RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-02034 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

1. He be entitled to the Korean Defense Service Medal (KDSM). 

 

2. He be entitled to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 
Medal-Yugoslavia. 

 

3. He be entitled to the Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM). (Verified 
by AFPC/DPSID and currently reflected on the applicant’s DD Form 214, 
Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

Based on recent authorizations or publications, he should be awarded 
the aforementioned medals. These medals were either authorized after 
his separation or were not processed due to his unit’s operations 
tempo at the time of his separation. 

 

In support of his request, the applicant provides copies of his DD 
Form 214, numerous temporary duty (TDY) orders, Citations, and 
various documents in support of his application. 

 

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

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

The applicant entered Active Duty on 18 Oct 1990. On 29 Sep 1996, he 
was honorably discharged in the grade of captain (Capt, O-3). He was 
credited with 5 years, 11 months and 12 days of active duty. 

 

The Korean Defense Service Medal was approved by the Department of 
Defense in Feb 2004 and is awarded to those individuals who after 28 
Jul 1954, to a future date to be determined by the Secretary of 
Defense, have been assigned, attached, or mobilize to units operating 
or serving in the Republic of Korea, and the contiguous waters out to 
12 nautical miles, and all airspace above. To be eligible for the 
KDSM, personnel must have been physically present in the stated area 
for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days. 

 


The Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 
State, may approve the acceptance and wear of NATO medals authorized 
by the Secretary General of NATO and offered to the U.S. 
Representative to NATO to recognize U.S. Service members who meet the 
eligibility criteria specified by NATO. The very first NATO Medal 
was authorized for military personnel who served under NATO command 
or operation control in direct support of NATO operations in the 
former Republic of Yugoslavia, from 1 Jul 1992 to 12 Oct 1998. 

 

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are 
described in the letter prepared by the Air Force office of primary 
responsibility at Exhibit D. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPAPP recommends denial of the applicant’s request for 
entitlement to the KDSM and the NATO Medal-Yugoslavia. DPAPP states 
the applicant’s Master Personnel Records (MPR) and the information he 
provided did not contain information that reflects that he served in 
the locations for which he is claiming. 

 

The complete DPAPP evaluation is at Exhibit C. 

 

AFPC/DPSID recommends denial of the applicant’s request for 
entitlement to the KDSM. DPSID states that while the applicant's 
records reflect he was TDY in Korea, they could not verify how long 
he was in Korea; therefore, he does not meet the criteria for award 
of the KDSM. 

 

In regards to the HSM, DPSID states that after a thorough review of 
the applicant's MPR, they were able to verify award of the HSM as 
currently annotated on his DD Form 214. 

 

In regards to the NATO medal, DPSID states that to obtain award of 
the NATO Medal, personnel must apply to NATO as the approval 
authority. Personnel must provide the United States National 
Military Representative at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers 
Europe (SHAPE) via e-mail at .mil the following 
information: date of birth, name, social security number, rank, 
nationality, branch of service, unit with which deployed to 
theater, location in which unit engaged, number of days claimed 
towards eligibility for medal (over 30 days required), and the 
time frame served. 

 

The complete DPSID evaluation is at Exhibit D. 

 

 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 


On 1 Oct 2012, copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to 
the applicant for review and comment within 30 days. As of this 
date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit E). 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

1. With the exception of the request for the NATO Medal-Yugoslavia, 
the applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or 
regulations. 

 

2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the 
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. 

 

3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate 
the existence of error or injustice to warrant correcting his records 
to reflect entitlement to the NATO Medal-Yugoslavia. We note the 
applicant’s records already reflect that he was awarded the HSM, as 
annotated on his DD Form 214. Therefore, no correction is 
necessary. However, in regards to the applicant’s request for 
entitlement to the NATO Medal-Yugoslavia, we find no evidence that he 
has ever contacted NATO, the approval authority, to request the 
medal. Prior to submitting an application for correction of military 
records, an applicant must first exhaust all available avenues of 
administrative relief and we find no evidence that he has done so. 
Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no 
basis to consider this portion of his application. 

 

4. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been 
presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice to 
warrant correcting the applicant’s records to reflect his entitlement 
to the KDSM. In this respect, we note the applicant provided TDY 
orders to Korea for 90 days. In view of this and noting the KDSM 
criteria, we recommend his records be corrected as indicated below. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 


THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 

 

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force 
relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that he was awarded the 
KDSM. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered this application in 
Executive Session on 15 Jan 2013, under the provisions of AFI 36-
2603: 

 

 Panel Chair 

 Member 

 Member 

 

All members voted to correct the record as recommended. The 
following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-2012-
02034: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Forms 149, dated 2 May 2012, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPAPP, dated 20 Jul 2012. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, AFPC/DPSID, dated 4 Sep 2012. 

 Exhibit E. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 1 Oct 2012. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair