IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	       23 JULY 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090003317 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests that his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) be corrected by adding the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he sustained combat injuries while serving in Iraq.

3.  The applicant provides his DD Form 214; a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision; retirement orders, which show his disability resulted from a combat-related injury and was the direct result of armed conflict; a mental status evaluation which reports that the applicant stated that he attributes his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to a "shrapnel rocket attack on the base and him sustaining injuries and feeling less safe at the base"; and a DD Form 2697 (Report of Medical Assessment) in which the applicant states that he was hit by a rocket in Iraq which caused him lower back pain.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant's military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 7 March 2001.  He was awarded the military occupational specialty of unit supply specialist and was promoted to the rank of sergeant.  He served in Iraq from 1 January 2006 to 20 February 2007.

2.  On 2 October 2008, a physical evaluation board (PEB) convened to determine whether the applicant was physically fit for duty.  The PEB determined the applicant was physically unfit due to a disorder that existed prior to service (EPTS) and that his current manifestation of the disorder was determined to have been aggravated by military service and PTSD.  The applicant was determined to have a history of emotional problems from age 14 to 15 with the discontinuation of psychotropic medications around age 16 or 17.  The applicant was also determined to have Tourette's Disorder (both multiple motor tics and one or more vocal tics which must be present at the same time, although not necessarily concurrent – Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition ) which was not physically unfitting and Personality Disorder which does not constitute a physical disability.  The PEB recommended that the applicant be placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL), rated 50 percent disabled.

3.  The applicant concurred with those findings and recommendation and was honorably released from active duty on 27 October 2008 and placed on the TDRL the following day.

4.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was retired due to PTSD, not for shrapnel wounds.

2.  The applicant states that he was hit by a rocket, but has not submitted any corroborating evidence.

3. Without evidence showing he was treated for physical wounds which he incurred as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient basis for granting his request.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____X____  ____X____  ____X____  DENY APPLICATION


BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.




      _______ _   _XXX______   ___
       	   CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090003317



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090003317



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1