IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 7 January 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090013357
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, corrections of Item 5 (Date of Birth) and Item 16 (High School Graduate or Equivalent) on his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty).
2. The applicant states, in effect, that his year of birth is incorrectly shown as 1956. It should be shown 1957. Item 16 indicates that he is not a high school graduate; however, he is. He also states that he attended the Community College of Philadelphia for one semester and he would not have been permitted to enter without a high school diploma or equivalent. He received his General Educational Development (GED) in 1975 at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
3. In support of his application, the applicant provides copies of Certification of a Birth Record, his DD Form 214, and his Community College of Philadelphia Academic Transcript.
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 applicants 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 applicants 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 records show he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) in pay grade E-1 on 29 March 1979. Item 7 (Date of Birth) of his DD Form 4/1 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document - Armed Forces of the United States) lists his year of birth as 1957. He entered active duty for training (ADT) on 18 April 1979.
3. The applicant's DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record Part II), Item 17 (Civilian Education and Military Schools), shows he completed 10 years of schooling and did not complete high school. It also shows he was awarded a GED by the State Department of Education in 1975.
4. The applicant was released from ADT on 28 March 1980 and transferred to the USAR Control Group (Annual Training). He was issued a DD Form 214 that shows in Item 5, his year of birth as 1956. Item 16 (High School Graduate or Equivalent) of his DD Form 214 contains an "X" in the "No" block.
5. The applicant submitted a copy of a State of Montana - Certification of a Birth Record, issued on 28 October 2005, that is certified to be a true copy of the original certificate filed with the Department of Public Health and Human Services. This document reflects the applicants same first, middle, and last names and shows a year of birth of 1957.
6. The applicant also submitted a copy of his Community College of Philadelphia Academic Transcript, issued on 8 October 2008, that shows he was credited with completing 3 hours during the Spring of 1976.
7. Army Regulation 635-5 (Personnel Separations Separation Documents), in effect at the time, governed the preparation of the DD Form 214. It stated, in pertinent part, that completion of Item 16 was self-explanatory; meaning, if the education was completed prior to or during the period of service, an "X" would be entered in the "Yes" block or if the education was not completed an "X" would be entered in the "No" block.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that his birth year is incorrectly shown on his DD Form 214 was carefully reviewed and found to have merit. The evidence of record confirms the entry on his DD Form 214 was due to a typographical error. Therefore, his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show his proper year of birth was 1957.
2. The evidence also shows at the time of the applicants enlistment in March 1979 he had been awarded his GED in 1975. Therefore, he is entitled to correction to his DD Form 214, Item 16, by placing an "X" in the "Yes" block.
3. In view of the foregoing, the applicants records should be corrected as recommended below.
BOARD VOTE:
___x_____ ____x____ ____x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by deleting from Item 5 of the applicants DD Form 214 the entry "56_ _ _ _ and replacing it with the entry "57_ _ _ _," by showing in Item 16 of his DD Form 214 an "X" in the "Yes" block, and providing him a separation document that includes these corrections.
_______ _ 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.
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