IN THE CASE OF:  

		BOARD DATE:  3 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110018341 


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 DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  His DD Form 214 should reflect the CIB for being injured in Vietnam by hostile action on 29 June 1969.  The records were lost or misplaced.

	b.  He was sent to Vietnam as a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division.  While there he was awarded the CIB.  On 27 June 1969, he was riding in an Army vehicle that ran over a land mine and he was thrown from the vehicle.  His company received many injuries and he was medically evacuated to a base camp, treated, and then returned to combat.  He is enclosing a copy of his medical evacuation tag (DD Form 1380 (U.S. Field Medical Card)) he has saved all these years.  He received no recognition for being injured in combat.

	c.  Approximately, 1 year ago at the veterans hospital in Wilkes Barre, PA, he was advised that the award was not listed on his DD Form 214.  He inquired about this matter with the Army records center and was told they could not locate the records.  He is also enclosing two newspaper clippings from the local newspaper that a former Member of Congress sent to his parents.


3.  He provides:

* DD Form 1380 
* DD Form 214
* two newspaper clippings

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 military record shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 10 April 1968.  He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11C (Infantry Indirect Fire Crewman).

3.  He served in Vietnam from 11 September 1968 through 31 August 1969 and was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division.

4.  He provides a copy of a DD Form 1380 which states he sustained a line-of-duty injury as a result of enemy action on 27 June 1969 while sitting on a truck and received treatment at an aid station.

5.  He was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service on 9 April 1970 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group.

6.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not list the CIB.

7.  There is no evidence of record and he did not provide any evidence that he served in ground combat and was awarded the CIB while serving in Vietnam.  Item 9 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not list the CIB.

8.  He also provides copies of two newspaper clippings citing his award of the CIB during his service in Vietnam.

9.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the CIB pertaining to the applicant.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states there are basically three requirements for award of the CIB.  The Soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat.

11.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) governed award of the CIB to Army forces operating in South Vietnam.  This regulation specifically stated that criteria for award of the CIB identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and the CIB is the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service. 
Further, "the CIB is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat."

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record fails to show the applicant was awarded the CIB and he provides no evidence, such as orders, to show he was awarded this badge.  His service in Vietnam in an infantry MOS is not in question.  However, there is no evidence in his military personnel records and he did not submit sufficient evidence that shows he was personally present while serving in his assigned infantry duty in an infantry unit that was actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.

2.  The documentation he provided was carefully considered.  However, the CIB is not automatically awarded to a Soldier for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat.  Lacking sufficient evidence as required by the governing regulation, he is not entitled to award of the CIB and its addition to his DD Form 214.


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)                                         AR20110018341



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110018341



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