PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           21 February 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001061635

	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. George D. Paxson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas A. Pagan		Member	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		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, in effect, that his Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, be amended to show his organization as Company B, 30th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion.

3.  The applicant states that the error on his WD AGO 53-55 was discovered at his 30th Signal Construction Battalion reunion.  He provides two documents as supporting evidence.  One is an undated roster and appears to be an outgoing (continental United States to overseas) sailing list showing the applicant was assigned to Company B, 30th Signal Construction Battalion.  The other is Special Orders 253, Headquarters, Peninsular Base Section dated 10 September 1945 showing he was reassigned from the 30th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion to the 549th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion for return to the continental United States.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The applicant enlisted and entered active duty on 12 February 1942.  He departed for the North Atlantic Theater of Operations on 5 May 1943 and arrived on 12 May 1943.  He departed for the European Theater of Operations on         27 September 1943 and arrived on 30 September 1943.  In September 1945, he was reassigned from the 30th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion to the 549th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion for the purpose of a permanent change of station.  He departed the Theater on 26 September 1945 and arrived in the United States on 12 October 1945.  He separated on 19 October 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, item 6 shows his organization as the 549th Signal Headquarters Construction Company (sic).

6.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedures for the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period in question, stated that the last unit, or similar element to which the individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity, would be entered in item 6 (organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  It also noted that assignments to units for the purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States was considered part of the movement to a separation activity.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant provided sufficient evidence to conclude that he was assigned to Company B, 30th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion while in Europe and that the 549th Signal Heavy (not “Headquarters”) Construction Battalion (not “Company”) was only the unit to which he was assigned while moving to a separation activity.
2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, item 6 be amended to show his organization as Company B, 30th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion.

BOARD VOTE:  

__gdp___  __tap___  __mhm___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			George D. Paxson
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001061635	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020221	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.