IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  16 June 2009  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090004297 


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 1997 DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) be corrected to reflect his time in Bosnia and that any awards associated with that service be added as well.

2.  The applicant states he served in Bosnia during Operation Joint Endeavor.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his 1997 DD Form 214 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 entered active duty as a Regular Army enlisted Soldier on 30 January 1996.  In July 1996, following completion of training, he was assigned to an ordnance unit in Germany.

3.  According to information maintained by the Defense Finance and Accounting System, the applicant was deployed to Bosnia (Former Republic of Yugoslavia) between 8 October 1996 and 14 December 1996.

4.  On 10 June 1997, while still assigned to the ordnance unit in Germany, the applicant was barred from reenlisting.  On 3 November 1997, the applicant was involuntarily released from active duty for failing to maintain his weight within Army standards.  His service was characterized as honorable.

5.  Item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 notes the applicant was entitled to the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

6.  Item 12f (foreign service) reflects his 1 year, 3 months, and 24 days of foreign service, which would have included his deployment period in support of Operation Joint Endeavor.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), provides, in pertinent part, that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is authorized for participants in military operations within a specific geographic area during a specified time period.  An individual, who was not engaged in actual combat or equally hazardous activity, must have participated in operations or in direct support of operations for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days.  The regulation notes that Soldiers deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia between 1 June 1992 and 20 June 1998 as part of Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard are entitled to the award.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, that the Armed Forces Service Medal is authorized for participants in military operations within a specific geographic area during a specified time period.  An individual, who was not engaged in actual combat or equally hazardous activity, must have participated in operations or in direct support of operations for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days.  The regulation notes that Soldiers deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia between 20 November 1995 and 19 December 1996 as part of Operation Joint Endeavor are entitled to the award.

9.  Army Personnel Command Message Number 99-100 (with a Date/Time Group of 121605Z March 1999) authorized award of both the Armed Forces Service Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, as a one-time exception to Department of Defense and Service policy, for qualifying service in support of Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  This exception allowed both service medals to be presented to personnel deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, aboard naval vessels operating in the Adriatic Sea and their respective air spaces.  

10.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time of the applicant’s release from active duty, made no special provisions for entering the location of an individual’s overseas service or deployment.  It was not until the publication of the 2000 version of Army Regulation 635-5 that a statement reflecting the location and period that an active duty Soldier deployed with his or her unit to a foreign country was required to be entered on the DD Form 214.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence available to the Board confirms the applicant deployed to Bosnia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor between 8 October and 
14 December 1996 and as such is entitled to the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Armed Forces Service Medal.  His 1997 separation document should be corrected accordingly.

2.  Unfortunately, during the period in question, the specific location of an individual’s deployment was not recorded on the separation document and as such no error or injustice is created by the absence of that information from the applicant’s DD Form 214.  His entitlement to the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Armed Forces Service Medal should serve as confirmation of his deployment.  

3.  The period of his deployment is already appropriately captured in item 12f (foreign service) on his DD Form 214 as part of his total foreign service entry.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

____X____  ___X_____  ____X____  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION



BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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 adding the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Armed Forces Service Medal to item 13 of his 1997 DD Form 214 confirming his deployment in support of Operation Joint Endeavor.

2.  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 a specific notation on his 1997 DD Form 214 which specifies his deployment to Bosnia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. 




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20090004297





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090004297



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