PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           20 November 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001058702

	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	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		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 the organization shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, be changed from Service Troop, 12th Cavalry Squadron to the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, 43rd Infantry Division.

3.  The applicant states that he served with the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in New Guinea and Luzon, Philippines, and that unit should be shown on his discharge.  The organization currently shown on the WD AGO Form 53-55, Service Troop, 12th Cavalry Squadron, was only for the purpose of his return to the States.  In support of his request, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 100, Separation Qualification Record, an extract from the history of the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in World War II showing his name as a member of the organization and two letters from former members of the troop attesting to the fact that the applicant was a member of the troop.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 24 May 1943, awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS) of scout, served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from December 1943 to January 1946, and was honorably discharged at demobilization on 22 January 1946, in the grade of sergeant.

5.  The copy of the history of the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in World War II, furnished by the applicant, was apparently written by a former member of the organization and among other things, contains a roster of former members of the organization.  The applicant’s name (without other identifying information) is included on that roster.

6.  The letters submitted by two former members of the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop both assert that the applicant was a member of the organization during the New Guinea and Luzon, Philippines, campaigns.

7.  Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, the regulatory guidance then in effect, provides that item 6 (organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55, should contain the last unit or similar element to which the soldier was assigned, rather then the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity.  Assignments to units for the purpose of transfer from a theater to the States are considered part of the movement to a separation activity.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The available evidence suggests that the applicant was probably, as he states, a member of the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, 43rd Infantry Division during his service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II.  The organization currently listed on his WD AGO Form 53-55, Service Troop, 12th Cavalry Squadron, was nothing more than a “carrier unit” while he was moving to the States for separation.

2.  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 organization of the individual concerned, (item 6 of WD AGO Form 53-55), was the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, 43rd Infantry Division.

BOARD VOTE:  

___rks __  ____mhm  ____jlp__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Jennifer L. Prater____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001058702	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20011120	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  100.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.