IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 July 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130000135
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 her military records to show her name and gender change.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that she underwent a gender change and has legally changed her name to match her new sexual orientation.
3. The applicant provides copies of a Social Security Card, a medical letter certifying her gender reassignment, a court order granting a name change, a Certificate of Military Service, three DD Forms 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), and one page of a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record).
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, as F____ E____ T____, enlisted and served in the Regular Army from 14 June 1974 through 20 October 1975 with transfer to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) to receive a commission.
3. The applicant was commissioned as a USAR infantry officer and served on active duty from 21 October 1975 through 31 January 1977.
4. The applicant continued to serve as an officer in the USAR and/or Army National Guard (ARNG) until 24 July 1992 with at least two additional periods of active duty.
5. During the entire period of service the applicant is shown to be a male serving under the name F____ E____ T____ with a social security number starting with 002.
6. The applicant legally changed her name to G____ T____ on 20 October 1999.
7. The applicant was issued a Social Security card, with the same number as F____ E____ T____, showing the name G____ T_____.
8. On 2 May 2006, she underwent final genital reassignment surgery and officially became considered to be a female.
9. Army Regulation 635-5 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 the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldiers most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement or discharge.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's honorable service spanned the period from 14 June 1974 through 24 July 1992. This entire period was served as a male under the name F____ E____ T____.
2. The applicant's legal name change and gender reassignment did not occur until after the applicant had left military service.
3. For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records. The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created. In the absence of a showing of material error or injustice, there is a reluctance to recommend that those records be changed. While it is understandable the applicant desires to now record her new legal name and gender in her military records, there is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Armys records.
4. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document will be filed in her Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR), formerly known as the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion in regard to the difference in the name recorded in her military record and to satisfy her desire to have her new name and gender change documented in her AMHRR.
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.
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