DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 
 
                                                                                BCMR Docket No. 2003-125 
 
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
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FINAL DECISION 

 
ANDREWS, Deputy Chair: 
 
 
This  proceeding  was  conducted  under  the  provisions  of  section  1552  of 
title 10 and section 425 of title 14 of the United States Code.  It was docketed on 
August 11, 2003, upon receipt of the applicant’s completed application and mili-
tary records. 
 
 
appointed members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case. 
 

This  final  decision,  dated  April  29,  2004,  is  signed  by  the  three  duly 

APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS 

 

The  applicant  asked  the  Board  to  correct  his  discharge  form  DD  214  to 
show that he served overseas in Greenland in 1965 and 1966.  He did not provide 
a date of discovery of the alleged error or a reason for his delay in applying for 
this correction in his application. 
  

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICANT’S MILITARY RECORDS 

 

On November 26, 1963, the applicant enlisted in the Coast Guard for four 
years.  Upon completing training, he was assigned to Coast Guard Depot Chat-
tanooga,  Tennessee,  from  March  17,  1964,  to  July  9,  1965.    On  January  4,  1965, 
while he was permanently stationed in Chattanooga, he received temporary duty 
orders  to  the  cutter  Ouachita.    Upon  his  return  to  Chattanooga  on  January  28, 
1965,  his  command  noted  that  he  had  completed  25  days  of  sea  duty  on  the 
Ouachita. 

 

On July 31, 1965, the applicant reported to Loran Station Cape Atholl in 
Greenland, where he served as a boatswain’s mate until July 15, 1966.  Upon his 
transfer, his  command noted that he had completed 11 months and 16 days of 
foreign service. 

 
From  September  14,  1966,  until  October  14,  1966,  the  applicant  was 
assigned  to  serve on  the  Coast  Guard  cutter  Poplar.    From October  16,  1966,  to 
April 28, 1967, he served on the Sumac, and from April 28, 1967, until his honor-
able  discharge  on  November  24,  1967,  he  served  on  board  the Forsythia,  a  boat 
stationed in Memphis, Tennessee.  

 
Block 24.c of the applicant’s DD 214 shows that he performed a total of 2 
years,  1  month,  and  23  days  of  “foreign  and/or  sea  service”  during  the  enlist-
ment.    The  form  DD  214  does  not  have  a  block  where  all  stations  at  which  a 
member served are supposed to be listed.  However, the station of the member’s 
last  duty  assignment  and  the  station  at  which  the  member’s  discharge  was 
effected  are  supposed  to  appear  on  the  form  in  blocks  12.a.  and  11.b.,  respec-
tively.  On the applicant’s DD 214, these blocks show that the Forsythia was both 
the station of his last duty assignment and the station that effected his discharge.  
 

VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
 
On  December  10,  2003,  the  Judge  Advocate  General  of  the  Coast  Guard 
submitted an advisory opinion in which he recommended that the Board deny 
the applicant’s request.  He stated that the applicant’s DD 214 was properly pre-
pared and that the applicant’s request is inappropriate because there is no proper 
place  on  a  DD  214  to  list  all  of  the  units  at  which  a  member  has  served.    The 
Judge Advocate General stated that the applicant’s service in Greenland is prop-
erly accounted for in block 24.c. of his DD 214.  
 

APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
 
On  December  15,  2003,  the  Chair  sent  the  applicant  a  copy  of  the  Judge 
Advocate General’s advisory opinion and invited him to respond within 30 days.  
On December 31, 2003, the Board received the applicant’s response.  He stated 
that he has “no objection to the Coast Guard’s recommendation, except I wanted 
it spelled out on my DD 214 that I was station[ed] in Greenland in 1965 and 1966 
at a place called Cape Atholl.” 
 

 

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 sec-

tion 1552 of title 10 of the United States Code.   
 

2. 

An application to the Board must be filed within three years of the 
day the applicant discovers the alleged error in his record.  10 U.S.C. § 1552(b). 
The applicant received his discharge form DD 214 in 1967 and knew or should 
have known that it did not state that he had served in Greenland at that time.  
Therefore, his request is untimely.   

 
3. 

The Board may waive the three-year statute of limitations if it is in 
 
the interest of justice to do so.  10 U.S.C. § 1552(b).  To determine whether it is in 
the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations, the Board should con-
sider the reasons for the delay and conduct a cursory review of the merits of the 
case.  Dickson v. Secretary of Defense, 68 F.3d 1396, 1405 (D.C. Cir. 1995); Allen v. 
Card, 799 F. Supp. 158, 164 (D.D.C. 1992).   
 

4. 

The applicant provided no explanation for his delay in requesting 

the correction of the alleged error on his DD 214.  

 
5. 

A review of the record indicates that the form DD 214 has no block 
in which a member’s service in Greenland should be spelled out, unless it was 
the member’s last duty station or the station from which he was discharged.  In 
the applicant’s case, the Forsythia was both his last duty station and the station 
from which he was discharged.  The DD 214 that was issued to members in 1967 
does have a block for “Remarks,” but this block is reserved for information about 
mustering out and disability pay, reenlistment eligibility, and the date the mem-
ber’s period of eligibility for the Good Conduct Award commences.  See Person-
nel Instruction 77-56.  Therefore, although the applicant served in Greenland for 
11 months and 16 days, the only place on the DD 214 where this information can 
properly  be  reflected  is  in  block  24.c.,  where  a  member’s  total  sea  and  foreign 
service during the enlistment is shown.  The Board’s review of the record indi-
cates that the applicant’s time in Greenland was included in the calculation of his 
total sea and foreign service.  Therefore, the Board finds no evidence of error on 
the applicant’s DD 214 and no reason to waive the statute of limitations. 

 
6. 
 

Accordingly, the applicant’s request should be denied.   

 
 

[ORDER AND SIGNATURES APPEAR ON NEXT PAGE] 

The  application  of  former  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,  USCG,  for 

ORDER 

 

 
 

                                                 
 

correction of his military record is denied. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

  

 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 J. Carter Robertson 

 

 

 

 Jordan S. Fried 

 

 
 Kathryn Sinniger