IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 13 AUGUST 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090005654 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 second period of service in Iraq, as shown in Item 18 (Remarks) of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), be corrected from 20060831- 20070830 to 20060831-200801. 2. The applicant states that the second set of dates for service in Iraq are incorrect; his unit was extended to January 2008. 3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214 in support of his application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) on 15 April 2002; he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 63A (Abrams tank system maintenance); and he was promoted to pay grade E-5, which is the highest grade he held during his tenure of service. 2. He was honorably discharged on 27 April 2008. Item 18 of the DD Form 214 he was issued shows the entry "SERVICE IN IRAQ 20040306 - 20050601//SERVICE IN IRAQ 20060831- 20070830." 3. In the processing of this case the Board's staff contacted the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) which stated that the applicant received hostile fire pay for the period 061001- 080131 and his actual "boots on the ground" extended from 061031-080115. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contention that the second set of dates of his service in Iraq are incorrect was carefully considered and found to have merit. 2. The DFAS verified that the applicant served in Iraq from 31 October 2006 to 15 January 2008. Additionally, as a result of DFAS' verification of the ending period of his 2d tour in Iraq, it was discovered that the beginning date of this tour should be recorded as 061031 [31 October 2006] versus 060831 [31 August 2006] as currently reflected on his DD Form 214. Although it is not the policy of this Board to make an applicant worse off than when he or she applied to this Board, in this case the correction would be appropriate since the applicant's issue concerned correction of the inclusive dates of his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq. Therefore, it would be appropriate to now correct his records to reflect the actual dates he served in Iraq. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ___X_____ ___X_____ ___X_____ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief. As a result, the Board recommends that the DD Form 214 of the individual concerned be corrected by deleting from Item 18 of the applicant's DD Form 214 for the period ending 27 April 2008 the entry "SERVICE IN IRAQ 20040306 - 20050601//SERVICE IN IRAQ 20060831-20070830" and replacing it with the entry "SERVICE IN IRAQ FROM 20040306-20050601//SERVICE IN IRAQ from 20061031-20080115." 2. The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief. As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to show he served in Iraq on his second tour from 20060831-200801. ________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) AR20090005654 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090005654 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1