BOARD DATE: 29 August 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130002347
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. He states he was awarded the CIB for combat in Vietnam. He was a rifleman assigned to A Company, 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division from 20 November 1969 to 2 November 1970.
3. He provides his DD Form 214.
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 24 June 1969. Upon completion of basic and advanced individual training, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). He served in Vietnam from 21 November 1969 to 2 November 1970.
3. His record contains a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignments) while serving in Vietnam he was assigned to A Company, 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division from 4 December 1969 to 28 October 1970 in duty MOS 11B (ammunition bearer); and
b. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no entry for the CIB.
4. On 23 June 1971, he was honorably released from active duty. He completed 2 years of total active service. The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show the CIB as an awarded or authorized award.
5. There are no orders in the available records that show he was recommended for or awarded the CIB.
6. His record is void of evidence which shows he served in active ground combat and is also void of any orders or other documents indicating he was ever recommended for or awarded the CIB by proper authority while serving in Vietnam.
7. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general 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.
8. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Awards and Decorations) 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 Soldier 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 was not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat." This regulation also stated the CIB was authorized for award to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Although the available evidence shows he was assigned to a qualifying unit and served in MOS 11B in Vietnam, his record is absent of evidence and he has not provided sufficient evidence to show he was engaged in active ground combat.
2. In view of the foregoing, he is not entitled to the 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 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) AR20130002347
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