MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:  16 November 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2000042015

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Lee Tinsley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Ms. Martha E. Schuler		Member	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		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 he be awarded and that his record be changed to show that he received the Combat Medical Badge in the Republic of Vietnam.

APPLICANT STATES:  In a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire, filed with the Veterans Administration, he states that he was a medical corpsman, Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 91B while stationed in Vietnam.  He was assigned in the field and the dispensaries as well as actual patrols and “dust offs”.  He supported firebases and saw way too many deaths and wounded causalities.  The applicant also states that all of his military duties were in combat, support of combat, and dealing with combat death and casualties as a corpsman.

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

On 19 April 1967, he enlisted in the Regular Army in MOS 91B (Medical Specialist).
On 28 June 1968, he was transferred to the 198th Medical Detachment, 10th Combat Aviation Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam as a Medical Aidman/Light Truck Driver/Ambulance Driver.  On 10 January 1969, he was transferred to the 
8th Medical Detachment, 155th Assault Helicopter Company, Republic of Vietnam.

On 20 June 1969, he was transferred back to CONUS and on 17 April 1970 was processed for separation.

Army Regulation 600-8-22, paragraph 8-7a (1), states the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) is awarded to officers, warrant officers and enlisted personnel of the Medical Department assigned or attached to the medical detachment of infantry regiments, infantry battalions and elements thereof designated as infantry.  Its evolution stemmed from a requirement to recognize medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of ground combat on a daily basis with the infantry soldier.

The intent of the CMB was to be a companion badge to the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) with the criteria for its award intended to parallel that of the CIB.  It was designed to provide recognition to the field medic who accompanies the infantryman into battle and shares with him the experiences unique to the infantry in combat.  There was never any intention to award the CMB to all medical personnel who served in a combat zone or imminent danger area.  As with the CIB, the infantry unit to which the medical personnel is assigned or attached to must engage the enemy in active ground combat.  This requirement has been that medical personnel must be personally present and under fire in order to be eligible for the awarding of the badge.  So stringent was this requirement during the Vietnam era that the recommending official were required to document the place (in six digit coordinates), time, type and intensity of fire to which the proposed recipient was exposed.  This fact naturally precluded the awarding of the badge to those medical personnel who accompanied infantry units into a potential engagement area but do not come under enemy fire.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, 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 this requirement.

2.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s record that he ever served in an infantry unit or with an infantry unit while assigned in Vietnam.

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

__wm___  __ms____  __ja___  DENY APPLICATION

Carl W. S. Chun
Director, Army Board for Correction
of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000042015	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001116	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107	Combat Medic Badge	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.