PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:  30 December 1998                            
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-10965/AR1998012524

	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	
	Mr. Robert J. McGowan		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. George D. Paxson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Sherri V. Ward		Member	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		Member	

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

	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, in effect, that he be awarded a Bronze Star Medal (BSM) for meritorious service, a Purple Heart (PH), and a Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) for his service in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant states that he was a combat photographer and that he was wounded while accompanying Republic of Korea (ROK) combat troops in the field; that he was recommended for a BSM for helping set up a photographic detachment in the city of Qui Nhon, Vietnam; that he was told that he qualified for the CIB because he accompanied infantry troops in the field.  He provided a statement from his former detachment commander, dated 11 November 1988, which states that a recommendation for the BSM was submitted on behalf of the applicant.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was born on 27 November 1949 and enlisted in the Regular Army for 3 years on 30 June 1967.  Upon completion of the required military training as a photo lab specialist (MOS 84G20), he was ultimately assigned to a unit in Vietnam from 19 December 1968 to 15 February 1970.  Although there is no detailed record of the applicant’s Vietnam service in his military personnel files, it is known from his DD Form 214, Report of Transfer or Discharge, that he received the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Vietnam Campaign Medal for his honorable service which ended on 10 February 1970.  He had 2 years, 7 months, and 11 days of creditable active Federal service and no lost time.

5.  On 12 August 1970, the applicant reenlisted in the Regular Army as a photo lab specialist.  He reenlisted again on 12 April 1971 and was sent to the Army Recruiter Course, after which he served as a recruiter.  He was separated for unknown reasons with a general discharge on 27 March 1974.  According to the applicant, he was separated because he went AWOL.  He was then without military service until he reenlisted for airborne training on 6 August 1987.  He did not complete airborne training, but was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky as an infantryman.  He was separated on 21 December 1988 with an honorable discharge by reason of physical disability and given severance pay of
$18, 811.20.  He had 1 year, 4 months, and 16 days of creditable service and his DD Form 214 indicates that he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Achievement Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded in time of war for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service.  As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders are required.  Recommendations must be made within 2 years of the event or period of service and the award must be made within 3 years.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  This regulation was supplemented by US Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) which provided, in pertinent part, for award of the Purple Heart.  The regulation stated that authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital commanders.  Further, it directed that all personnel treated and released within 24 hours will be awarded the Purple Heart by the organization to which the individual is assigned. Personnel requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam will be awarded the Purple Heart directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment.

8.  War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman Badge to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen.  The Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.  War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the Combat Infantryman Badge was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the Combat Infantryman Badge was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:

    a.  Light machine gunner (604)
    b.  Heavy machine gunner (605)
    c.  Platoon sergeant (651)
    d.  Squad leader (653)
    e.  Rifleman (745)
    f.  Automatic rifleman (746)
    g.  Heavy weapons NCO (812)
    h.  Gun crewman (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.  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.  In Vietnam, the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who had an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch of the Total Army Personnel Command has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era, the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

9.  Recommendations for awards must be made within 2 years of the event or period of service and the award must be made within 3 years.  There are provisions for lost recommendations, but not for late recommendations, reconsiderations, or for upgrading to a more prestigious award.

10.  In the process of reviewing the applicant’s military record, it was discovered that he is entitled to a Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) awarded to his unit (Department of the Army General Orders 48, l971) while he was serving with it in Vietnam.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, states that, effective 
1 March 1961, the MUC was authorized for units and/or detachments of the Armed Forces of the United States for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services for at least 6 continuous months in support of military operations.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant is not entitled to the award of the CIB.  When he was in Vietnam, his MOS was 84G20 and not one of the 11-series MOS’s required for award of the CIB.

2.  There is no record of the applicant having been treated by medical personnel for a wound received as the result of enemy actions.  If he was treated by a ROK Army medic for a wound received while accompanying ROK troops, the applicant should have reported to a US medical treatment facility immediately upon return from the field.  There, the wound could have been dressed and made a matter of official record.

3.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s record to indicate that he is authorized the award of the BSM.  The Fiscal Year 1996 National Defense Authorization Act (FY96 NDAA) provided that the Service concerned will review a proposal for the award of, or upgrading of, a decoration that would not otherwise be authorized to be awarded based upon time limitations previously established by law.  Requests for consideration of awards should be supported by sworn affidavits, eyewitness statements, certificates and related documents.  Corroborating evidence is best provided by commanders, leaders and fellow comrades who had personal knowledge of the circumstances and events relative to the request. A request for award not previously submitted in a timely fashion will only be considered under this provision if the request has been referred to the Service Secretary from a Member of Congress.  The burden and costs for researching and assembling documentation to support approval of requested awards and decorations rests with the requester.  

4.  Evidence available to the Board indicates that the applicant’s unit received the MUC for meritorious achievement for at least part of the period during which the applicant was assigned to the unit.  

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by indicating that the individual concerned was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation while assigned to the 221st Signal Company, US Army Vietnam.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-10965/AR1998012524	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19981230	
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.	107.0014	
2.	107.0015	
3.	107.0111	
4.		
5.		
6.