MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           16 December 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12055

	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. Michael L. Engle		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Chairperson	
	Ms. Lana E. McGlynn		Member	
	Ms. Carol Jo Suiter		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 award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Purple Heart (PH).

APPLICANT STATES:  That because there was no position available on a tank, his first sergeant assigned him to duty as an infantryman.  He served as an infantryman for 3 months going on search and destroy and ambush patrols.  He was a tunnel rat.  He had to get on a helicopter and then jump out into a rice patty carrying a 60 caliber machine gun.  His first sergeant told him that he had earned the CIB.  He did not get duty on a tank until 1 December 1967.  He was put in for the PH but his first sergeant denied it.  He further states that he lost two tank commanders and was made a tank commander himself until May 1968. He continued to go on ambush patrols as leader and was a soldier who would give his life for his country and for his comrades.  While in the infantry he was a scout and observer.  He swept for mines and dug them up.  He just completed an 8 week Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) program at Tuskegee, Alabama and has been diagnosed PTSD Severe.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He was inducted into the Army on 3 August 1966.  After completion of basic combat training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he was trained as an armor crewman (11E).

On 8 June 1967 the applicant was assigned to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).  During his assignment in the RVN he performed duty as a tank driver with the 11th Armor Cavalry Regiment (ACR) and later as an armor crewman, and scout observer with the 5th ACR.  On 29 February 1968 he attained the rank of specialist five.  On 14 July 1968 he was returned the the United States and was honorably transferred to the USAR on 15 July 1968.  He completed 1 year, 11 months and 13 days of creditable active duty.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the PH 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.

That regulation further provides, in pertinent part, that the CIB is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have 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, Total Army Personnel Command has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era the CIB was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G, or 11H.
DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  The applicant was trained as an armor crewman and performed duties as such.  There is no evidence of record, nor has he provided any evidence showing that he was assigned the duties of an infantryman with an infantry unit of brigade size or smaller.

2.  There is no evidence of record, nor has the applicant provided any substantiating evidence to show that he sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action.

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

__EMW___  __LEM___  ___CJS__  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director