PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           21 December 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000048409

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		Member	
	Ms. Gail J. Wire		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 awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

3.  The applicant states that he should have been awarded the CIB for his service in Vietnam.

4.  The applicant was separated on temporary military records.  Those records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 27 August 1968.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  He completed basic airborne training.  He was promoted to Sergeant, E-5 on 29 April 1969.

5.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam on or about 12 September 1969.  He was assigned to Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry and then to Company D (Ranger), 75th Infantry as an 11F4P, assistant patrol leader.  (11F was Infantry Intelligence and Operations.  These units performed long-range reconnaissance patrols.)

6.  The applicant departed Vietnam on 17 December 1969 on emergency leave.  He apparently received a compassionate reassignment and was assigned to Fort Ord, CA on or about 11 February 1970.  He was promoted to Staff Sergeant, E-6 on 13 April 1970.  He was separated early to attend school on 12 June 1970.  He had completed 1 year, 9 months and 26 days of creditable active service.  His Personnel Qualification Record, DA Form 20, which shows only his assignments from September 1969 through June 1970, show that his conduct and efficiency were rated as “excellent” during that time.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards.  In pertinent part, it states that the CIB was established during World War II to provide special recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only soldier whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to seize and hold terrain.  From the beginning, Army leadership have taken care to retain the badge for the unique purpose for which it was established.  There are basically three requirements for award of the CIB.  The soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must actively participate in such ground combat.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also states that an individual who has satisfactorily completed the prescribed proficiency tests while assigned or attached to an airborne unit or the Airborne Department of the Infantry School is eligible for award of the Parachutist Badge.

9.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, provided policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  It stated that the Army Good Conduct Medal was awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after 27 August 1940 and, for the first award only, upon termination of service on or after 27 June 1950 of less than 3 years but more than 1 year.  At the time, a soldier’s conduct and efficiency ratings must have been rated as “excellent” for the entire period of qualifying service.

10.  In 1974, all units which served in Vietnam were awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board notes that the applicant, since he performed duties as an 11F on long-range patrol to gather intelligence about the enemy, did not meet the strict eligibility criteria for award of the CIB.  It was not his daily mission to close with and destroy the enemy.  However, the Board does recognize that the applicant was an infantryman whose mission placed him in a position where he could have engaged the enemy in circumstances highly prejudicial to his survival chances.  He was not safely behind the lines collecting intelligence.  The Board concludes that it would be appropriate, as an exception to policy, to award the applicant the CIB. 

2.  The Board concludes that the applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.  Although his records are not complete, the Board notes that he was promoted to Staff Sergeant, E-6 in less than two years time.  The Board believes that this fact makes it unlikely that his conduct and efficiency were ever rated less than “excellent.”

3.  The applicant is also eligible for award of the Parachutist Badge and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

4.  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 applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge, as an exception to policy, and the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 27 August 1968 – 12 June 1970.

2.  That the applicant’s Report of Transfer or Discharge, DD Form 214, be amended to add the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Parachutist Badge, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

BOARD VOTE:  

__kak___  __ewl___  __gjw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Karol A. Kennedy
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000048409	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001221	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0111	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.