BOARD DATE:	  29 March 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110019434 


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 reconsideration of his previous request to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show award of the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB).

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  he is furnishing the names and home towns at the time of comrades, as he remembers, who served with him and who might remember when the EIB was presented to him;

	b.  they were all assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion,
341st Infantry Regiment;

	c.  he remembers completing the requirements for consideration of the EIB and then endured the 24-hour proficiency test;

	d.  the badge was presented to him while his company was in formation at Camp San Luis Obispo, CA; and

	e.  he received it one month before he shipped out to Germany.

3.  The applicant provides:

* six self-authored letters dated between January 1945 and January 1946


* a letter from the spouse of a former comrade, dated 16 August 2011
* a letter from a former comrade, dated 18 August 2011
* a letter from his father to "Post Jewelers" concerning the Combat Infantryman Ring, dated 13 January 1946

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records, which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR201000022153, dated 15 March 2011.

2.  The applicant provides new evidence in the form of self-authored letters dated between January 1945 and January 1946, a letter from the spouse of a former comrade, a letter from a former comrade, and a letter by his father which were not previously reviewed by the Board.  Therefore, they warrant consideration by this Board.

3.  The applicant's military records are not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 26 October 1943.  He served as an infantryman in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations (EAMETO) from 2 March to 7 June 1945 and in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations (APTO) from 12 September 1945 to
28 March 1946.  On 20 April 1946, he was honorably discharged.

5.  Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date (i.e. infantry, aviation, and marksmanship badges, etc.)) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) on 17 April 1945, but does not show award of the EIB.

6.  There is no evidence in his available record and he did not provide any corroborating evidence that shows he successfully completed the EIB test, that he was recommended for or awarded the EIB by appropriate orders, or that he received expert infantryman pay at any time during his service.


7.  The applicant submitted:

	a.  the names and home towns of fourteen comrades who he states served with him and may remember when the EIB was presented to him;

	b.  six self-authored letters wherein he states on:

		(1)  5 January 1945, he had not received the EIB;

		(2)  31 January 1945, he took the EIB test last Thursday and he was one of eight who passed it;

		(3)  February 1945, his initiation into another organization would not be as hard as the EIB test; and

		(4)  18 January 1946, if "Bobby wanted to strut in front of that girl he wrote about he can get my old EIB out and wear it…."

	c.  a 13 January 1946 letter from his father to "Post Jewelers" concerning the Combat Infantryman Ring wherein he mentions his son won the EIB before leaving for Germany in 1944;

	d.  an 18 August 2011 letter in which a former comrade states he does not remember the applicant receiving the EIB; and

	e.  a 27 August 2011 letter in which a former comrade states he remembers him receiving the EIB.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides Department of the Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military decorations, Army Good Conduct Medal, service medals and ribbons, combat and special skill badges and tabs, unit decorations, and trophies, and similar devices awarded in recognition of accomplishments.  It states award of the EIB requires that an individual must have satisfactorily completed the prescribed proficiency tests while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of at least battalion size.  To be eligible for testing and award of the EIB, a Soldier must be in an active status and must have an infantry or special forces specialty.

9.  Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), in effect at the time, provides Department of the Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  It states permanent award of badges, except basic marksmanship qualification badges and identification badges, will be announced in permanent orders by commanders authorized to make the award or permanent order of the Department of the Army.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although the letters provided by the applicant indicate he was awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge, there is no corroborating evidence of record and the applicant did not provide any evidence that shows he was actually recommended for or awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge.  It is noted that one of his former comrades states he remembers the applicant receiving the Expert Infantryman Badge; however, another former comrade states he cannot remember the applicant specifically getting it.

2.  In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR201000022153, dated 15 March 2011.



      _________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)                                         AR20110019434



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110019434



4


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1