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, in
Hawaii.

4.  There are no orders confirming the applicant ever deployed to Vietnam.
Item 38 (Record of Assignments) on his Department of the Army Form 20
(Enlisted Qualification Record) does contain an entry indicating that in
February 1965 he assumed duties as a gunner while attached to the 119th
Aviation Company.  The entry indicates he remained assigned to the 27th
Infantry.  An entry on 12 June 1965 indicates he returned to duties as a
rifleman with the 27th Infantry.

5.  However, in spite of the entry in item 38, an entry in item 31 (Foreign
Service) on that same form, indicating deployment to Vietnam between 19
February 1965 and 2 June 1965, has been lined through.

6.  The applicant authenticated the information on his Department of the
Army Form 20 on 7 September 1965.

7.  The copy of the Air Medal order, provided by the applicant in support
of his request, notes that a member of the 119th Aviation Company was
awarded a first oak leaf cluster to an Air Medal on 19 June 1965 in
recognition for his meritorious achievement between 3 April 1965 and 22
April 1965.  The individual receiving the award was one of several
individuals included on the award order which was published by the Untied
States Army Support Command in Vietnam.

8.  In December 1965 the applicant was reassigned to the 14th Infantry in
Hawaii and on 26 February 1966 he was released from active duty with an
honorable characterization of service.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part,
for award of the Vietnam Service Medal.  This medal is awarded to all
members of the Armed Forces of the United States for qualifying service in
Vietnam after
3 July 1965 through 28 March 1973.  Qualifying service included attachment
to or assignment for 1 or more days with an organization participating in
or directly supporting military operations.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), provides, in pertinent
part, that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is authorized for
participants in military operations within a specific geographic area
during a specified time period.  Paragraph 2-13d specifically provides that
individuals qualified for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service
in Vietnam from 1 July 1958 and 3 July 1965 (inclusive) shall remain
qualified for that medal.  Upon request, a unit personnel officer may award
the Vietnam Service Medal in lieu of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal,
but the regulation requires that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal be
removed from the records of the individual.  No person will be entitled to
both awards for Vietnam service.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent
part, that the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and
to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry military
occupational specialty (MOS).  They must have served in active ground
combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade,
regimental or smaller size.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence which confirms the applicant was in
fact deployed to Vietnam.  There are no orders and no evidence of receipt
of hostile fire pay which might confirm such a deployment.  Although one
portion of his record does contain an entry suggesting that he was deployed
while attached to the 119th Aviation Company, another portion of that same
record shows his deployment entry was lined through.  It is noted, however,
that the applicant did authenticate the information contained on his
Enlisted Qualification Record in September 1965, which would have been
after he maintains he served in Vietnam.  Had he in fact deployed to
Vietnam, it would have been reasonable to conclude he would have questioned
the validity of entries on the form, rather than attest to their accuracy
by signing the form.

2.  The fact that a member of the 119th Aviation Company was awarded an Air
Medal is not sufficiently compelling to conclude the applicant deployed to
Vietnam.  It is possible, based on the fact that the deployment entry in
item 31 on his Department of the Army Form 20 was lined through, that the
applicant may have been scheduled for deployment and then did not deploy.

3.  Even if the applicant had deployed, he would not have met the basic
eligibility requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge because
he was assigned to an aviation unit and not an infantry unit.

4.  Entitlement to the Vietnam Service Medal did not commence until July
1965, after the applicant claims to have been deployed to that region.  The
absence of evidence that he was awarded an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
further supports a conclusion the applicant may not have deployed.

5.  In the absence of more compelling evidence to support the applicant’s
contention that he was in Vietnam for 3 months in 1965, there is
insufficient evidence to grant the relief requested.

6.  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.

7.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 26 February 1966; therefore, the time
for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on
25 February 1969.  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

__WP ___  __TR ___  __RF ___  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.




                                  _____ William Powers_______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003612                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060105                                |
|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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