IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  21 May 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090000542 


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 his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty) be corrected to show his completion of 17 years service in the Army National Guard (ARNG).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, his DD Form 214 only shows his 3 months of service completed during basic training and advanced individual training (AIT).  He also states that he is unable to claim veteran status because his DD Form 214 does not include his 17 years of ARNG service.

3.  The applicant provides the following documents in support of his application:  his DD Form 214; his DA Form 2A (Personnel Qualification Record); an ARPC Form 249-E (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points); a Veterans Information Solution Document; Army Reserve Personnel Center-St. Louis, Orders Number C-09-739299, dated 23 September 1997; Headquarters, 81st Regional Support Command Orders Number 026-26, dated 26 January 1999;  his DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record); and a Miami Veterans Medical Center Facsimile Coversheet.

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 military record shows he initially enlisted in the Florida Army National Guard (FLARNG) on 13 October 1977, and on 12 February 1978, he entered active duty to complete his initial active duty for training (IADT).  

3.  On 25 May 1978, the applicant successfully completed IADT at Fort Benning, Georgia, was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Infantryman), and was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) and transferred back to his FLARNG unit.  The DD Form 214 he was issued covering this period of active duty service (12 February-25 May 1978) confirms he completed 3 months and 
14 days of active duty service during the period covered by the DD Form 214 in Item 18a (Net Active Service This Period).  Item 18d (Prior Inactive Service) shows that as of the date of his REFRAD, he had completed 3 months and 
29 days of prior inactive military service.  This is the only DD Form 214 on file in the applicant’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).

4.  On 19 December 1995, FLARNG Orders P353-029 directed the applicant's discharge from the FLARNG with a general, under honorable conditions discharge (GD) and transfer to the U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement), effective 12 January 1996.  The National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service) issued to him at the time, as corrected in an NGB Form 22a (Correction to NGB Form 22), dated              15 February 1986, shows he completed a total of 18 years and 3 months of service in the FLARNG from the date of his enlistment, which was 13 October 1977 through the date of his discharge, which was 12 January 1996.  It also shows that on the date of his discharge from the FLARNG he held the rank of private/E-2 (PV2).  

5.  The applicant’s OMPF contains an ARPC Form 249-E, dated 13 May 2009, which documents his FLARNG and USAR service and confirms he completed a total of 17 years of qualifying service for Reserve retirement during the period from 13 October 1977 through 26 January 1999.


6.  Army Regulation 635-5 prescribes the separation documents that are prepared for individuals upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army.  It also establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  Chapter 2 contains item-by-item instructions for completing the DD Form 214.  The instructions in effect at the time of the applicant’s 25 May 1978 discharge were that the date entered in Item 18d will be the total amount of prior active military service less lost time, if any, from previously issued DD Forms 214.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s contention that his DD Form 214 should be corrected to include his total ARNG service has been carefully considered.  However, by regulation the DD Form 214 is prepared for individuals upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army and is a summary of the most recent period of continuous active duty service for which a DD Form 214 has not been previously issued.  

2.  The active and inactive service documented on a DD Form 214 will only account for service completed through the effective date of the DD Form 214.  In this case, the DD Form 214 in question properly documents the 3 months and 
14 days of active duty service completed by the applicant during the period covered by the DD Form 214 (12 February-25 May 1978) and the 3 months and 29 days of prior inactive service he had completed in the FLARNG from 
13 October 1977, the date of his enlistment, through 11 February 1978, the date before he entered IADT.  There are no regulatory provisions that allow for altering or correcting a DD Form 214 to document service performed subsequent to the active duty service period covered by the DD Form 214.  As a result, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support adding FLARNG or USAR service completed by the applicant subsequent to 25 May 1978, the effective date of the DD Form 214 in question.  

3.  The applicant is advised that his total FLARNG service is properly documented in the NGB Form 22 he was issued on 12 January 1996, the date of his discharge from the FLARNG, and all of his qualifying military service is properly documented on the ARPC Form 249-E on file in his OMPF.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, 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____  ___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)                                         AR20090000542



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090000542



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1