IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:  10 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110022571 


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.  While being processed out of the Army in July 1969 he noted his CIB wasn't included on his DD Form 214.  He was told that he would have to stay in the Army at least two weeks longer for the award to be added.  At that time it didn't seem so important and now it does.

	b.  He earned the CIB and would love to have a record of that.  He entered the Army in July 1967 and completed basic training at Fort Bragg, NC.  He completed infantry training at Folk Polk, LA, in November 1967.  He arrived in Vietnam in December 1967 and was assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.

   c.  They were on search and destroy missions with engagements with the Viet Cong quite often.  Many of their casualties were from booby-traps.  He remembers being told that they had all earned their CIB.  
   
   d.  In March 1968, he fell and injured his left knee.  After recovering he was transferred to the 4th Infantry Division and assigned to the Reconnaissance Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry.  They ran reconnaissance missions from fire support bases.  He became one of the team leaders of the reconnaissance teams and they were often in contact with the North Vietnamese Army.

3.  The applicant provides:

* DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), pages 3 and 4
* DD Form 214
* two newspaper articles

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 20 July 1967.  He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B, Light Weapons Infantryman.  

3.  He served in Vietnam from 21 December 1967 through 29 September 1968 and was assigned to:

* Company C, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division from 27 December 1967 to 18 March 1968
* Company E, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division from 19 March 1968 to 28 September 1968

4.  He was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service on 25 July 1969 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group.

5.  His DD Form 214 does not list the CIB.

6.  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 does not list the CIB.

7.  He provides copies of two newspaper clippings citing his completion of the advanced infantry training, promotion to specialist, and receipt of the CIB.  

8.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general or special 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.

9.  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.

10.  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 and awarded the CIB.

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 that 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)                                         AR20110022571





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110022571



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