IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  16 July 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120021557 


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 for award of the Air Medal.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  He would like to clarify that he arrived in Vietnam on 4 April 1968, not on 25 May 1968 as stated in his previous Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) Record of Proceedings.  The Record of Proceedings also indicates no record of the Air Medal being awarded.  This is exactly what he was trying to state when he first requested award of the Air Medal for which he was not recognized in error – there would be no record.

	b.  The Air Medal is usually awarded to personnel on flying status.  He indicated that his unit was awarded the Air Medal.  He was forgotten and was never recognized for the award.  He is unable to submit records of the former members of his unit who were awarded the Air Medal, but calls attention to ABCMR Docket Number AR20110023600 (attached), dated 22 May 2012, which documents a member of his unit being awarded the Air Medal for meritorious service.

	c.  The Air Medal was evidently awarded to his unit after his departure from Vietnam and his discharge from active duty.  He believes not including his name on any general orders awarding the Air Medal was an oversight as he was no longer assigned to the unit at the time the unit was awarded the medal.

	d.  Members from his unit called him after they came home and indicated that they all received the Army Commendation Medal and Air Medal, both for meritorious service.  He was only awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service and did not receive this medal until about a month later, mailed to his home.  He is unable to find the member of his unit to confirm what he has stated. 
The ABCMR has the ability to research the records for the year 1969 which should indicate that members of his unit were all awarded the Air Medal for meritorious service.  He has always maintained information on members of his squad whom he was responsible for and he is enclosing their names.  He just wants this injustice righted after 43 years.

3.  The applicant provides:

* Bronze Star Medal Certificate and orders
* DD Form 214
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* previous Record of Proceedings
* DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) and notification letter
* letter from the Army Review Boards Agency Congressional and Special Actions Office
* ABCMR Docket Number AR20110023600, dated 20 October 2011
* excerpts from Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) pertaining to the Air Medal

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 ABCMR in Docket Number AR20110009310 on 20 October 2011.

2.  The applicant submits a new argument and a copy of ABCMR Docket Number AR20110023600.  His argument and this Record of Proceedings are considered new evidence and warrant consideration by the Board.

3.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 June 1967.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

4.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 4 April 1968 through 3 April 1969.  He was assigned to Company C, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade, from 5 April through 20 June 1969 and Company A, 2d Battalion, 3d Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade, from 21 June 1968 through on or about 3 April 1969.

5.  He was honorably released from active duty on 5 April 1969.  He completed 1 year, 9 months, and 28 days of net active service with no lost time.  His DD Form 214 shows he was awarded or authorized the:

* National Defense Service Medal
* Army Good Conduct Medal
* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)

6.  His records are void of a U.S. Army Vietnam Form 131 (Awards and Qualification Record Work Sheet – Air Medal), DA Form 759 (Individual Flight Record – Army Aviator), and/or DA Form 759-1 (Individual Flight Record and Flight Certificate – Army).

7.  The applicant provides a copy of ABCMR Docket Number AR20110023600, dated 22 May 2012, wherein an individual assigned to the 199th Infantry Brigade was awarded the Air Medal for achievement from 9 January to 13 August 1970 by general orders and the ABCMR recommended correction of his records to show the award.

8.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided guidelines for award of the Air Medal.

	a.  Passenger personnel who did not participate in an air assault were not eligible for the award based upon sustained operations.  It defined terms and provided guidelines for the award based upon the number and types of missions or hours.  Twenty-five category I missions (air assault and equally dangerous missions) and accrual of a minimum of 25 hours of flight time while engaged in  category I missions was the standard established for which sustained operations were deemed worthy of recognition by an award of the Air Medal.  However, the regulation was clear that these guidelines were considered only a departure point.

	b.  Combat missions were divided into three categories.  A category I mission was defined as a mission performed in an assault role in which a hostile force was engaged and was characterized by delivery of ordnance against the hostile force or delivery of friendly troops or supplies into the immediate combat operations area.  A category II mission was characterized by support rendered a friendly force immediately before, during, or immediately following a combat operation.  A category III mission was characterized by support of friendly forces not connected with an immediate combat operation but which must have been accomplished at altitudes which made the aircraft at times vulnerable to small arms fire or under hazardous weather or terrain conditions.

	c.  To be recommended for award of the Air Medal, an individual must have completed a minimum of 25 category I missions, 50 category II missions, or 100 category III missions.  Since various types of missions would have been completed in accumulating flight time toward award of an Air Medal for sustained operations, different computations would have had to be made to combine category I, II, and III flight times and adjust it to a common denominator.

10.  Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army acting through the ABCMR.  Paragraph 2-9 contains guidance on the burden of proof.  It states the ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity in that what the Army did was correct.  The ABCMR is not an investigative body and decides cases based on the evidence presented in the military records provided and the independent evidence submitted with the application.  The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence of record and he provides insufficient evidence to confirm he met the eligibility criteria for award of the Air Medal during his period of service in Vietnam.  The regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Air Medal has not been met in this case.  His service records do not contain a DA Form 20, DA Form 759, and/or DA Form 759-1 that could support awarding him an appropriate number of Air Medals.

2.  The Air Medal is an individual award, not a unit award.  Selected individuals within a unit who meet the criteria for this award are generally grouped under general orders for a specific time period.  The omission of one or more names/individuals from the same unit does not establish an error or an injustice.

3.  The documents provided by the applicant were carefully considered.  However, the overall merits of this case, including the submissions, are insufficient as a basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.

4.  As the ABCMR is not an investigative body, the Board may deny a request, in whole or in part, when the alleged error or injustice is not adequately supported by the evidence of record and/or evidence submitted with an application.  The basic regulation which provides policy and guidance to this Board states the ABCMR will consider individual applications that are properly brought before it and will decide cases on the evidence of record.  This essentially means that cases are considered and the evidence is judged on its own merits.  Each case brought before Board may have similarities to other cases; however, each also has many differences.  Therefore, what was determined in one case and the outcomes achieved cannot necessarily be applied to another similar or like case.

5.  The evidence and facts in accordance with applicable regulatory provisions in the other case are substantially different from those in the applicant's case because orders were issued awarding that individual the Air Medal in 1970 whereas the applicant was not issued orders for the Air Medal in 1968/1969.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____x___  ____x___  ___x_____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20110009310, dated 20 October 2011.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      ___________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)                                         AR20120021557



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120021557



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