IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  04 May 2010 

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090017825 


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 to the entries in item 12 (Record of Service) of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for the period ending 10 December 1998.

2.  The applicant states the dates in item 12 of her DD Form 214 should be corrected so she can qualify for veterans' benefits.  She is specifically requesting correction of the following items on her DD Form 214 by deleting the current entries and replacing them with the entries as indicated:

	a.  Item 12a (Date Entered Active Duty This Period) - "1986  10  23";

	b.  Item 12b (Separation Date This Period) - "2002  10  01";

	c.  Item 12c (Net Active Service This Period) - "0011  00  00";

	d.  Item 12d (Total Prior Active Service) - " 0000  06  00," based on her Army National Guard (ARNG) service;

	e.  Item 12e (Total Prior Inactive Service) - "0004  00  00," based on 1 year of ARNG service and 3 years on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL); and

	f.  Item 12f (Foreign Service) - "0000  05  00," based on her service in Haiti.

3.  The applicant provides the following documents in support of her application:

* Self-authored Statement
* Defense Finance and Accounting Service Letter with attached Summary of
  Retired Pay, dated 4 January 1999
* DA Form 199 (Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) Proceedings) 
* Medical Evaluation Board (MEBD) Proceedings
* Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) Evaluation Examination
*  Military Retired Pay and Special Compensation Information Sheets
* Veterans Guide to Benefits Information Sheets
* DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document - Armed Forces of the
  United States)
* DA Form 597 (Army Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Student Contract)
* National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of
  Service)
* DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action)
* DD Forms 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty)
* Honorable Discharge Certificate - Army National Guard
* Headquarters, U.S. Army First Region, U.S. Army ROTC Cadet Command, Fort Bragg, NC, , Orders Number 147-46, dated 29 July 1989
* U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Center Orders C-09-047288, dated
  13 September 1989
* Headquarters, First U.S. Army, Fort George G. Meade, MD, Memorandum,
		dated 31 March 1992
* U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, St. Louis, MO, Orders A-11-004516,
  dated 22 November 1993

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 she initially enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard (VAARNG), in the rank of private first class (PFC)/E-3, for a period of 8 years on 23 October 1986.  She was ordered to active duty for training (ADT) on 24 November 1986 and served until 23 April 1987, at which time she was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) and returned to the VAARNG.

3.  The DD Form 214 issued to the applicant upon her 23 April 1987 REFRAD shows she completed 5 months of active duty service in item 12c.  Item 12e shows she had completed 1 month and 1 day of prior inactive service.

4.  On 6 October 1988, the applicant was honorably discharged from the VAARNG for the purpose of enrolling in ROTC.  The NGB Form 22 she received at the time shows she completed 1 year, 11 months, and 14 days of service in the VAARNG.

5.  On 20 May 1989, the applicant was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR).  She served in the USAR, not on active duty, until 4 January 1994, at which time she was ordered to active duty for three years as an obligated volunteer officer.

6.  The applicant's record shows that after being processed through the Army Physical Disability Evaluation System (PDES) she was determined to be unfit for further service and retired on 10 December 1998, by reason of temporary disability, and placed on the TDRL on 11 December 1998.

7.  The DD Form 214 issued to the applicant on 10 December 1998 shows she completed 4 years, 11 months, and 7 days of active military service during the period covered by the DD Form 214 (4 January 1994 - 10 December 1998) in item 12c.  Item 12d shows she completed 1 year and 7 days of prior active duty service and item 12e shows she completed 5 years, 6 months and 21 days of prior inactive military service.  Item 12f contains an entry indicating she completed no foreign service during the period covered by the DD Form 214.

8.  On 10 January 2002, the applicant was removed from the TDRL and placed on the Retired List by reason of permanent disability.

9.  The applicant provides a DA Form 638 (Recommendation for Award) that shows she was recommended for the Army Commendation Medal for her exceptional meritorious service as Chief of Laboratory Service in support of the United Nations Mission in Haiti during the period 9 June 1995 through 2 November 1995.

10.  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 also establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214 and states a DD Form 214 is a summary of the period of active duty service for which a DD Form 214 had not been previously issued.  There are no provisions for amending or correcting a DD Form 214 to add information or service completed subsequent to the separation date listed in item 12b.

11.  Chapter 2 (Preparing and Distributing Separation Documents) of the same regulation contains preparation instructions for the DD Form 214.

   a.  Paragraph 2-1 (Preparing the DD Form 214) states a DD Form 214 will not be prepared for Soldier removed from the TDRL.
   
   b.  Paragraph 2-4 (Completing the DD Form 214) provides detailed instructions for completing entries, including:

* Item 12a, enter the beginning date of the continuous period of active duty
* Item 12b, enter the Soldier's REFRAD, separation, or discharge date
* Item 12c, enter the amount of service completed during the period covered by the DD Form 214, computed by subtracting the date in item 12a from the date in item 12b
* Item 12d, enter the total amount of prior active military service from previously-issued DD Forms 214, less lost time
* Item 12e, enter the total amount of prior inactive service from previously issued DD Forms 214, less lost time
* Item 12f, enter the total amount of overseas service completed during the period covered by the DD Form 214
* Item 18 (Remarks), for active duty Soldier deployed with his or her unit, enter the statement "SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that item 12a should show she entered active duty on 23 October 1986, the date she initially enlisted in the VAARNG, and item 12b should reflect her date of separation as 10 January 2002, the date she was permanently retired has been carefully considered.

2.  By regulation, a DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty service.  The beginning date entered in item 12a is the date the member entered active duty on the period of continuous active duty service for which a DD Form 214 was not previously issued.  The separation date entered in item 12b is the Soldier's REFRAD, separation, or discharge date.

3.  In this case, the applicant entered her last continuous active duty period for which a DD Form 214 was not previously issued on 4 January 1994, when she was ordered to active duty as an obligated volunteer officer.  She was retired on 10 December 1998, when she was retired and placed on the TDRL.  Her VAARNG service would be credited in either item 12c as prior active military service or item 12d as prior inactive military service and her time on the TDRL does not constitute creditable service requiring an entry on the DD Form 214.  As a result, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support the requested corrections to items 12a and 12b of her DD Form 214.

4.  The evidence of record confirms the applicant served in the VAARNG for 1 year, 11 months, and 14 days from 23 October 1986 through 6 October 1988.  it also shows 5 months of this service was active duty service for ADT from 24 November 1986 through 23 April 1987, for which a DD Form 214 was issued.
 
5.  The evidence of record further shows she served in the USAR for 4 years, 7 months, and 14 days from 20 May 1989 through 3 January 1994.  As a result, item 12e of her 10 December 1998 DD Form 214 should be corrected to reflect completion of 6 years, 1 month, and 28 days of prior inactive military service.  This accounts for her Reserve Component service in the VAARNG and USAR.

6.  The DD Form 214 in question contains an entry indicating 1 year and 7 days of prior active military service in item 12d.  However, her record contains only a DD Form 214 reflecting 5 months of active duty service completed for ADT.  As a result, absent sufficient documents to verify the applicant's total prior active military service, it must be presumed the entry in item 12d is correct.  Therefore, it would not be appropriate to correct this item of the 10 December 1998 DD Form 214.

7.  The evidence of record confirms the applicant served in support of the United Nations Mission in Haiti from 9 June 1995 through 2 November 1995, as evidenced by the DA Form 638 provided by the applicant.  As a result, it would be appropriate to correct item 12e of the DD Form 214 in question to reflect this 
4 months and 23 days of overseas service and to add an entry in item 18 reflecting this deployed service.


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 amending her DD form 214 for the period ending 10 December 1998 by:

   a.  deleting the entry in item 12e and replacing it with the entry "0006  05  12."

   c.  deleting the entry in item 12f and replacing it with the entry "0000  04  23."
   
   d.  adding to item 18 the entry "SERVICE IN HAITI FROM 19950609 – 19951102," and
   
   e.  providing the applicant a correction to her DD Form 214 that includes these changes.

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 correcting item 12a, item 12b, 12c, and item 12d of the DD Form 214 for the period ending 10 December 1998.



      __________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)                                         AR20090017825



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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


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