RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        17 January 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060012567


      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             |
|     |Mr. John J. Wendland, Jr.         |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. John T. Meixell               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. William D. Powers             |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Roland S. Venable             |     |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, correction of his discharge document
to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that his discharge document issued by
the Army Board for Correction of Military Records does not show award of
the Combat Infantryman Badge even though the Record of Proceedings, dated
9 May 2006, state that he was awarded the badge.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of Army Board for Correction of Military
Records, Record of Proceedings, dated 9 May 2006, DD Form 214 (Armed Forces
of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) and DD Form 214
(Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), both with an
effective date of 26 March 1968 (i.e., the voided and reissued discharge
document).

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 26 March 1968, the date of his discharge.  The application
submitted in this case is dated 28 August 2006.

2.  The applicant's military service records show that he enlisted in the
Regular Army for a period of 3 years on 14 April 1966.  Upon completion of
basic combat training and advanced individual training, the applicant was
awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons
Infantryman).  He was discharged on 26 March 1968 after completing 1 year,
2 months, and 2 days of active service.

3.  The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), Item 38
(Record of Assignments), shows, in pertinent part, on 22 September 1966,
the applicant was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st
Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam, with principal duty as a rifleman
(Duty MOS 11B1O).  Item 38 of the DA Form 20 also shows that he continued
to serve in this position and duty MOS through 23 May 1967.

4.  There are no orders in the applicant’s military service records which
show that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  In addition, his DA
Form 20 does not show an entry in Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) for the
Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  On 18 November 1967, at Headquarters, United States Army Judiciary,
Office of The Judge Advocate General, Washington, D.C., Lieutenant Colonel
H. W. C. F_____, Judge Advocate General Corps, U.S. Army (Retired), entered
his appearance as the Special Appellate Defense Counsel in the applicant's
case, pursuant to a request by the applicant and his parents.  In pertinent
part, testimony was introduced in which counsel indicated that the
applicant's commanding officer reported on Cav [Cavalry] Form 56 that:
"PFC A______ performed satisfactorily in the field for a 6 month period * *
* I feel that rehabilitation in the sense that he will return to combat and
be combat effective is impossible. * * * It is my opinion that PFC A______
should be retained on active duty until his enlistment is up."  "Captain
F____ [the applicant's commanding officer] noted that A______ had been
awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge."

6.  On 9 May 2006, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records
(ABCMR) considered an application from the applicant requesting that his
discharge be upgraded to general, under honorable conditions or honorable
conditions, in ABCMR Docket Number AR20050013392.  This was a
reconsideration of the applicant's request in ABCMR Docket Number 69-266 on
28 May 1969.  The Case Summary for the original application was not
available; therefore, the applicant's case was reconsidered "de novo."

7.  The ABCMR, Record of Proceedings, Docket Number AR20050013392, dated 9
May 2006, state in the Consideration of Evidence, paragraph 3, in pertinent
part, "[h]e attained the grade of private first class/E-3 and received the
Vietnam Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Combat
Infantryman Badge [not shown on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United
States Report of Transfer or Discharge)] (emphasis added)."

8.  The ABCMR, Record of Proceedings, Docket Number AR20050013392, dated 9
May 2006, also state in the Discussion and Conclusions, paragraph 2, in
pertinent part, that "[h]e was trained in MOS 11B and he served for 6
satisfactory months in Vietnam, receiving the CIB [Combat Infantryman
Badge].…"

9.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant amendment of the ABCMR's previous decision.  As a result, the Board
recommended that as a matter of clemency, all Department of the Army
records of the individual concerned be corrected by upgrading his discharge
to a General Discharge issued under honorable conditions.  Accordingly, the
applicant's
DD Form 214, with an effective date of 26 March 1968, was reissued.
10.  The applicant's DD Form 214, with a discharge date of 26 March 1968,
as reissued by the ABCMR, shows that he was awarded the National Defense
Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Sharpshooter Marksmanship
Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, and Marksman Marksmanship Qualification
Badge with Automatic Rifle and Machinegun Bars.

11.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation Number 672-1 (Awards and Decorations)
specifically governed award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to Army forces
operating in South Vietnam.  This regulation established the criteria for
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge as the man who trained, lived, and
fought as an infantryman.  It stated that the Combat Infantryman Badge is
the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the
infantryman for his service and further added, “the Combat Infantryman
Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of
day-to-day combat.”  This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman
Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers and to enlisted
Soldiers who have an infantry MOS and required that they must have served
in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of
brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Award of the Combat Infantryman Badge
during the Vietnam era was announced in unit special orders, normally
published at battalion or brigade level.

12.  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 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends, in effect, that his discharge document should
be corrected to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge because the
DD Form 214 issued by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records
does not show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, even though the Record
of Proceedings, dated 9 May 2006, state that he was awarded the badge.

2.  There are no orders or entries in the applicant's military personnel
records that show the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
However, the evidence of record shows that the applicant's commanding
officer reported that the applicant performed satisfactorily in the field
for a 6-month period and had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Consequently, the absence of orders awarding the applicant the Combat
Infantryman Badge, along with a corresponding entry on his DA Form 20,
appears to be a matter of administrative error or oversight, rather than an
effort on the part of the commanding officer to report unsubstantiated
favorable information on an Army document with respect to the applicant two
days after the applicant's alleged violation of Article 90 of the Uniform
Code of Military Justice.

3.  The evidence of record shows that information concerning award of the
Combat Infantryman Badge to the applicant was relied upon as evidence in
the applicant's appeal of his general court-martial and in the
reconsideration by the ABCMR of the applicant's request for upgrade of his
discharge.  Moreover, the ABCMR affirmed that the applicant was awarded the
Combat Infantryman Badge in its Record of Proceedings, dated 9 May 2006.
However, the evidence of record also shows that the Combat Infantryman
Badge was not added to the applicant's DD Form 214 when administrative
action was taken to correct the discharge document.  Therefore, based on
the evidence of record and in view of the foregoing, it would be
appropriate to correct the applicant's records to show award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 26 March 1968; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on
25 March 1971.  The applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of
limitations; however, based on the available evidence and applicant's
argument, it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

___JTM__  ___WDP_  __RSV__  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:

      a.  awarding the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge for
satisfactorily performing infantry duties in active ground combat,
effective 15 March 1967; and

      b.  correcting Item 13 of his DD Form 214 to add the Combat
Infantryman Badge.




                            ____   John T. Meixell_____
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060012567                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070117                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |GD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |19680326                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 635-204, Chapter 5, Section VII      |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Other Than Desertion (Court-Martial)    |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0111.0000                           |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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