RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2016-00616 COUNSEL:
HEARING DESIRED:	NO

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:
Her DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, be corrected to reflect award of the following medals:

a.	Air and Space Campaign Medal.
b.	Kosovo Campaign Medal.

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:
The decision to award the medals was done after her separation from active duty. Her Human Resources office is not giving her the 5-point Veteran Preference for employment.

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

STATEMENT OF FACTS:
The applicant initially entered the Regular Air Force on 18 Jun 96.

On 17 Oct 00, the applicant was furnished an honorable discharge, and was credited with four years and four months of active service.

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained in the memorandum prepared by the Air Force Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR), which is attached at Exhibit C.

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DP3SP recommends denial indicating after a review of the provided documentation, they were unable to verify the applicant meet the eligibility criteria for award of the Air and Space Campaign Medal or the Kosovo Campaign Medal. To grant relief would be contrary to the criteria established by DoDM 1348.33, the

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY – PRIVACY ACT OF 1974

Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), the Chief of Staff (CSAF), and/or the War Department.

The SECAF approved the Air and Space Campaign Medal on 24 Apr 02, to recognize personnel who are not eligible for the Kosovo Campaign Medal or other Operation ALLEID FORCE Department of Defense (DoD) Campaign Medals. The Air and Space Campaign Medal may be awarded to members of the United States Air Force who, after 24 Mar 99, supported a significant United States military operation designated by the CSAF as qualifying of the Air and Space Campaign Medal. Members who provided direct support for 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days to one of these operations at home station or from outside of the geographic area of combat qualify for award of the Air and Space Campaign Medal. Once the Air and Space Campaign Medal has been authorized for an operation or action, determination of individual eligibility may be delegated to such level of the operational or administrative chain of command as deemed appropriate by the Commander, Air Force Forces. Such authority shall not be delegated below the level of O-6 commander or civilian equivalent. No member shall be eligible for both an Air and Space Campaign Medal and a DoD Campaign/Service medal awarded during a single tour in an Air and Space Campaign Medal- designated operation. Participants are entitled to only one Air and Space Campaign Medal for support of an Air and Space Campaign Medal-designated operation.

The Kosovo Campaign Medal was established to recognize military service performed in Kosovo from 24 Mar 99 to a future date to be determined. Individuals authorized the Kosovo Campaign Medal must have participated in or served in direct support of Kosovo operations within the Kosovo Air Campaign AOE or the Kosovo Defense Campaign  for  30  consecutive  days  in  the  AOE  or  for
60 nonconsecutive days in direct support of Kosovo operations. The Kosovo Air Campaign AOE is defined as the total land area and air space of Serbia (including Kosovo) Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, and Slovenia; and the waters and air space of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea north of the 39th North latitude from 24 Mar 99 to
10 Jun 99. The Kosovo Defense Campaign AOE is defined as the total land area and air space of Serbia (including Kosovo), Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and the waters and air space of the Adriatic seas within 12 nautical miles of the Montenegro, Albania, and Croatia coastlines south of 42 degrees and 52 minutes North latitude from 11 Jun 99, to a date to be determined. Service members must have been permanently assigned, attached, or detailed to a unit that participated in or was engaged in direct support of designated operations for 30 consecutive days in the AOE or meet one or more of the following criteria; was engaged in actual combat, or duty that is equally hazardous as combat duty, with armed opposition, regardless of time, was killed, wounded, or injured requiring medical evacuation from the operation. Service members participating as regularly assigned aircrew members accrue one day of eligibility for each day they fly into, out of, within, or over the AOE in direct support of the military operations.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service was unable to verify any hostile fire/imminent danger pay or combat zone tax exemption for the applicant.

A complete copy of the AFPC/DP3SP evaluation is at Exhibit C.

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 2 Nov 16, for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit D). As of this date, no response has been received by this office.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE BOARD:
Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. After a careful review of the applicant's contentions, documentation submitted in support of the request, and the available evidence of record, we are not convinced the applicant has provided sufficient evidence for us to conclude that he is the victim of an error or injustice. We also note the applicant did not file the application within three years after the alleged error or injustice was discovered, or should have been discovered, as required by Title 10, United States Code, Section 1552 and Air Force Instruction 36-2603. While the applicant claims a date of discovery of less than three years prior to the receipt of the application, we believe a reasonable date of discovery was more than three years prior to the receipt of the application. Therefore, because we do not find it would be in the interest of justice to recommend granting relief, and the applicant has offered no plausible reason for the delay in filing the application, we cannot conclude it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file the application. Accordingly, we find the application untimely.

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:
The application was not timely filed and it would not be in the interest of justice to waive the untimeliness. It is the decision of the Board, therefore, to reject the application as untimely.

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2016-00616 in Executive Session on 11 May 17, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

, Panel Chair
Member Member

The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2016-00616 was considered:

Exhibit A.	DD Form 149, dated 2 Feb 16, w/atchs. Exhibit B.	Excerpts from Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C.	Memorandum, AFPC/DP3SP, dated 25 Jul 16. Exhibit D.	Letter, AFBCMR, dated 2 Nov 16.

Pursuant to paragraph 1 of AFI 36-2603 (Title 32 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 865.1), it is certified that a quorum was present at the Board's review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board's proceedings in the above entitled matter.