RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2004-03923
		INDEX CODE: 131.01
	 	COUNSEL:  None

	 	HEARING DESIRED:  No

MANDATORY CASE COMPLETION DATE:  26 Jun 06

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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He be afforded Special Selection Board (SSB) consideration for the Calendar Year 2004B (CY04B) Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Central Selection Board (CSB) with the Officer Selection Brief (OSB) corrected to show a Duty Air Force Specialty Code (DAFSC) of 11H2E for the 16 Jan 97 and 1 May 97 assignment history entries, and a DAFSC of B11H2E for the 4 Jan 99 assignment history entry.

[Note:  The applicant’s duty title/DAFSC on his 23 Jun 00 Officer Performance Report (OPR), Assistant Chief, Mobility/11H2E, was not reflected on the CY04B OSB.  Although the applicant indicates he is aware of this discrepancy, he does not choose to include it in his justification for SSB consideration.  However, the Board may want to consider this issue along with the others.  See Statement of Facts.]

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

The DAFSCs for these assignment history entries incorrectly identified his status as aircraft commander and did not match the DAFSC on his OPRs for that period.  Taken in context with the 15 Feb 00 entry, which correctly reflected his status as a copilot, the erroneous DAFSCs give the mistaken impression he was downgraded in aircrew qualification.  The DAFSC discrepancy could have been viewed as a career regression by the promotion board and would have negatively impacted the scoring of his records.  He attempted to correct his OSB prior to the board but was given incorrect guidance from his military personnel flight (MPF).  

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. 

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant is currently serving in the grade of major (date of rank: 1 Aug 00) with the 41st Rescue Squadron at Moody AFB, GA.

He was considered but not selected for promotion by the CY04B LTC CSB, which convened on 12 Jul 04.  The Promotion Recommendation Form (PRF) reflected a DAFSC of S11H3E and an overall promotion recommendation of “Promote.”  The OSB’s assignment history entries of 16 Jan 97, 1 May 97, and 4 Jan 99, reflected DAFSCs of 11H3E, 11H3E, and B11H3E, respectively.  The applicant’s duty title/DAFSC on his 23 Jun 00 OPR, Assistant Chief, Mobility/11H3E, was not reflected on the CY04B OSB.  HQ AFPC/DPAO advised the DAFSCs in question were incorrect (Exhibit C).  

His OPR profile with DAFSCs for the CY04B board follows:

	PERIOD ENDING		EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL/DAFSC

	  23 Jun 96			   Meets Standards/Q11H3C
	  23 Jun 97			   Meets Standards/11H2E
	  23 Jun 98			   Meets Standards/11H2E
	  23 Jun 99			   Meets Standards/B11H2E
	  23 Jun 00			   Meets Standards/11H3E 
						(Corrected via ERAB to 11H2E)
	  15 Apr 01			   Meets Standards/11H2E
	  15 Apr 02			   Meets Standards/S011H3E
	  15 Apr 03			   Meets Standards/S11H3E
	  15 Apr 04			   Meets Standards/11H3E

On 16 Dec 04, the applicant submitted an appeal to the Evaluation Reports Appeal Board (ERAB) under the provisions of AFI 36-2401, requesting the DAFSC on his 23 Jun 00 OPR be changed from 11H3E to 11H2E.  On 30 Jan 05, the ERAB notified the applicant they had approved the DAFSC change on the OPR but not his request for SSB consideration.  The ERAB did not approve SSB consideration because they were aware of other issues pending via the AFBCMR process.  [Note:  HQ AFPC/DPAO confirmed via email, dated 5 May 05, that the duty title and corrected DAFSC on the applicant’s 23 Jun 00 OPR should have been included on his OSB.] 

Since the CY04B board, the applicant’s duty history entries/DAFSCs with respect to the pertinent periods have been administratively corrected as follows:

	EFFECTIVE DATE	DUTY TITLE/DAFSC	

	  24 Jun 00		Chief, Combat Readiness/HH-60G Pilot/11H2E
	  15 Feb 00		Assistant Chief, Mobility/11H2E
	  04 Jan 99		Squadron Maintenance Officer/B11H2E
	  01 May 97		Chief, Wing Training/11H2E
	  16 Jan 97		Safety Officer/11H2E

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AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

HQ AFPC/DPAO confirms the DAFSCs for the stated dates on the OSB as being incorrect.  Based on the OPRs as the source documentation, they have verified the supporting evidence and recommend the OSB be corrected to reflect the proper DAFSCs.  They defer to HQ AFPC/DPPPO for SSB consideration.

A complete copy of the evaluation is at Exhibit C.

HQ AFPC/DPPPO argues that, although the OSB contained incorrect DAFSCs, the applicant’s OPRs contained the correct DAFSCs.  Therefore, the CSB had this information available when evaluating the applicant’s record.  As such, the corrected history data does not introduce any new information that was not already considered by the board.  The Military Personnel Data System (MPDS) has been updated to reflect the correct information.  DPPPO explains they are not convinced the contested errors caused the applicant’s nonselection.  Further, by exercising reasonable diligence, the applicant should have discovered the error or omission and could have taken corrective action before the board convened.  DPPPO points out what seems to be a missing duty entry based on the 23 Jun 00 OPR’s duty title of Assistant Chief, Mobility [Note: HQ AFPC/DPAO has confirmed that this duty entry should have been on the OSB.]  Denial is recommended.

A complete copy of the evaluation is at Exhibit D.

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant asserts he attempted to correct his records prior to the CY04B board but was erroneously told by the MPF that he needed signatures from every evaluator to correct the DAFSCs on the 23 Jun 97, 98, and 99 OPRs.  Based on this guidance he had insufficient time to correct his OPRs and, not until Dec 04 did he discover these OPRs were correct and he only needed to change the OSB assignment history.  AFPC’s argument that the OSB corrections do not introduce any new information not already considered by the promotion board is flawed because it does not account for the DAFSC error on the 23 Jun 00 OPR.  The OSB incorrectly identified him as an aircraft commander (11H3E) from 16 Jan 97 until 15 Feb 00, when he was identified as a copilot (11H2E).  This created the mistaken impression he was downgraded from aircraft commander to copilot, as did the incorrect DAFSC on the 23 Jun 00 OPR.  Any evidence suggesting career regression would create a profoundly negative impact on a board member’s assessment of the whole officer.  His records have since been corrected to reflect the omitted duty title of Assistant Chief, Mobility, for the period of 15 Feb 00 to 23 Jun 00, based on the 23 Jun 00 OPR.  As he does not believe this error was material to his nonselection, he has not included it in his justification for SSB consideration.

Also provided is a statement from the senior rater, who expresses surprise at the applicant’s nonselection for promotion by the CY04B LTC board.  He fully supports the applicant’s assertion that the DAFSC discrepancies in his records presented a misleading picture to the promotion board.  Nothing is more fundamental to a promotion board’s assessment of the whole person than evidence of steady career progression.  The senior rater believes that if the promotion board mistakenly assumed the applicant was downgraded, it would assign his records a significantly lower score.  He urges the Board approve the applicant’s request for SSB consideration with a correct record.

Complete copies of applicant’s response, with attachments, including the senior rater’s statement, are at Exhibit F.

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THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.	The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations.

2.	The application was timely filed.

3.	Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice to warrant correcting the applicant’s CY04B OSB and affording him SSB consideration.  The applicant appears to have been given misleading advice regarding correcting his records, and HQ AFPC/DPAO confirmed the pertinent DAFSCs were incorrect.  These errors have since been corrected and the senior rater supports the applicant’s request.  We agree with the senior rater and the applicant’s contentions that the contested DAFSCs probably created the mistaken impression the applicant was downgraded from aircraft commander to copilot.  We note the applicant’s duty title of Assistant Chief, Mobility, effective 15 Feb 00, was missing from the CY04B OSB.  We also note the applicant chooses not to include this discrepancy in his justification for SSB consideration, claiming he does not believe the omission was material to his nonselection because his records have since been corrected.  We, however, are not so certain this omission should remain unaddressed considering the corrections to his duty history were accomplished after the CY04B selection board, and we wish to preclude the possibility of this particular issue being raised in the future.  While we cannot determine conclusively whether the contested DAFSCs and the missing duty title resulted in the applicant’s nonselection, we believe together these errors may have adversely impacted his receiving full and fair consideration by the CY04B board.  In view of the above, we recommend the CY04B OSB be amended as indicated below, and the applicant be afforded SSB consideration for the CY04B LTC board.

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THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that the Assignment History of the Officer Selection Brief for the Calendar Year 2004B (CY04B) Lieutenant Colonel Central Selection Board (CSB) is amended as follows:

	a.  The 16 January 1997 and 1 May 1997 duty entries reflect a Duty Air Force Specialty Code (DAFSC) of “11H2E,” rather than “11H3E.”

	b.  The 4 January 1999 duty entry reflects a DAFSC of “B11H2E,” rather than “B11H3E.”

	c.  The “11H2E, Chief, Combat Readiness/HH-60G Pilot” duty entry reflects an effective date of “24 June 2000,” rather than “15 February 2000;” and a duty entry of “15 February 2000, 11H2E, Assistant Chief, Mobility, Kadena, Japan” is added. 

It is further recommended he be considered for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by a Special Selection Board for the CY04B Lieutenant Colonel CSB.

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The following members of the Board considered this application in Executive Session on 8 June 2005 under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

All members voted to correct the records, as recommended.  The following documentary evidence relating to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2004-03923 was considered:

   Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 15 Dec 05 [sic], w/atchs.
   Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
   Exhibit C.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPAO, dated 14 Feb 05.

   Exhibit D.  Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPPO, dated 25 Mar 05, w/atchs.
   Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 1 Apr 05.
   Exhibit F.  Letters, Applicant, dated 18 Apr 05, w/atchs,
				and Senior Rater, dated 22 Apr 05.

AFBCMR BC-2004-03923

MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF

	Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records and under the authority of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code (70A Stat 116), it is directed that:

	The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to  XXXXX, be corrected to show that the Assignment History of the Officer Selection Brief for the Calendar Year 2004B (CY04B) Lieutenant Colonel Central Selection Board (CSB) is amended as follows:

	     a.  The 16 January 1997 and 1 May 1997 duty entries reflect a Duty Air Force Specialty Code (DAFSC) of “11H2E,” rather than “11H3E.”

	     b.  The 4 January 1999 duty entry reflects a DAFSC of “B11H2E,” rather than “B11H3E.”

	     c.  The “11H2E, Chief, Combat Readiness/HH-60G Pilot” duty entry reflects an effective date of “24 June 2000,” rather than “15 February 2000;” and a duty entry of “15 February 2000, 11H2E, Assistant Chief, Mobility, Kadena, Japan” is added. 

	It is further directed he be considered for promotion to the grade of lieutenant colonel by a Special Selection Board for the CY04B Lieutenant Colonel CSB.