IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 21 July 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110000814
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 the Sniper Course be added to item 25 (Education and Training Completed) of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. He states the Army refused to put the Sniper Course on his DD Form 214 for security reasons. Now that those reasons no longer exist, he wants this course entered on his discharge document.
3. He provides his DD Form 214 and a Certificate of Training.
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. He was inducted into the Army of the United States on 15 February 1968 (his DD Form 214 erroneously reflects 14 February). He arrived in Vietnam on 18 January 1969.
3. He provides a Certificate of Training which shows he completed the Sniper Course 4-70 on 8 August 1969 at the Bien Hoa Air Base, Republic of Vietnam. The certificate doesn't indicate the duration of the course. However, an Internet search revealed the Sniper Course conducted at the Bien Hoa Air Base consisted of 5 weeks of training.
4. He departed the Vietnam on or about 15 January 1970. He was honorably released from active duty on 17 January 1970.
5. Item 25 of his DD Form 214 does not list the Sniper Course.
6. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, prescribed the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. It established standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214. It stated that installation training courses (qualifications courses), military correspondence courses, and off-duty courses the enlisted person had successfully completed during the period covered by the DD Form 214 would be entered in item 25.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that his discharge document should be corrected to show his completion of the Sniper Course was carefully considered and determined to have merit.
2. His Certificate of Training shows he successfully completed the 5-week Sniper Course in August 1969. Therefore he is entitled to correction of his DD Form 214 to show completion of this course.
BOARD VOTE:
___X____ ___X___ ___X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined the evidence presented is 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 amending item 25 of his DD Form 214 to show the entry "Bien Hoa Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, 5 Weeks, Sniper School Course 4-70."
_______ _ 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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