MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           8 February 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000048829

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman, Jr.		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 the military occupational specialty (MOS) Infantryman be added to his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55 and that he be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was assigned to a combat platoon of the 115th Infantry of the 29th Division.  They went ashore on Omaha Beach on 7 June 1944.  He was an ammunition carrier.  He was given rocket grenades and a Springfield 03 to launch those rockets.  Once he launched a rocket at a Nazi machine gun nest and the machine gun quieted down.  As the days went by, he took an M-1 rifle from a dead soldier so then he had automatic fire power, which he used several times.  Under the circumstances, he should have been awarded the Infantryman MOS.  He was in combat and in the infantry and he was wounded as his outfit advanced towards St. Lo so he should be eligible for the CIB and the BSM based upon the award of the CIB.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from reconstructed records.

The applicant was inducted into the Army on 21 June 1943 and entered active duty on 5 July 1943.  He was wounded in action on 16 June 1944 and discharged by reason of disability on 6 February 1945.  His WD AGO Form      53-55, shows his organization as Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 11th Infantry and his MOS as 504 (Ammunition Handler).

War Department Circular 269-1943 established the CIB to provide an incentive to infantrymen.  It was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy. War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the CIB was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.   It was intended 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.  The badge was intended as an inducement for individuals to join the infantry while serving as a morale booster for infantrymen.  In developing the CIB, the War Department did not dismiss or ignore the contributions of other branches.  Their vital contributions to the overall war effort were noted, but it was decided that other awards and decorations were sufficient to recognize their contributions.  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.  

The Awards Branch, U. S. Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the CIB 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 ensure that all soldiers have the survival skills to perform basic infantry missions when the need arises.  The exigencies of combat may require non-infantry soldiers to temporarily perform the basic infantry duties that all soldiers are taught but it is not a basis for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Army Regulation 600-45, then in effect, provided, in pertinent part, for the award of the BSM to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat

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 Board recognizes that the applicant was assigned to an infantry unit and that he participated in the invasion of Normandy.  The Board acknowledges the valuable services he performed and the sacrifices he made during the fighting on the beaches of Normandy.  However, the evidence of record shows that he was not an infantryman.  While the exigencies of combat may have required him and thousands of other non-infantry soldiers to temporarily perform the basic infantry duties that all soldiers are taught, it is not a basis for the award of the CIB.
2.  Because the applicant does not meet the criteria for award of the CIB, he is not authorized award of the BSM.

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

__jl____  __gdp___  __dph___  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000048829	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010208	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0014	
2.	107.0111	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.