BOARD DATE:	  8 March 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110017543 


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 award of the Special Operations Diver Badge.

2.  The applicant states he is requesting retroactive award of the Special Operations Diver Badge.  He states he is a retired Reserve officer who was awarded the Scuba Diver Badge after his graduation from the Special Operations Underwater Operations Course 5-79 in 1979.  He states he submitted a request for this award to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and was instructed to submit an application to this Board.

3.  The applicant provides a DA Form 1059 (Service School Academic Evaluation Report (AER)), records update memorandum, and regulation extract in support of his 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 he transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Retired Reserve on 14 October 1999 in the rank/grade of colonel/O-6 after completing 25 years, 7 months, and 13 days of qualifying service for non-Regular retirement at age 60.

3.  On 14 September 2006, he was placed on the Retired List in the rank/grade of colonel/O-6.

4.  The applicant's Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) contains a memorandum, U.S. Army Institute for Military Assistance (USAIMA), Fort Bragg, NC, dated 24 May 1979, subject:  Updating Student's Military Personnel Record.  This memorandum shows the applicant, then a captain, completed the Special Operations Underwater Operations Course on 24 May 1979.

5.  The applicant's MPRJ is void of orders or other documents that indicate he ever served in a special forces unit or was ever awarded the Scuba Diver Badge.

6.  The applicant provides an AER that shows he completed the Special Operations Underwater Operations Course at the USAIMA on 24 May 1979.

7.  The USAIMA was redesignated as the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (JFKSWC) on 1 October 1983 as a result of a special operations forces realignment that year.  The JFKSWC was, in essence, a branch school but was categorized as a U.S. Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) special activity.  Further special operations forces realignments in 1990 transferred the TRADOC school to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg.  On 17 September 2004, the Army's Scuba Diver Badge was redesigned and renamed the Special Operations Diver Badge and an additional grade, the Special Operations Diving Supervisor Badge, was created.  The prerequisites for selection for the Combat Diver Qualification Course stipulate a member must be a commissioned officer, warrant officer, or enlisted member of the Active Army or Reserve Component or selected Department of Defense personnel assigned or on orders to a special operations forces unit.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), chapter 8, contains guidance for award of badges and tabs of U.S. origin.  Paragraph 8-20 contains guidance on the Special Operations Diver Badge and states the Scuba Diver Badge has been renamed the Special Operations Diver Badge.  It states the Special Operations Diver Badge and the Special Operations Diving Supervisor Badge may be awarded retroactively to members of any service who successfully completed the JFKSWC Combat Diver Qualification Course on or after 1 October 1964.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's request for retroactive award of the Special Operations Diver Badge has been carefully considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support this request.

2.  Retroactive award of the Special Operations Diver Badge is authorized for members who successfully completed the Combat Diver Qualification Course.  The evidence of record shows the applicant completed an underwater operations course; however, there is no indication he was ever assigned to a special forces unit or awarded the Scuba Diver Badge.  Further, there is no confirmation that the specific underwater operations course he completed is equivalent to the current Combat Diver Qualification Course.  As a result, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support granting the requested relief.

3.  Although the applicant indicates he submitted a request to NPRC and was instructed to submit an application to this Board, he fails to provide the documentation from NPRC that contains the basis for its denial of his request that may contain information related to the unverifiable information referred to in the preceding paragraph.  If the applicant has the documentation from NPRC, confirmation from the JFKSWC that the course he completed is equivalent to the current Combat Diver Qualification Course, and documentary proof of award of the Scuba Diver Badge and of assignment to a special operations unit, he may resubmit his application.

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 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)                                         AR20110017543



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110017543



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