DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 
 
                                                                                        BCMR Docket No. 2011-039 
 
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
   

FINAL DECISION 

This is a proceeding under the provisions of section 1552 of title 10 and section 425 of 
title  14  of  the  United  States  Code.    The  Chair  docketed  the  case  on  December  7,  2010,  upon 
receipt of the applicant’s completed application, and assigned it to staff members D. Hale and J. 
Andrews to prepare the decision for the Board as required by 33 C.F.R. § 52.61(c). 
 
 
appointed members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case. 

This  final  decision,  dated  July  28,  2011,  is  approved  and  signed  by  the  three  duly 

 

 

APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS 

The applicant asked the Board to correct his  record to show that he received the Armed 
Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) for his service in Haiti.  He stated that he discovered the 
alleged error in his record on November 2, 2010.   

 
The  applicant  stated  that  in  1998  and  July  2000  he  was  a  Coast  Guard  helicopter  pilot 
assigned  to  Operations  Bahamas,  Turks  and  Caicos  (OPBAT)  and  flew  injured  soldiers  from 
Haiti  to  the  Naval  Hospital  in  Guantanamo  Bay,  Cuba.    The  applicant  stated  that  he  received 
hostile fire/imminent danger pay for the missions.  In support of his application, he submitted a 
copy of a page from his July 2000 flight logbook, which indicates that he flew a mission to Haiti, 
and an Eligibility Report from the Department of Veterans Affairs which shows that he received 
hostile  fire/imminent  danger  pay  in  1998  and  2000.    He  also  submitted  a  letter  from  the 
Kingstown,  Rhode  Island  Department  of  Assessment,1  which  states  that  the  applicant  is  not 
eligible  for  a  veteran’s  tax  exemption  because  he  did  not  meet  the  qualifying  guidelines  of  the 

                                                 
1 South Kingstown, Rhode Island, offers qualified veterans a tax credit towards the taxes on their dwelling or motor 
vehicle.  The veteran must meet specific qualifying dates.  http://www.southkingstownri.com/town 
government/municipal-departments/tax-assessment/exemptions 

 

 

 

 

state  statute.    The  letter  further  states  that  to  qualify  for  the  exemption,  the  veteran  must  have 
served on active duty in the following countries and during specific periods of time: 

 

Lebanon 
 
Granada 
 
Haitian Conflict 
Somalian Conflict 
Bosnian Conflict 

08-20-82 to 12-31-83 
10-23-83 to 11-21-83 
08-02-90 to 05-01-94 
08-02-90 to 05-01-94 
08-02-90 to 05-01-94 
 

The letter further states that a member seeking the tax exemption must have a “campaign 
ribbon  or  expeditionary  medal”  listed  on  their  DD  Form  214.    Attached  to  the  letter  are  two 
pages, apparently from Chapter 06-002, Section 1, Chapter 44-3 of the General Laws of Rhode 
Island, enacted January 24, 2006, and entitled "Property Subject to Taxation.”  One of these two 
pages shows the following:  

From 

 
 
 

To 

   Serve in the Following Location  

Name of Conflict 

4/1/1995  12/31/2000 
 

   Haiti   

 

 

 

UNMHI, US for Haiti, USSPTG-Haiti   

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICANT’S RECORD 

 
The applicant enlisted in the Coast Guard on September 22, 1986, and retired from active 
duty  on  September  30,  2006.    His  record  contains  an  Officer  Evaluation  Report  (OER)  which 
indicates  that  sometime  between  June  6,  2000,  and  July  9,  2001,  while  assigned  to  USCG Air 
Station Clearwater, he was responsible for the MEDVAC of a U.S. soldier from a remote region 
of  Haiti.    There  is  nothing  in  the  applicant’s  record  to  indicate  that  he  participated  in  any 
operation in Haiti for which the AFEM was awarded. 
 

VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 

 
On January 10, 2011, the Judge Advocate General  (JAG) of the Coast  Guard submitted 
an advisory opinion in which he recommended that the Board deny the applicant’s request based 
on the findings and analysis of the case provided in a memorandum prepared by the Coast Guard 
Personnel Center (PSC). 
 
 
The  PSC  noted  that  the application  is  untimely.    Regarding  the  merits  of the  case,  PSC 
stated that the applicant was never involved in the two operations supporting Haiti which would 
qualify  him  for  the AFEM.    PSC  further  stated  that  the AFEM  for  Haiti  operations  was  only 
authorized for members who participated in Operation Uphold Democracy, from September 11, 
1994, to March 31, 1995, and Operation Secure Tomorrow, from February 29, 2004, to June 15, 
2004.    PSC  noted  that  the  applicant  did  not  provide  any  proof  of  having  earned  the AFEM  or 
having been involved in either one of these operations. 
 

APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 

On  January  14,  2011,  the  BCMR  sent  the  applicant  a  copy  of  the  Coast  Guard’s  views 

 
and invited him to respond within 30 days.  No response was received. 

 

 

 

APPLICABLE LAWS 

 
Title 32 CFR § 578 states that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was established by 
Executive  Order  10977,  dated  December  4,  1961,  and  Executive  Order  11231,  dated  July  8, 
1965.    It  is  authorized  for  U.S.  military  operations;  U.S.  operations  in  direct  support  of  the 
United Nations; and U.S. operations of assistance for friendly foreign nations.  Eligible personnel 
must be a bona fide member of a unit and engaged in the operation, including participation as a 
regularly  assigned  crewmember  of  an  aircraft  flying  into,  out  of,  within,  or  over  the  area  in 
support of the military operation. 

Commandant  Instruction  M1650.25C,  the  Coast  Guard’s  Medals  and  Awards  Manual, 
issued on October 25, 2002, contains the rules governing the eligibility of Coast Guard members 
for  various  awards  and  medals.    Article  5.B.2.a.  of  the  manual  provides  the  eligibility  require-
ments for the AFEM, as follows: 

 
The AFEM may be awarded to personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States who: 
(1) Participate, or have participated, as members of United States military units in a United States 
military operation in which, in the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, personnel of any military 
department participate in significant numbers. 
(2) Encounter, incident to such participation, foreign armed opposition, or are otherwise placed, or 
have been placed, in such position that, in the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hostile action by 
foreign armed forces was imminent even though it did not materialize. 
 
Enclosure  (15)  to  the  manual  lists  the  vessels,  flight  crews,  and  shore  units  whose 
personnel  are  entitled  to  the  AFEM  because  of  their  involvement  in  the  Uphold  Democracy 
Operation  from  September  11  1994,  to  March  31,  1995.    The  list  of  participating  units  whose 
crews are entitled to the AFEM for that period includes CG Air Station Clearwater. 

 
The  Medals  and  Awards  Manual  was  revised  on  May  5,  2008,  with  the  release  of 
Commandant  Instruction  M1650.25D.    Enclosure  (15)  lists  the  vessels,  flight  crews,  and  shore 
units  whose  personnel  are  entitled  to  the  AFEM  because  of  their  involvement  in  Operation 
Secure Tomorrow from February 29, 2004, to June 15, 2004.  CG Air Station Clearwater is not 
listed as a unit participating in this operation. 
 

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

The Board makes the following findings and conclusions on the basis of the applicant's 

 
 
military record and submissions, the Coast Guard's submissions, and applicable law: 
 

1.  The Board has jurisdiction concerning this matter pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1552. 
 
2.  Under 10 U.S.C. § 1552(b) and 33 C.F.R. § 52.22, an application to the Board must be 
filed within three years after the applicant discovers, or should have discovered, the alleged error 
or  injustice.    The  applicant  requested  an  AFEM  for  his  participation  in  operations  in  Haiti  and 
alleged that he discovered his eligibility for the AFEM on November 2, 2010.  Enclosure (15) to 
the Medals and Awards Manual shows that the AFEM has been authorized for Haitian operations 
for only two periods while the applicant  served on active duty:  September 11, 1994, to March 
31,  1995;  and  February  29,  2004,  to  June  15,  2004.   The  AFEM  for  the  earlier  period  was 
authorized  long  ago  and  well  before  the  applicant’s  retirement.   Therefore,  his  request  with 

 

 

respect to the first period is untimely.  However, the AFEM authorization for the second period 
did not appear in the Medals and Awards Manual until 2008 and, because the applicant retired in 
2006,  he  may  well  not  have  learned  about  that  authorization  until  2010.   Therefore,  the  Board 
finds that the applicant’s request for an AFEM is timely at least with respect to the latter of the 
two  periods.   In  the  interest  of  administrative  efficiency,  the  Board  will  review  the  applicant’s 
eligibility for the AFEM authorized for both periods on the merits. 

 
3.  The  applicant  asked  the  Board  to  correct  his  record  to  show  that  he  is  eligible  to 
receive the AFEM for his actions in Haiti in 1998 and 2000.  He submitted a flight log from July 
2000 and his record also contains an OER from 2000/2001 which shows that he was responsible 
for the MEDVAC of a U.S. soldier from a remote region of Haiti while assigned to USCG Air 
Station  Clearwater.    He  did  not  submit  anything  showing  participation  in  Haitian  operations  in 
1994/1995 or in 2004. 

 
4.  Although  records show that  the  applicant  was stationed at Air Station  Clearwater in 
2000 and 2001, and flew in and out of Haiti during that time, the AFEM was authorized only for 
operations in Haiti from September 11, 1994, to March 31, 1995, and February 29, 2004, to June 
15, 2004.  Commandant Instruction M1650.25C and M1650.25D.  Accordingly, the Board finds 
that the applicant does not meet the criteria for an AFEM because he did not participate in either 
of  the  two  Haiti  operations  for  which  the  AFEM  was  authorized.    The  record  contains  no 
evidence to support his claim that he met the criteria for the medals, which are listed in Article 
5.B.2.A. of the manual, and the Coast Guard’s records are presumptively correct under 33 C.F.R. 
§ 52.24(b).  See Arens v. United States, 969 F.2d 1034, 1037 (Fed. Cir. 1992) (citing Sanders v. 
United States, 594 F.2d 804, 813 (Ct. Cl. 1979), for the required presumption, absent evidence to 
the contrary, that Government officials have carried out their duties “correctly, lawfully, and in 
good faith.”).   
    

5.  Accordingly, the applicant’s request should be denied. 

[ORDER AND SIGNATURES APPEAR ON NEXT PAGE]

 
 

 

 

The application of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX for correction of his military record 

ORDER 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 Katia Cervoni 

 

 
 
 Lillian Cheng 

 

 
 Ashley A. Darbo 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

is denied.