IN THE CASE OF:	 

		BOARD DATE:	  16 October 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120006827 


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, in effect, correction to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for the period ending 31 July 1969 to show his correct period of service in Vietnam.  He also requests a copy of his DD Form 214 for each of his discharges.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has it that he did not serve a tour of duty in Vietnam.  However, he served in Vietnam for 1 year from 1967 to 1968. The VA is saying he served in Vietnam from 25 June 1967 to 31 July 1969.  However, his record shows he served in Vietnam from 30 September 1967 to 21 October 1968.

	b.  He was not absent without leave (AWOL) until he left Vietnam.

3.  The applicant provides a VA Rating Decision, dated 5 January 2011.

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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 23 May 1963.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 310.10 (Field Wireman).  He was reassigned to Korea on 20 February 1964.  On 10 June 1964, he was honorably discharged for the purpose of enlistment in the Regular Army (RA).  The DD Form 214 shows he completed 3 months and
20 days of foreign service in the Eighth U.S. Army (Korea).

3.  On 11 June 1964, he enlisted in the RA for a period of 3 years.  He completed his tour in Korea on 22 April 1965 and he was transferred to Thailand on 29 April 1965.  On 28 March 1966, he departed Thailand en route to the United States for his next assignment at Fort Ord, CA.

4.  On 14 March 1967, he departed the United States en route to a second tour in Korea and was subsequently assigned to his new unit on 19 March 1967.  On
24 June 1967, he was honorably discharged for the purpose of immediate reenlistment.  The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time shows he completed
2 years, 3 months, and 26 days of foreign service during the period covered by the DD Form 214, the last of which was in Korea.

5.  On 25 June 1967, he reenlisted in the RA for a period of 3 years.

6.  His record contains a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows in:

* item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 25 September 1967 through 21 October 1968
* item 38 (Record of Assignments) he:

* departed Korea en route to Vietnam on 25 August 1967
* was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Supply and Services Battalion (Direct Support) on 30 September 1967
* was reassigned to the 82nd Quartermaster on 17 March 1968
* departed Vietnam en route to Fort Bragg, NC on 21 October 1968

7.  On 31 July 1969, he was discharged in the rank/grade of private (PV1)/E-1 under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations - Enlisted Personnel), chapter 10, for the good of the service – in lieu of trial by court-martial, with an undesirable discharge.

8.  The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time shows he completed 1 year, 9 months, and 18 days of net active service this period with 108 days of time lost. It also shows he completed 1 year, 1 month, and 1 day of foreign service that includes his remaining service in Korea and his service in Vietnam.  It further shows his last overseas area was in Vietnam.

9.  He provides his VA Rating Decision that states:

	a.  He was a veteran of the Vietnam Era and Peacetime.  He served in the Army from 23 May 1963 to 24 June 1967 and from 25 June 1967 to 31 July 1969.  His military personnel file verifies he served in Vietnam from
30 September 1967 to 21 October 1968.

	b.  His period of service from 25 June 1967 to 31 July 1969 was found to have been issued under other than honorable conditions that prohibit the payment of VA benefits.  His service in Vietnam was during this period of service; therefore, service-connection cannot be granted for ischemic heart disease.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, governed the preparation of the DD Form 214.  The regulation stated Item 22c (Foreign and/or Sea Service) would list the total active duty outside the continental limits of the United States for the period covered by the DD Form 214 and the last overseas theater in which service was performed.

11.  Army Regulation 635-5, currently in effect, prescribes the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army.  It establishes standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214.  It states that for an active duty Soldier deployed to a foreign country with his or her unit during their continuous period of active service, the statement "SERVICE IN (NAME OF COUNTRY DEPLOYED) FROM (inclusive dates for example, YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)" will be entered in item 30 (Remarks).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the applicant served in Vietnam from 25 September 1967 through 21 October 1968, a period of 1 year and 27 days.

2.  Regulatory guidance in effect at the time did not require a deployment entry in the Remarks section; however, the regulation currently in effect authorized such entry.  Therefore, there is no harm and as a matter of equity, the applicant's DD Form 214 for the period ending 31 July 1969 should be corrected to show the inclusive dates of his service in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant requests a copy of his DD Form 214 for each of his three discharges.  His record contains a DD Form 214 for the period ending 10 June 1964, 24 June 1967, and 31 July 1969.  Therefore, a copy of these DD Forms 214 will be provided with these Proceedings.

BOARD VOTE:

____X____  ____X____  ____X____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was 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 adding to item 30 (Remarks) of his DD Form 214 for the period ending 31 July 1969 the entry "Service in Vietnam from 19670925 – 19681021."



      ____________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)                                         AR20120006827



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120006827



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