BOARD DATE: March 4, 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090016515
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 1969 DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.
2. The applicant states he served in Vietnam as an 11B4O (infantryman).
3. The applicant provides a copy of his 1969 DD Form 214.
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. Records available to the Board indicate the applicant was inducted into the Army on 12 December 1967. He was trained as a Radio Operator (05B) at Fort Dix, New Jersey prior to being assigned to the 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry, in Vietnam in June 1968.
3. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) on the applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) indicates the applicant performed duties in his primary military occupational specialty (PMOS) of 05B throughout the duration of his tour of duty in Vietnam, although on 18 May 1969 the applicant was promoted to pay grade E-5 in MOS 11B and that MOS became his PMOS with 05B being designated as his secondary military occupational specialty (SMOS).
4. On 7 June 1969, the applicant departed Vietnam and was assigned duties as a military policeman at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for the duration of his active military service.
5. On 11 December 1969, the applicant was released from active duty with an honorable characterization of service. There is no evidence he was ever awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), which superseded Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), 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 military occupational specialty. They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size. Additionally, appendix 3 to annex A of U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) listed positions which qualified for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The regulation authorized award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to radio operators (05B) provided their primary duty was to accompany infantry or infantry-type units on tactical operations.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 also 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 (Decorations and Awards) 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.
8. Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, stated that permanent awards of badges, except basic marksmanship qualification badges and identification badges, would be announced in special orders by commanders authorized to make the award. Today, Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that such badges will be announced in permanent orders.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the applicant maintains he performed duties as an infantryman while in Vietnam, there is no evidence which confirms that argument. It is also noted the applicant was not awarded an infantry MOS until just shortly before he departed Vietnam.
2. However, while the applicant may very well have been eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge based on his performance of duties as a radio operator in Vietnam, unfortunately, in the absence of evidence confirming the applicant participated in active ground combat with his infantry unit or orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge, there is no basis for correcting his record to reflect this award.
3. 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.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
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) AR20090016515
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090016515
4
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2006 | 20060013374
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 19 April 2007 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060013374 I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual. The applicant requests, in effect, that he be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and that his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty), dated 1 July 1975, be amended to show this award. There is no...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090009322
After serving his initial permanent duty assignment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he departed for the Republic of Vietnam on 24 October 1966 and was assigned to Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, first as a Field Wireman in duty MOS 36K and later as a Senior Wireman in duty MOS 36K. The applicant's military records do not show that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and there are no special orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge in his military records. ...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100024875
The applicant requests his record be corrected to reflect a "Combat Service Badge," determined to be the Combat Infantryman Badge. There are no orders in the applicant's military personnel records showing he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge. Further, the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day to day combat. This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers and to enlisted...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2005 | 20050001273 C070206
There is no evidence, and the applicant has provided none, to show that he was assigned or attached to an infantry unit for duty while he served in Vietnam. Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative error which does not require action by the Board. Therefore, the Board requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual concerned by: a. adding the already-awarded Air Medal to the applicant's DD Form 214; b. awarding the applicant...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2005 | 20050001273 C070206
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 8 September 2005 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20050001273 I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual. There is no evidence, and the applicant has provided none, to show that he was assigned or attached to an infantry unit for duty while he served in Vietnam. There is no evidence to show that the applicant was...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2001 | 2001058895C070421
The applicant requests, in effect, that his military records show he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and that the military occupation specialty (MOS) listed in his separation document (DD Form 214) be corrected to 31B (Radio Operator). The applicant states, in effect, that he served as a Radio Operator in an infantry unit in Vietnam from 3 March 1969 to 27 December 1969, and that the numerical designation for his Radio Operator MOS was 31B. The evidence of records shows that he...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2005 | 20050017378C070206
Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-3, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, dated 29 January 1988, which lists unit awards received by units serving in Vietnam, shows that the unit the applicant was assigned to: the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces, was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit Citation, for the period January 1968 through 24 September 1970, by Department of the Army General Order (DAGO) 48, dated 1971....
ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080015378
The applicants DD Form 214 does not show the Combat Infantryman Badge as an authorized award. There are no orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge in the available records. Evidence of record shows the applicant held MOS 05B and MOS 11B and served as a security guard in these MOSs while assigned to Advisory Team 32, MACV.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080008912
There are no orders in the applicant's military personnel records showing he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge. Further, the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day to day combat. This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2001 | 2001057733C070420
There are no orders in the applicant’s personnel records which show that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge. The applicant’s DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows that, from 24 March 1968 to 16 May 1968, he was assigned to the 74th Infantry Detachment (LRRP), of the 173rd Airborne Brigade as a radio operator (05B) during his service in Vietnam. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.