IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE: 	       10 November 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090008695 


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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show his service in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he has documentation which shows he served a one-year tour of duty in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 1996.  

3.  The applicant provides copies of two memoranda, redeployment orders, and a DA Form 2166-7 (Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report (NCOER)) as documentary evidence in support of this application.

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 record shows that upon completion of over 20 years of active duty service, he was retired from in the Regular Army on 31 August 1997 and placed on the retired list on 1 September 1997.  At the time of his retirement, the applicant held military occupational specialty 92B (Medical Lab Specialist) and the rank/grade of sergeant (SGT)/pay grade E-5.

3.  The applicant provides a 226th Medical Battalion (Logistics, Forward) (-), Operation Joint Endeavor, Camp Rumbaugh, memorandum, dated 21 August 1996, Subject:  Request for Manifest of the Following Soldiers.  This memoran-dum shows, in pertinent part, that someone in the applicant's chain of command requested that he and two other Soldiers be redeployed to their home station prior to movement of the main body of the unit due to mission requirements.  This document does not show the beginning date of the applicant's deployment.

4.  The applicant provides a second memorandum, dated 21 August 1996, which was prepared in response to the aforementioned memorandum.  This memoran-dum shows that the request for early redeployment to home station was approved with a return date of on or about 6 September 1996.  This document does not show the beginning date of the applicant's deployment.

5.  The applicant provides Headquarters, Task Force Med Eagle, Operation Joint Endeavor, Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Orders 236-02, dated 23 August 1996, which redeployed the applicant to his unit's home station in the Federal Republic of Germany with an effective date of on or about 6 September 1996.  Item (e) of the Additional Instructions portion of these orders states "Soldier has completed a minimum of 30 days in the theater of operations within the Former Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)."  This document does not show the beginning date of the applicant's deployment.

6.  The applicant's record contains (and he also provides) a DA Form 2166-7, rendered for the period of December 1995 through September 1996.  Part I (Administrative Data), Item f (Unit, Organization, Station, Zip Code or APO, Major Command) of this form shows the applicant's unit of assignment as 226th Medical Battalion (Logistics, Forward) (-), Operation Joint Endeavor, Camp Rumbaugh.  Part I, Item g (Reason for Submission) shows the catalyst for this NCOER was the fact that the applicant had a change of rater.  Part III (Duty Description (Rater)), Item c (Daily Duties and Scope) of this form shows the applicant was the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Blood Supply Unit in a Forward Support Medical Logistics Battalion in support of Operation Joint Endeavor with Task Force Eagle.  This document does not show the beginning date of the applicant's deployment.

7.  The applicant's available service personnel record is devoid of any documentation showing the specific duration of his deployment to Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in support of Operation Joint Endeavor.

8.  Item 12f (Foreign Service) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he completed 3 years, 5 months, and 10 days of overseas service during the period of 12 August 1980 through 31 August 1997.  This form does not show either the locations where the applicant served or the specific durations of his service at each location.

9.  A query of the applicant's Defense Finance and Accounting System (DFAS) pay history revealed that he received pay entitlements associated with service in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 19 January 1996 through 28 May 1996 and from 14 June 1996 through 7 September 1996.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time of the applicant's separation, prescribed the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the Active Army.  It established standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  Section 2-1 of this regulation provided instructions for preparation of the DD Form 214.  Specifically, it stated that in the Remarks section of the DD Form 214 the following statement would be added for a Reserve Soldier ordered to active duty and deployed to a foreign country: "ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY IN SUPPORT OF (OPERATION NAME) PER 10 U.S.C. (applicable section)."  The regulation did not show a requirement to enter this information on the DD Form 214 for active duty Regular Army Soldiers.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show his service in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, was carefully considered.

2.  Evidence shows the applicant deployed to Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in support of Operation Joint Endeavor for some period of time.  The end of the applicant's participation in this operation is corroborated by both his NCOER and his redeployment orders.  However, the applicant's available service personnel record is devoid of any evidence and he has failed to provide any evidence that shows the beginning date of his deployment.  Therefore, it is not possible to determine the specific period during which the applicant served in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, based solely upon his available service personnel record.

3.  A query of the applicant's DFAS pay history revealed that he received pay entitlements associated with service in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 19 January 1996 through 28 May 1996 and from 14 June 1996 through 7 September 1996.

4.  Although Army Regulation 635-5 prescribes that the Remarks section of a DD Form 214 for a Reserve Soldier ordered to active duty and deployed to a foreign country will include a statement to that effect, the regulation, in effect at the time, does not show a requirement to enter this information on the DD Form 214 for active duty Regular Army Soldiers.  Therefore, the applicant's DD Form 214, as it pertains to his service in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, is properly constituted and there is no justification for further amendment.

5.  Although there is no regulatory provision for modifying the applicant's DD Form 214, this Record of Proceedings can serve as proof that the applicant served in Visca, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in support of Operation Joint Endeavor from 19 January 1996 through 28 May 1996 and from 14 June 1996 through 7 September 1996.

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)                                         AR20090008695





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090008695



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