RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2010-00170 INDEX CODE: 107.00 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NOT INDICATED ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: His DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, Item 12, Foreign Service, be corrected to reflect two years, ten months, and seven days, rather than two years, seven months, and six days. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: His three months and one day of foreign service in Saudi Arabia are not reflected on his DD Form 214. In support of his appeal, the applicant provides copies of his DD Form 214 and documents related to the deployment in question, which include his AF Form 77, Letter of Evaluation, Contingency Exercise and Deployment (CED) order, and travel voucher summary. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. _________________ ______________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant’s military personnel records indicate he enlisted in the Regular Air Force on 27 Oct 89 and was progressively promoted to the grade of technical sergeant (E-6), effective and with a date of rank of 1 Jun 02. On 31 Oct 09, the applicant was relieved from active duty and retired for length of service, effective 1 Nov 09. He was credited with 20 years and 4 days of total active service. Item 12(f) of the applicant’s DD Form 214 reflects he was credited with two years, seven months and six days of foreign service. On 20 Apr 10, AFPC/DPAPP requested additional information from the applicant regarding the matter under review. They indicated they were able to verify and confirm boots on the ground at Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the period 3 Dec 92 through 26 Feb 93 (2 months and 24 days); Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany for the period 7 May 97 through 1 Sep 97 (3 months and 26 days); Incirlik Air Base, Turkey for the period 8 Jun 96 through 1 Jun 98 (1 year, 11 months, and 25 days). In total, they were able to verify 2 years, 6 months, and 15 days of foreign service. While they were able to verify his service in Ramadi, Iraq from Feb 08 through Oct 08, they were unable to credit him with the requisite foreign service because the Joint Service Commendation Medal he received during the deployment did not indicate a specific inclusive period. On 11 Aug 10, pursuant to the Board’s request, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) verified the applicant received hostile fire pay (HFP), imminent danger pay (IDP), and combat zone tax exclusion (CZTE) for the period 4 Mar 08 through 9 Oct 08 (seven months and five days) for his service in Iraq. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPAPP recommends denial, indicating there is no evidence in the record to confirm the applicant’s participation in the contested deployment or that he is entitled to be credited with the requisite foreign service. A complete copy of the AFPC/DPAPP evaluation is at Exhibit C. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to applicant on 11 Jun 10 for review and comment within 30 days. As of this date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit D). ________________________________________________________________ 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 an error or injustice to warrant crediting the applicant with additional foreign service. After careful review of the available records and the applicant’s complete submission, we believe a preponderance of the evidence supports he is entitled to such credit. While it appears the applicant was appropriately credited with the contested deployment, we believe he was not credited for his deployment to Iraq in 2008. In this respect, we note the correspondence from AFPC/DPAPP to the applicant indicating that they were able to confirm 2 months and 24 days “boots on the ground” in Saudi Arabia, but were unable to credit him for his deployment to Iraq because the evidence of record did not specifically indicate the dates he was deployed. However, pay records indicate the applicant earned hostile fire pay (HFP), imminent danger pay (IDP), and combat zone tax exclusion (CZTE) during said deployment for the period 4 Mar 08 through 9 Oct 08. Accordingly, we recommend the applicant’s records be corrected to reflect he was credited with an additional seven months and five days of foreign service for his deployment to Iraq. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that his DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, block 12f, Foreign Service, be corrected to reflect 3 years, 2 months, and 11 days, rather than 2 years, 7 months, and 6 days. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2010-00170 in Executive Session on 1 Sep 10, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: Panel Chair Member Member All members voted to correct the records as recommended. The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 6 Jan 10, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPAPP, dated 4 Jun 10. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 11 Jun 10. Panel Chair