RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        20 July 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060006006


      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. William D. Powers             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Marla J. Troup                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. William F. Crain              |     |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 date of rank and effective date of
promotion to Master Sergeant (MSG), E-8 be adjusted to 1 May 2003.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he should have been promoted to
MSG on 1 May 2003 but there was a problem with his security clearance
showing up in the system.  He was frocked as a First Sergeant in
Afghanistan and again in May 2003 in Iraq.  JPAS (a Department of Defense
system of clearance eligibility) clearly shows he had a secret security
clearance determination in 1990 and 2002.

3.  The applicant provides a JPAS printout dated 23 March 2006 and a 2
August 2005 letter from his battalion S-2.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant has served in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom.

2.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 8 September 1988.

3.  The applicant was selected for promotion to MSG in military
occupational specialty 11Z (Infantry Senior Sergeant) by the Calendar Year
2002 MSG Selection Board.  Because of his promotion sequence number, he
would have been eligible for promotion on 1 May 2003.  However, there was
no record of his having a secret security clearance, a requirement for
promotion to MSG.

4.  The applicant’s noncommissioned officer evaluation report for the
period May 2002 through April 2003 shows he was First Sergeant of an Air
Assault Infantry Company with the 101st Airborne Division capable of
deploying within 36 hours in support of combat operations.  It also shows
he was in Afghanistan and Iraq at that time.

5.  In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from
the Promotions Branch, U. S. Army Human Resources Command.  That office
noted that the applicant was not promoted on 1 May 2003 because he had not
met the security clearance requirement.  He was promoted on 20 December
2004, with an effective date and date of rank of 9 December 2004, the day
his interim secret security clearance was granted.  That office recommended
that the applicant’s request be denied, as to adjust his promotion date to
MSG would afford him an unfair advantage not given to other Soldiers.  That
office contended that consistent application of promotion policy is the
only way to ensure a fair and equitable system for all Soldiers.

6.  A copy of the advisory opinion was provided to the applicant for
comment or rebuttal.  He responded by stating that he did not rebut the
fact that his Enlisted Record Brief did not show, on 1 May 2003, that he
had a secret security clearance.  However, JPAS verified that his
eligibility status showed a secret security clearance in 1990 and 2002.

7.  In the processing of this case, the Central Clearance Facility (CCF)
was contacted.  In emails dated 13 and 14 July 2006, CCF verified that the
applicant had a secret security clearance as of 20 June 2002 and that it
had not been suspended after that.

8.  The emails from CCF were provided to the applicant for comment or
rebuttal.  He responded by stating there was nothing in the emails that he
wished to rebut.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-19 (Enlisted Promotions and Reductions) states
that promotion to MSG and Sergeant Major requires a favorable National
Agency Check, Local Agency Check, and Credit Check or a security clearance
of secret or higher.

10.  Army Regulation 380-67 (Personnel Security Program), paragraph 7-101
states that a personnel security clearance remains valid until (1) the
individual is separated from the Armed Forces; (2) separated from
Department of Defense (DOD) civilian employment; (3) has no further
official relationship with DOD or other Federal agencies; (4) official
action has been taken to deny, revoke, or suspend the clearance or access,
or (5) regular access to the level of classified information for which the
individual holds a clearance is no longer necessary in the normal course of
his or her duties.  If the individual resumes the original status of (5),
and the need for regular access to classified information at or below the
previous level recurs, the appropriate clearance shall be reissued without
further investigation or adjudication provided there has been no additional
investigation or development of derogatory information.

11.  Army Regulation 380-67, Appendix F, paragraph F-1 lists the officials
authorized to deny or revoke personnel security clearances (to include
secret):  Secretary of Defense and/or designee; the Service Secretaries
and/or designees; the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and/or designee;
Directors of the Defense Agencies and/or designees; Commanders of the
Unified and Specified Commands and/or designees; and the Commander, CCF
and/or designee.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The advisory opinion has been carefully considered, and the Board
agrees that consistent application of promotion policy is the only way to
ensure a fair and equitable system for all Soldiers.

2.  However, in this case it appears that the applicant met the security
clearance eligibility criteria to be promoted to MSG effective 1 May 2003.

3.  CCF verified that the applicant had a secret security clearance on 20
June 2002.  The reason the applicant needed to be issued an interim secret
security clearance in December 2004 is not known, since CCF verified that
his secret security clearance had not been suspended after 2002 (and it
could not have been suspended by any lower authority than CCF).

4.  It is possible the applicant’s secret security clearance could have
been temporarily invalidated due to “regular access to the level of
classified information for which the individual holds a clearance is no
longer necessary in the normal course of his or her duties.”  However, that
occurrence seems to be unlikely.  He was First Sergeant of an Air Assault
Infantry Company that deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq as of April
2003.  It is not credible that his secret security clearance would not have
been required during that time, and his promotion was due on 1 May 2003.

5.  Since JPAS and CCF verified that the applicant had a secret security
clearance in 2002, and since CCF verified that the applicant’s secret
security clearance was not suspended after 2002, it would be equitable to
correct the applicant’s records to show that he met the secret security
clearance requirement for promotion to MSG effective 1 May 2003.

BOARD VOTE:

__wdp___  __mjt___  __wfc___  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.  As a result, the Board recommends that all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by
showing that he met the secret security clearance requirement for promotion
to MSG effective 1 May 2003 and by amending his date of rank and effective
date of promotion to MSG to 1 May 2003.




                                  __William D. Powers___
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060006006                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060720                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |131.04                                  |
|2.                      |131.05                                  |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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