PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:        28 October 1998       
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-10931

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

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell			Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley			Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann H. Langston			Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis W. Barbee, Jr.			Member	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.			Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	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)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that his military records be corrected to reflect award of the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant was a member of the Army Reserve when he was inducted and entered active duty on 18 January 1963.  Following his induction he was assigned to Germany as a cook and ultimately reassigned to the 34th Infantry in Germany as an assistant gunner.  His records indicate he while in Germany between 1963 and 1966 he was assigned to Bad Tolz and Augsburg.  While in Germany he was granted permission and married a foreign national.

4.  The applicant was assigned to Fort Lee, Virginia upon his return to the United States in May 1966 and in February 1967 he was assigned to Korea.  He was briefing attached to the Berlin Brigade in Germany in the summer of 1967 pending a compassionate reassignment based on the health of his wife (a German national) and his daughter.  The compassionate reassignment was denied and the applicant returned to Korea.  Based on his attachment to the Berlin Brigade he was authorized award of the Army Occupation Medal.

5.  Between October 1967 and December 1967, after his return to Korea, he accumulated nearly 60 days of AWOL.  On 10 February 1968 he again departed AWOL and was dropped from the rolls of the Army 29 February 1968.

6.  The applicant returned to military control in May 1968 and on 25 July 1968 was granted a general discharged under the provisions of Chapter 10, Army Regulation 635-200 in lieu of court-martial.  His separation documents do not reflect entitlement to the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal or the Combat Infantryman Badge.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for soldiers who met specific eligibility requirements while assigned to the DMZ in Korea after 4 January 1969.  The regulation also states that the National Defense Service Medal was authorized to soldiers on active duty between 1 January 1961 and 14 August 1974.  The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was authorized for service in Korea between 1 October 1966 and 30 June 1974.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant does not meet the qualification requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge based on his service in Korea.

2.  His service in Korea does, however, entitlement to award of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.  His military service between 1963 and 1968 also entitles him to the National Defense Service Medal.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied 

BOARD VOTE:  

_JHL____  __CWB__  __RVO__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON