PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           16 May 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002067954

	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. William Blakely		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Roger Able		Member	
	Ms. Paula Mokulis		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 military records be corrected to show he retired with the rank title First Sergeant (1SG).

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that during his retirement processing the wrong rank title was placed in Item 4a (Grade, Rate, or Rank) of his separation document (DD Form 214).  He was qualified in and awarded the Skill Qualification Identifier (SQI) of M (1SG), and believes that his placement on the Retired List should have been in that rank title.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of his DD Form 214.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that that on 31 August 1997, he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD), for the purpose of retirement, after completing 22 years, 3 months, and 18 days of active military service.  

5.  The applicant’s record shows that he served in an authorized 1SG position with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, Fort Stewart, Georgia, and the separation document (DD Form 214) issued to the applicant on the date of his separation lists his military occupational specialty (MOS) as 11M5M in Item 11 (Primary Specialty).  The M contained in the fifth character of this MOS is the SQI confirming his qualification as a 1SG.

6.  Orders Number 139-0249, dated 19 May 1997, issued by Headquarters, 
III Corps and Fort Hood, Fort Hood, Texas, authorized the applicant’s REFRAD for the purpose of retirement on 31 August 1997.  It also directed his placement on the Retired List on 1 September 1997, in the rank and pay grade of MSG/E-8.

7.  Army Regulation 635-200, chapter 12, paragraph 12-17, specifies that noncommissioned officers holding the rank and pay grade of MSG/E-8 at retirement, whose records show successful service as a 1SG/E-8, will be placed on the Retired List in the grade title “first sergeant.”  It also specifies, among other things, that in order to be placed on the Retired List as a 1SG, a soldier must be serving in and retiring in the pay grade E-8.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the applicant successfully served in an authorized 1SG position and was awarded the SQI M accordingly.  It also confirms that he held and was placed on the Retired List in the rank and pay grade of MSG/E-8, which is the rank and pay grade in which he was serving at the time.  

2.  By regulation, members who hold the rank and pay grade of MSG/E-8 at retirement, whose records show successful service as a 1SG/E-8, will be placed on the Retired List in the grade title “first sergeant.”  Therefore, the Board concludes the applicant’s record should be corrected to show he was placed on the Retired List as a 1SG/E-8.

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 be corrected by showing the individual concerned was placed on the Retired List on 
1 September 1997, with the rank title of 1SG (First Sergeant).

BOARD VOTE:  

__FNE___  __RA__  __PM____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Fred N. Eichorn___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002067954	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/05/16	
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.	129.0500	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.