IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	       4 August 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090004092 


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 that his records be corrected to reflect award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was a member of a detachment which was part of the 13th Combat Aviation Battalion.  He notes there was no officer in charge other than the airfield commander and believes that may have been why these earned awards were not properly applied.

3.  In a September 2008 letter to the National Personnel Records Center, the applicant indicated that his military occupational specialty (MOS) was 11F and that even though he and his team engaged in numerous firefights with the enemy he was never properly awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He states he believes this was because he was part of an aviation element.  

4.  The applicant also states that he received non-life threatening shrapnel wounds in February 1968 and was treated at Soc Trang Army Airfield but never received the Purple Heart.

5.  The applicant provides a copy of his 1969 DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) in support of his 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.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant enlisted and entered active duty as a Regular Army Soldier on 15 August 1966.  The applicant was initially trained as a light weapons infantryman (MOS 11B) and was briefly assigned as an instructor at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  In March 1967 the applicant was reclassified into MOS 11F (infantry operations and intelligence specialist) and assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia.  In October 1967 the applicant was reassigned to the 69th Infantry Detachment in Vietnam where he was assigned duties in his primary MOS 11F.

3.  The applicant departed Vietnam in May 1969 and returned to the United States for separation processing.  As part of his separation processing the applicant underwent a separation physical examination which makes no mention of any wounds sustained as a result of hostile action while in Vietnam.  On 1 May 1969 the applicant was released from active duty.

4.  The applicant’s file is devoid of any indication he was ever awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.  Item 40 (wounds) on his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank and the applicant’s name is not on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.

5.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  His records do, however, contain a copy of an order issued by the 164th Aviation Group in Vietnam which awarded him the Army Good Conduct Medal.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Additionally, appendix V of U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 provides that during the Vietnam era the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11D, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders that show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart and there is no evidence in his service personnel records that show he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.  In the absence of documentation that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.

2.  Although the applicant may have held an infantry specialty and served in a position which would have made him eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, in the absence or orders or evidence confirming participation in ground combat there is no basis for correcting his record to reflect award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  In addition, the applicant’s argument that because he was part of an aviation element that Combat Infantryman Badge was not forthcoming is probably correct.  Two of the criteria to be eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge are to be assigned to an infantry unit of brigade or smaller size and to have served in active ground combat.  It appears that, being assigned to an aviation element, he did not serve in ground combat.

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 the aforementioned requirement.


5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

6.  The applicant and all others concerned should know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.

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)                                         AR20090004092





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090004092



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