PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           14 February 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001061594

	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:

	Mr. John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. John E. Denning		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 his Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD Form 214, be amended to show his date of birth as                  27 November 1960.

3.  The applicant states that he was born in Havana, Cuba on 27 November 1960.  He came to the United States on 26 June 1995.  When he received his Permanent Resident Card, he did not notice until some time later that the date of birth on the card read 27 November 1969.  Instead of correcting the mistake on the card, he adopted that date as his birth date.  All his military records, and many of his civilian records, reflect this incorrect birth date.  He has since taken steps to correct the mistake on his Alien Registration Card.  The wrong birth date was not done for any fraudulent purpose or with intent to commit fraud.  

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program on 22 March 1996 and in the Regular Army on 14 May 1996 for 3 years. His Enlistment/Reenlistment Document Armed Forces of the United States, DD Form 4/1, shows his date of birth as 27 November 1969.  He was released from active duty on 13 May 1999 and apparently transferred to an Army National Guard unit.  Item 5 of the DD Form 214 shows his date of birth as 27 November 1969.

5.  The applicant apparently recently received a new Permanent Resident Card.  It shows his date of birth as 27 November 1960.  On 5 February 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Service verified that his date of birth is               27 November 1960.

6.  Army Regulation 635-5 prescribes the separation documents prepared for soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army.  It establishes standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214.  In pertinent part it states that the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the soldier’s most recent period of continuous active duty.  It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement or discharge.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records.  The data and information contained in those records should actually reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created.  Normally, the Board is reluctant to recommend that those records be changed. 

2.  While the applicant served on and was released from active duty under the Army’s impression that his date of birth was 27 November 1969, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has verified that his date of birth is actually                27 November 1960.  It would be appropriate to correct all his records to show his date of birth as 27 November 1960.

3.  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, to include the applicant’s DD Form 214, be corrected to show his date of birth as 27 November 1960.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jns___  __bje___  __jed___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			John N. Slone
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001061594	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020214	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.