IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  15 September 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090007747 


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 reconsideration of her previous request to correct her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show that she is an Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veteran and that she served in Iraq from the end of February to July 2003.

2.  The applicant states that her DD Form 214 does not show she served in Iraq.  She states she reenlisted and her OIF tour was in from February 2003 to July 2003 on her first enlistment.  She further states she was injured in Baghdad (Iraq) on 8 July 2003, she was sent to Germany, and then to Walter Reed [Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington, DC].

3.  In support of her request, the applicant provided three documents related to the medical treatment she received at WRAMC.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20080016482 on 22 January 2009.

2.  The applicant provides three medical treatment record documents which were not considered by the Board during its initial review of her case; therefore, this new evidence will now be considered by the Board.

3.  The applicant's record shows she enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) on 9 May 2000.  She successfully completed basic combat and advanced individual training and she was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 92Y (Unit Supply Specialist).

4.  The applicant's Enlisted Record Brief (ERB) shows she was assigned to the 440th Signal Battalion located in Germany on 14 August 2002.  It appears the applicant was deployed to Iraq in support of OIF from her duty station in Germany.

5.  On 16 December 2008, in response to an e-mail inquiry from a staff of the Board, the applicant stated she was deployed from the end of February to 8 July 2003, when she was injured and sent to WRAMC.

6.  On 30 July 2009, a staff of the Board submitted an inquiry to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) requesting verification of the applicant's report she had served in Iraq in 2003.  On the same date, a DFAS representative verified from the applicant's finance records that she arrived "boots on the ground" in Kuwait/Iraq on 10 March 2003.

7.  On 8 September 2009, a staff representative at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (Army Casualty Management Office) confirmed that the applicant was injured on 8 July 2003, in Baghdad, when a two and a half-ton truck in which she was a passenger was involved in an accident.  The applicant was hospitalized with a broken right femur and on 11 July 2003 she was medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany.

8.  The applicant was further medically evacuated to WRAMC.  On 15 July 2003 when she arrived at WRAMC and when she was being admitted to the hospital, the applicant underwent radiologic examination of her right knee and leg.  This date appears on the Standard Form (SF) 519-B (Radiologic Examination Report) the applicant submitted as new evidence to support her case.  This date is also the date the applicant's foreign service ended.

9.  Item 12f (Foreign Service), of the applicant's DD Form 214, shows the entry "0000 Years / 00 Months / 00 days."  There is no entry in Item 18 (Remarks) showing the overseas theater, command or foreign country in which the applicant served.

10.  The applicant was honorably discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations – Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations), chapter 8, for pregnancy or childbirth, in the rank/grade of private 
first class (PFC)/E-3, on 18 November 2005.  On the date of her discharge, the applicant had completed 5 years, 6 months, and 10 days of net active service this period, with no time lost.

11.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the active Army.  It establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  The edition of this regulation in effect on the date of the applicant's discharge specified that total active duty outside the continental limits of the United States for the period covered by the DD Form 214 would be entered in Item 12f.

12.  This regulation further provides, in pertinent part, that when an active duty Soldier is deployed with his or her unit during the period covered by the DD Form 214, an entry will be made in Item 18 to show "SERVICE IN (name of country deployed) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD – YYYYMMDD)."

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that she is an OIF veteran and that her service in Iraq should be reflected on her DD Form 214 was reconsidered and determined to be with merit.

2.  The evidence shows that the applicant was assigned for duty in Germany on 14 August 2002.  From her duty station in Germany, she was deployed to Iraq and arrived there on 10 March 2003.  The evidence shows that the applicant 
was injured on 8 July 2003 and she was initially medically evacuated from Iraq to LRMC in Germany on 11 July 2003.  On 15 July 2003, the applicant was further medically evacuated to WRAMC in Washington, DC.

3.  Item 12f, of the applicant's DD Form 214, shows the applicant had no foreign service to her credit.  The total time spent by the applicant in Germany and in Iraq combined is 10 Months and 28 Days.  The applicant is entitled to correction of her DD Form 214 to show the amount of time she spent on foreign service.  Therefore, her records should be corrected to show she completed 10 months and 28 days of foreign service.

4.  There is no entry in Item 18 of the applicant's DD Form 214 showing her service in Iraq. The evidence shows that the applicant was deployed to and served in support of OIF.  Based on the available evidence, the applicant is entitled to a correction of Item 18 of her DD Form 214 to show she arrived in Kuwait/Iraq from 10 March 2003 to 11 July 2003.

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 partial amendment of the ABCMR's decision in Docket Number AR20080016482, dated 22 January 2009.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  deleting from item 12 of her DD Form 214 the entry "0000 00 00" and replacing it with the entry "0000 10 28"; and

   b.  adding to Item 18 of the applicant's DD Form 214 the entry "SERVICE IN KUWAIT/IRAQ FROM 20030310 – 20030711."

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 the applicant's contention that she served in Iraq in support of OIF from early February 2003 until July 2003.



      __________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)                                         AR20090007747



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090007747



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