RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           26 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2050004572


      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. Lisa O. Guion                 |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. James E. Vick                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Conrad V. Meyer               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Linda M. Barker               |     |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, in effect, that Item 30 (Military Occupational
Specialty and Number) of his separation document (WD AGO 53-55) be
corrected.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that Item 30 of his separation
document should be corrected to show he served as an infantryman instead of
a cook.  He indicates that he actually served as a combat infantryman
during the majority of his active duty service, and only volunteered to be
a cook after the war was over.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his 26 March 1946 WD AGO Form 53-55 in
support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 26 March 1946.  The application submitted in this case is dated
15 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.  The applicant's military records are not available to the Board for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed his
records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were
sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board to
conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  This case is being
considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 and his WD AGO Form 372A (Final Pay Record).

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 issued to him at the time of his
separation shows he was inducted into the Army and entered active duty on
2 December 1943, and that he continuously served on active duty until being
honorably separated on 26 May 1946.   Item 30 of the separation document
contains the entry "Cook 060."

5.  The separation document also shows that the applicant served in
Scotland from 28 June 1944 through 10 March 1946, and that he earned the
following awards during his active duty tenure:  Army Good Conduct Medal,
European-African-Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal,
Combat Infantryman Badge, and Sharpshooter Qualification Badge with Rifle
Bar.  Item 32 of the WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in the
Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns of World War II.

6.  The applicant's final pay worksheet, which was prepared during his
separation processing, shows he received combat infantry pay.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and procedures
concerning awards.  Paragraph 8-6 provides for award of the CIB.  That
paragraph states that there are basically three requirements for award of
the CIB.  The soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing
infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time
as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively
participate in such ground combat.  Specific requirements state, in effect,
that an Army enlisted soldier must have an infantry or special forces
specialty, satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a
member of an infantry, ranger or special forces unit of brigade,
regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in
active ground combat.

8.  War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman
Badge and the Expert Infantryman Badge to recognize and provide an
incentive to infantrymen.  World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman
Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay and
holders of the Expert Infantryman Badge were entitled to expert infantry
pay.  The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised that,
during World War II, the Combat Infantryman Badge was normally awarded only
to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:  Light
machine gunner (604), Heavy machine gunner (605), Platoon sergeant (651),
Squad leader (653), Rifleman (745) Automatic rifleman (746), Heavy weapons
NCO (812), and Gun crewman (864).

7.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedure for
the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period
in question, and contained item by item entry instructions.  These
instructions for Item 30 indicated that the entry was self-explanatory,
which meant that a member’s military occupational specialty (MOS) would be
entered.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record confirms the applicant was serving as a Cook at
the time of his separation.  However, this is not the primary factor in
this case, and there are equity considerations that should be addressed.

2.  The applicant’s separation document confirms he was awarded the CIB and
his final pay record confirms he received combat infantry pay.  By
regulation, normally only those soldiers who held an infantry MOS received
the CIB and combat infantry pay.  This corroborates the applicant's claim
that he primarily served as an infantryman during his World War II service,
and that he only volunteered to serve as a Cook after the War was over.

3.  In view of the facts of this case, it would be appropriate and serve
the interest of equity to correct the applicant’s separation document to
more accurately reflect the actual service he performed during World War
II.  Therefore, Item 30 of his separation document should be amended by
deleting the current entry and replacing it with the entry "Rifleman 745".
BOARD VOTE:

___JEV _  __CVM __  __LMB__  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected by amending his deleting the entry "Cook
060" in Item 30 of WD AGO 53-55 and replacing it with entry "Rifleman 745";
and by issuing him a correction to his separation document to reflect this
change.




            ____James E. Vick________
                    CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050004572                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |NA                                      |
|DATE BOARDED            |2005/10/26                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1946/03/26                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.0500                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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