MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:                              
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-10367

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Robert J. McGowan		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. 		Chairperson	
	Mr. 		Member	
	Mr. 		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That his military records be corrected to show that he participated in the invasion of the Philippine Islands and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was in combat for 3 months.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from alternate sources.

He was inducted into the Army of the United States on 15 December 1944.  Following completion of the required military training, he was sent to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations (APTO), departing the US on 31 August 1945 and arriving in the APTO on 23 September 1945.  He departed the APTO on 14 September 1946 and arrived back in the US on 30 September 1946.  He was honorably discharged as a platoon sergeant (Military Occupational Specialty, or MOS 566) with the 743rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion on 9 November 1946.  He had 1 year, 10 months, and 25 days of creditable active Federal service.

Japanese military forces surrendered to the Allied forces on 2 September 1945, 21 days before the applicant arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations. The Leyte Campaign was from 17 October 1944 to 1 July 1945; the Luzon Campaign was from 15 December 1944 to 4 July 1945; and the Southern Philippines Campaign was from 27 February 1945 to 4 July 1945.

War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen.  War Department Circular 186-1944 provided that the CIB was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Additionally, World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay.  The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the CIB was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:

    a.  Light machine gunner (MOS 604)
    b.  Heavy machine gunner (MOS 605)
    c.  Platoon sergeant (MOS 651)
    d.  Squad leader (MOS 653)
    e.  Rifleman (MOS 745)
    f.  Automatic rifleman (MOS 746)
    g.  Heavy weapons NCO (MOS 812)
    h.  Gun crewman (MOS 864)

All soldiers are provided basic combat skills training after they enter the Army.  This is provided to insure that all soldiers have the survival skills to perform basic infantry missions when the need arises.  However, no other soldier in combat is more exposed on a daily basis to the dangers and hardships of war and no other branch of the service suffers more casualties than the infantry.  To maintain the prestige, uniqueness, and traditional value of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the criteria for award has changed little over the years.  Thus, the opinion notes that the exigencies of combat may require non-infantry soldiers to temporarily perform the basic infantry duties that all soldiers are taught, but it is not a basis for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, and advisory opinion(s), it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement.

2.  The applicant’s service records were destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Based on the information contained on the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, the applicant did not arrive in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations until 3 weeks after the Japanese surrender.  Therefore, he could not have participated in the invasion of the Philippines or any other combat.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

      TDH          LLS            MDM    DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1998012731	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990106	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0064	
2.	107.0111	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.