IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	        30 DECEMBER 2008

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080015671 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests correction of her records to show she served in combat from 6 February 2003 to 6 June 2003.

2.  The applicant did not make a statement.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), dated 17 May 2004, and a copy of her Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Eligibility Report, dated 17 September 2008, in support of her request.

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 she enlisted in the Regular Army for a period of 3 years on 15 August 2001.  She completed basic combat and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 74D (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Specialist).  She was honorably discharged for disability with entitlement to severance pay on 17 May 2004.  The highest rank she attained during this period of military service was specialist.

3.  The applicant's DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record) and her Enlisted Record Brief (ERB) do not indicate that she completed any periods of foreign service.

4.  Item 12f (Foreign Service) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows the entry "0000 00 00," indicating that she did not complete any foreign service.

5.  Item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) does not show any awards pertaining to her service in combat.

6.  Item 18 (Remarks) of the applicant's DD Form 214 does not list any overseas service.

7.  The applicant provided a copy of her DVA eligibility report, dated 17 September 2008, that shows she submitted a claim for service-connected disability on 16 September 2005 and that she is currently being compensated at a combined rating of 30 percent.  This report also shows the applicant served in Kuwait from 1 March 2003 to 30 June 2003.

8.  An electronic mail message from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), Indianapolis, Indiana, dated 14 November 2008, confirms that the applicant received Hostile Fire Pay/Imminent Danger Pay (HFP/IDP) from 1 February 2003 to 30 June 2003 for her service in Kuwait.

9.  HFP/IDP is a military entitlement paid for any month [emphasis added] in which a Soldier was entitled to basic pay and in which he or she was subject to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines; on duty in an area in which s/he was in imminent danger of being exposed to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines and in which, during the period s/he was on duty in that area, other members of the uniformed services were subject to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines; killed, injured, or wounded by hostile fire, explosion of a hostile mine, or any other hostile action; or on duty in a foreign area in which he or she was subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger on the basis of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) establishes the standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  The purpose of the separation document is to provide the individual with documentary evidence of his or her military service.  It is important that information entered on the form should be complete and accurate.  The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty to include attendance at basic and advanced training and will be prepared for all personnel at the time of their retirement, discharge, or release from active duty.  Chapter 2 contains guidance on the preparation of the DD Form 214.  It states, in pertinent part, that the "Remarks" block of the Soldier's DD Form 214 is used for mandatory requirements when a separate block is not available.  For an active duty Soldier deployed with his/her unit during his or her continuous period of active service, enter the statement "SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYMMDD– YYMMDD)."

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that her DD Form 214 should be corrected to show time spent in combat from 6 February 2003 to 6 June 2003.

2.  Since HFP/IDP is paid for the whole month regardless of the date the Soldier arrives in the HFP/IDP designated area, and since the applicant's pay records show that she received HFP/IDP from 1 February 2003 to 30 June 2003, it appears that the applicant's service from 6 February 2003 to 6 June 2003 is consistent with her pay records at DFAS.  Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to show the applicant completed 4 months and 1 day of foreign service in Kuwait/Iraq from 6 February 2003 to 6 June 2003 and is entitled to correction of her DD Form 214 to show this period of service.

BOARD VOTE:

____X____  ___X_____  ___X_____  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:

	a.  deleting the entry "0000 00 00" from item 12f of her DD Form 214 and replacing it with the entry "0000 04 01," and

	b.  adding the entry "Service in Kuwait/Iraq 20030206 to 20030606" to item 18 of her DD Form 214.



      _________XXX________________
               CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080015671



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080015671



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