PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            12 December 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000037712

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Deyon D. Battle		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Lana E. McGlynn		Member	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		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 that he be advanced on the Retired list the rank and pay grade of Chief Warrant Officer Two/CW-2 and that he be paid accordingly.

3.  The applicant states that he earned his rank and that he was downgraded from CW2 to Warrant Office One/W-1 (WO1/W-1) without reason and placed on the Retired list accordingly.

4.  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.

5.  He entered the Army on 27 October 1942 and he successfully completed his training as a munitions officer.

6.  The available record shows that on 1 November 1944 orders were published awarding the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.  The orders show his pay grade as CWO.

7.  Further review of the available records shows that orders were published on 16 March 1945, awarding him the Bronze Star Medal for participation in the Mandated Island Campaign.  These orders show his rank as Chief Warrant Officer (CWO).

8.  On 6 July 1945, orders were published releasing the applicant from Borden General Hospital in Chickasha, Oklahoma and assigning him to the separation center in Shelby, Mississippi.  The orders reflect that he was to be placed on terminal leave for 2 months and 4 days and that he would be separated from the Army no later than 15 September 1945.  The orders further show that, upon the applicant’s separation his appointment to CWO would be terminated and that termination of appointment was by reason of physical disability.

9.  A War Department letter addressed to the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs dated 1 August 1945, indicates that the applicant contracted permanent disability rendering him unfit for further military service.  The War Department letter further indicates that the cause of such disability is deafness and that such disability was contracted in the line of duty while on active duty subsequent to 3 April 1939.  The letter also indicates the applicant is entitled to retirement pay in the pay grade of W-1 effective 15 September 1945.

10.  The facts and circumstances pertaining to the applicant's discharge are not on file.  The Report of Separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) indicates that the applicant was honorably discharged on 15 September 1945 by reason of physical disability in the rank and pay grade of CW0.  However, the applicant was placed on the Retired list in the pay grade of W-1.

11.  Title 10, United States Code, provides, in pertinent part, that any member of an armed force who is retired for disability will be placed on the Retired list in the grade in which they are serving on the date they are placed on the Retired list or the highest temporary grade in which they satisfactorily served, as determined by the Secretary of the Army or his designated representative.  The determination is made at the time the individual is placed on the Retired list.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The applicant may have been properly retired in the rank in accordance with the applicable regulation then in effect.

2.  The orders dated 6 July 1945 specifically stated that his appointment to CWO was terminated on the date of his separation and that the termination of appointment was by reason of physical disability.

3.  The evidence of record clearly shows that he was serving in the pay grade of W-2 at the time of his separation from the Army by reason of physical disability on 15 September 1945.  Under today’s standards the applicant would have been placed on the Retired list in the grade in which he was serving on the date he was placed on the Retired list or the highest temporary grade in which he satisfactorily served.

4.  The available records show that the applicant satisfactorily served in the rank of CWO from November 1944 until the day he separated from the Army on 15 September 1945.  Therefore, in accordance with today’s applicable regulation, he should be advanced on the Retired list in pay grade of W-2 from the date of his application to this Board.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was advanced on the Retired list effective from 14 February 2000 in the rank and pay grade of CWO with entitlement to all back pay and allowances (the date of his application to this Board).

BOARD VOTE:  

__hbo___  ___fe ___  __lem___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_____Fred Eichorn______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000037712	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2000/12/12	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  177	108.0000	
2.  186	108.0900	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.