IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	       11 JUNE 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080019613 


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, in effect, that item 12 (foreign service) on his 1985 DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) be corrected to reflect his combat service in Grenada.

2.  The applicant states he was in Grenada in ”2003” (sic) but does not remember the month and day.  He states he needs the information reflected on his DD Form 214 so he can go to the Veterans’ Hospital.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his 1985 DD Form 214 on which he has highlighted his award of the Purple Heart as well as item 12f.

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.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty as a Regular Army enlisted Soldier on 2 June 1981 after more than 10 months in the delayed entry program.  He was trained as an infantryman and completed airborne training prior to be assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington in January 1982.

3.  According to an entry in item 27 (remarks) on his DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record-Part II) he performed duties in an imminent danger pay area (Grenada) between 25 and 28 October 1983.  However, a 3 November 1983 order issued at Fort Lewis, which awarded the applicant a Purple Heart, indicates he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received as a result of hostile action on 30 October 1983, while an order issued on 17 November 1983 awarding the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge notes that badge was awarded based on satisfactory performance in active ground combat between 
22 and 28 October 1983.  An 11 January 1984 order awarded the applicant an Army Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement during the period 
25 October 1983 through 28 October 1983.

4.  Item 5 (overseas service) on the applicant’s DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record) is blank.

5.  There were no service medical records available to the Board which confirmed when the applicant received medical treatment for his combat wound.

6.  On 1 June 1985 the applicant was released from active duty at the conclusion of his active duty enlistment contract.  His DD Form 214 reflects entitlement to the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Valorous Unit Award, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Arrow Head, among other. 

7.  According to information contain on the Center of Military History’s website, the invasion of Grenada, code named Operation Urgent Fury commenced with the invasion of Grenada on 25 October 1983 and concluded on 15 December 1983.

8.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, stated that item 12f (foreign service) on the DD Form 214 would reflect “the total amount of foreign service completed during the period covered in item 12c.”  Subsequent updates to Army Regulation 635-5 clarified the entry in item 12f by stating that the foreign service information would be obtained from item 5 (oversea service) on the DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record).  There were no provisions for entering the actual location of combat tours on the DD Form 214 during the period in question.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The entry in item 27 on the applicant’s DA Form 2-1 and his combat awards all confirm his deployment to a Grenada in support of Operation Urgent Fury.  His exact dates of deployment are unknown but in all likelihood he was deployed for from at least the commencement of the operation on 25 October 1983 until he was wounded on 30 October.

2.  While AR 635-5 implies that “all” foreign service completed during the period of service covered by the issued DD Form 214 should be reflected, subsequent versions of the regulation noted that the entry information should be obtained from item 5 of the DA Form 2-1.  In the applicant’s case there is no entry in item 5 of that form.  However, one could argue at the time of the applicant’s release from active duty his documented foreign service should be recorded in item 12f, even though in subsequent year his brief deployment would not have been recorded.

3.  In the interest of justice, however, in this case because the regulation in effect at the time merely stated that all foreign service would be record, it would be appropriate to conclude the applicant served 6 days in Grenada and to record that information in item 12f on his 1985 DD Form 214.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

_____X___  ____X____  ___X_____  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 (list corrections in this paragraph, this paragraph with lettered subparagraphs or in a series of numbered paragraphs).

USE THE FOLLOWING ENTRIES IF SOME RELIEF IS GRANTED AND SOME RELIEF IS DENIED.

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by (list corrections in this paragraph, this paragraph with lettered subparagraphs or in a series of numbered paragraphs).

X.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to (list what was denied).  




      _______ _   __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)                                         AR20080019613





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080019613



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