IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  21 January 2009	

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080017003 


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 his separation records to show award of the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge. 

2.  The applicant states that while he already has his Purple Heart Certificate, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge are not entered on his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty).

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 in support of this application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant's records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 27 July 2000.  He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and was awarded the military occupational specialty 11B (Infantryman).  He was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) on 26 July 2003 with an honorable characterization of service after completing 3 years of creditable active service.  The highest rank he attained while serving on active duty was specialist/pay grade E-4.

2.  The applicant was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 2 October 2005 and remained on active duty until 26 April 2008 when he was honorably released from active duty.  He was honorably discharged from the U. S. Army Reserve on 13 May 2008.  The applicant's military service records indicate he served in an imminent danger pay area during the period 15 March 2006 through 9 September 2006 while serving in Iraq.

3.  The applicant's DD Form 214, item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) shows the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" Device, Expert Infantryman Badge, and the Iraq Campaign Medal with bronze service star.  The Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge are not included in the list of awards.

4.  Although the applicant's available overseas assignment history is incomplete, his records do contain Headquarters, United States Army Infantry Center Orders Number 308-1835, dated 4 November 2005, showing that he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 34th Brigade, 1st Infantry, in military occupational specialty 11B in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  His records also contain Headquarters, 1st Personnel Command Orders Number 254-012, dated 11 September 2006, which show that he was being reassigned from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Brigade to the Eisenhower Army Medical Center for the purpose of deployment in support of Operation Iraqi/Enduring Freedom/Further Medical Care.

5.  A DA Form 2173 (Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status) shows the applicant was admitted to the Balad Military Hospital on 7 September 2006 with a gunshot to the left leg.  Item 15 (Details of Accident) and Item 30 (Details of Accident-Remarks) show the following entries: "On 7 Sep 06, while in Iraq performing his duties, [service member] was participating in a convoy as an escort and was shot in his left leg by a 50 Cal. MG."

6.  The applicant's Chronological Record of Medical Care printout, dated 
7 September 2006, shows the reason for visit as: "gunshot wound of the left leg."

7.  The available evidence does not contain any orders or other documents that indicate he was ever awarded the Purple Heart or Combat Infantryman Badge by proper authority while serving on active duty.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and procedures concerning awards.  It provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, paragraph 8-6 provides for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  That paragraph states that there are basically three 
requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although there is evidence in his records showing that the applicant sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg while serving in Iraq and was treated for that wound by medical personnel, there is no available evidence to show that the wound was sustained as a result of hostile action.  The .50 caliber machine gun is a typical American weapon; therefore, it cannot be determined from the available evidence if the applicant was perhaps accidently shot not as the result of hostile action.  In the absence of evidence that the applicant incurred the wound as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart.    

2.  Although the applicant's records show he served as an infantryman in an infantry unit in an imminent danger pay area while in Iraq, there is no evidence in the available records and the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence showing he was personally engaged by the enemy.  Since there is insufficient evidence to show he was wounded as a result of hostile action, there is also insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  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 did not submit any evidence that would satisfy this requirement.  As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge has not been satisfied in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___X____  ___X____  ___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.




      _______ _ X  _______   ___
       	   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)                                         AR20080017003



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080017003



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