IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 September 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150001678
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 financial and military record to show her last name as Wxxx instead of Sxxxxxxx.
2. The applicant states she was married on 20 November 2013.
3. The applicant provides copies of her:
* Marriage License
* Retirement Orders
* DD Form 2 (United States Uniformed Service Identification (ID) Card) (Retired)
* DD Form 1173 (United States Uniformed Service ID and Privilege Card)
* DFAS-CL 7220/148 (Retiree Account Statement)
* DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty)
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant's record shows that after having 4 months and 17 days of prior active duty service, she enlisted in the Regular Army on 5 October 1994. She was trained in and awarded military 68W (Health Care Specialist).
2. Her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) includes a DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action) dated 16 September 2002, which shows she initiated a request to change her name from Lxxxxx to Sxxxxxxx due to her marriage on
14 January 1995, seven and a half years earlier. Her request was approved on 16 September 2002.
3. The majority of all documents filed in the applicant's OMPF, subsequent to her approved named change, show her last name as Sxxxxxxx and when required she authenticated these documents by digitally or manually signing her name as Sxxxxxxx. There are no documents in her OMPF listing her last name as Wxxx.
4. Her OMPF includes the following documents prepared subsequent to her marriage on 20 November 2013, which identifies the last name of this spouse as Wxxx and list her name as Sxxxxxxx:
* DD Form 93 (Record of Emergency Data) dated 13 February 2014 (this document lists her current spouses name and address)
* SGLV Form 8286 Servicemembers Group Life Insurance Election and Certificate (this document lists her current spouses name and address)
5. On 31 May 2014, the applicant retired from active duty due to a permanent disability. She completed 20 years and 13 days of creditable active duty service. Her DD Form 214, which was prepared upon her retirement, lists the same last name she now claims to be incorrect.
6. The marriage license, as provided by the applicant, shows her last name as Sxxxxxxx. The DD Form 2 and DD Form 1173, both issued subsequent to her retirement from active duty, show her last name as Wxxx.
7. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, prescribed the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. It established standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214. It stated the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provided 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 contends her record should be corrected to show her last name as Wxxx due to her marriage on 20 November 2013. However, while she married her spouse prior to her retirement from active duty, her OMPF does not contain any evidence showing she initiated a name change while still on active duty. She continually served under the name that she now claims is incorrect. She authenticated all documents by signing this same name when required to do so, from the time of her initial approved name change on 16 September 2002 until she retired on 31 May 2014. Absent any evidence to the contrary, the evidence of record shows she chose to use the name she held prior to her most recent marriage. Accordingly, it is the name shown on her DD Form 214.
2. 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.
3. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document will be filed in her OMPF. This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion regarding the difference in the last name recorded on her DD Form 214 and to satisfy her desire to have her original first name documented in her OMPF.
4. However, if it is the applicant's retired pay records that she wishes to update the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has stated in previous cases that it is their policy to refer retirees to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command to approve a name change. The applicant should therefore provide supporting documentation to: Commander, Human Resources Command, ATTN: AHRC-PDR-VI, 1600 Spearhead Division Avenue, Fort Knox, KY 40122 requesting approval of her name change and to inform DFAS when it has been approved.
5. In view of the foregoing, the applicant's request should be denied.
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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