RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	


	BOARD DATE:	6 November 2007  
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060016714 


	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.


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	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 he be provided a DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, for service performed in conjunction with Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm. 

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he served in Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm from March 1990 through June 1992 and he does not have a DD Form 214 for this service.  He received medals of commendation; yet, because he can't find his DD Form 214, he is being denied veterans' hiring preferences and VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) benefits. 

3.  In support of his request, the applicant provides copies of 87 finance-related documents (JUMPS - Army Leave and Earnings Statements for the pay periods ending 31 March 1990 through 30 April 1993; copies of MMPA (Master Military Pay Account) prints prepared each 21st, 22nd, or 23rd day of the month for the months from June 1993 through September 1994 and six MMPA prints prepared on 26 October 2006; a copy of his DD Form 214 and discharge orders, along with copies of correspondence related to his requests for these documents; and 57 pages of additional documentary evidence – documents that are normally found in a Soldier's military personnel file.

COUNSEL'S REQUEST, STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE:

Counsel respectfully requests, in effect, that he be appropriately informed of all actions taken in the applicant's case.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  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 also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant’s records show he enlisted in the Army Reserve on 9 March 1990.  On 29 June 1990, the applicant was ordered to initial active duty for training (IADT).  He completed basic combat training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and his advanced individual training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. After completing all required training, he was awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS), 71D (Legal Specialist).

3.  The applicant was honorably released from IADT, on 7 September 1990, in the rank and pay grade of Private, E-1.  On the date he was released from IADT, he had completed 2 months and 9 days active military service, with no time lost.  The applicant was issued a DD Form 214 for this service and was returned to his training program unit (TPU), the 259th Quartermaster Battalion, in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

4.  Item 35 (Record of Assignments), of the applicant's DA Form 2-1, Personnel Qualification Record, Part II, shows the applicant was reassigned from his TPU in Pleasant Grove, Utah, to the 77th Judge Advocate General Detachment, a TPU, in Los Alamitos, California, on 10 October 1990.

5.  The applicant was advanced to the rank and pay grade Private, E-2, on 28 January 1991, promoted to the rank and pay grade Private First Class, E-3, on 26 May 1991, and to Specialist, E-4, on 1 December 1991.

6.  The applicant was reassigned from the 77th Judge Advocate General Detachment to the 78th Military Law Center, Los Alamitos, on 1 October 1993.

7.  On 10 July 1994, the applicant was reassigned from the 78th Military Law Center, Los Alamitos, to the US Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement), due to a religious obligation.

8.  The applicant was honorably discharged, in the rank and pay grade, Specialist, E-4, from the US Army Reserve, on 10 March 1998.

9.  A search of available documents in the applicant's service personnel records was conducted for orders to support his contention he was ordered to active duty in response to service in Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm.  Orders for this purpose were not found.

10.  The period of the Gulf War extended from 2 August 1990 to 28 February 1991 with the international armed intervention beginning in January 1991.  

Coalition troops began leaving Iraq on 27 February 1991.  [Purely as a reference point, qualified Soldiers who participated in Operation Desert Storm, during the period from 17 January 1991 to 11 April 1991, and who met the criteria established in Army Regulation 600-8-22 were eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.] 

11.  A review of Leave and Earnings Statements provided by the applicant were reviewed.  These Leave and Earnings Statements show the applicant was a drilling Reservist.  During the period of the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm, from 2 August 1990 through the end of the operation, the applicant was paid for the following drills or unit training assemblies:

01 - 31 August 1990 - No Drill Performance
01 - 30 September 1990 - No Drill Performance
01 - 31 October 1990 - No Drill Performance
01 - 30 November 1990 - Unit Training Assembly - 17 and 18 November 1990
01 - 31 December 1990 - Unit Training Assembly - 9 December 1990
01 - 31 January 1990 - Drill Performed 7 and 9 December 1990; Drill Performed
       2, 3, 19, and 20 January 1991; Drill Performed 17 and 18 November 1990; 
       and Unit Training Assembly 17 November 1990 and 19 January 1991
01 - 28 February 1991 - Unit Training Assembly - 9 February 1991
01 - 31 March 1991 - Unit Training Assembly - 8 and 10 December 1990
01 - 30 April 1991 - Unit Training Assembly - 20 April 1991
01 - 31 May 1991 – Unit Training Assembly – 4 May 1991

12.  There is no evidence, and the applicant provided none, to show he was ordered to active duty at the time of Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm or since this historical military event. 

13.  The narrative citation entered on the Certificate of Service for Desert Shield and Desert Storm awarded to the applicant by the Commander, 63rd US Army Reserve Command, on an unknown date, is written in neutral language and does not provide any indication if the applicant's performance was being recognized because he had been ordered to active duty or whether his performance as a drilling Reservist was being recognized.

14.  The narrative citation entered on the Certificate of Service for Desert Shield and Desert Storm awarded to the applicant's family by the Commander, 63rd US Army Reserve Command, on an unknown date, also does not provide any indication if 

the appreciation being expressed to the applicant's family was because he had been ordered to active duty or for the time he spent away from them providing Soldiers support at the time as a drilling Reservist.

15.  The text in the Letter of Appreciation awarded to the applicant by the Commander, 78th Military Law Center, dated 12 September 1991, is also written in neutral language and does not provide any indication if his performance was being recognized because he had been ordered to active duty or whether his performance as a drilling Reservist was being recognized.

16.  The DA Form 638-1, Recommendation for Award, the applicant provided does not give any indication if he had been ordered to active duty at the time he was recommended for award of the Army Commendation Medal or if his service was being recognized as a drilling Reservist.  The citation shown on the certificate for the Army Commendation Medal received by the applicant on 23 August 1991 also provides no indication.

17.  AR 635-5 prescribes the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the Active Army.  This regulation establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge.  The DD Form 214 is not intended to have any legal effect on termination of a Soldier's service.  A DD Form 214 will be prepared for each Reserve component Soldier completing 90 days or more of continuous active duty for training (ADT), and initial active duty or training (IADT) that results in the award of a military occupational specialty (MOS), even when the active duty period was less than 90 days.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention he was ordered to active duty and should be provided a DD Form 214 for his service was considered.  All documents submitted by the applicant and his counsel were reviewed for indications he was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm; however, no substantive evidence was found to support this contention.

2.  Leave and Earnings Statements provided by the applicant were reviewed.  These Leave and Earnings Statements show the applicant was a 

drilling Reservist during the period of the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm.  Information extracted from these Leave and Earnings Statements show he was paid for "Drills Performed" and for his attendance and performance at "Unit Training Assemblies" only.

3.  Based on the evidence contained in the applicant's service personnel record, and the information recorded on the evidentiary documents submitted by the applicant and his counsel, he is not entitled to issuance of a DD Form 214 for the support he provided.

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 this requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_x___  __xx__  __x___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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.




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          CHAIRPERSON


INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060016714
SUFFIX

RECON

DATE BOARDED
20071106
TYPE OF DISCHARGE

DATE OF DISCHARGE

DISCHARGE AUTHORITY

DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.