IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 15 July 2014 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130020665 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 amendment of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to change her name from “Rxxxxxx, William Rxxxx" to "Rxxxxxx, Laura Lxxx." 2. The applicant states she requested and received a legal name change. As a result, her DD Form 214 does not accurately reflect her current gender, which causes her hardships when she exercises her veterans preference. 3. The applicant provides: * DD Form 214 * DD Form 363A (Certificate of Retirement), dated 1 August 1993 * Final Judgment of Change of Name (Adult), issued by the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County, FL * a letter from a medical doctor at Trinidad Reproductive Healthcare, Trinidad, CO, dated 25 August 2008 * State of Illinois Certificate of Birth issued on 15 October 2009 * social security card issued on 28 August 2008 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. On 30 July 1973, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army. Item 1 (Name) of the applicant's DD Form 4 (Enlistment Contract – Armed Forces of the United States) shows her name as "Rxxxxxx, William Roger." 3. Item 1 (Name) of the applicant's DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record – Part II) shows her name as "Rxxxxxx, William Roger." 4. On 31 July 1993, she was retired from the Army for length of service. Her DD Form 214 shows her name as "Rxxxxxx, William Roger." 5. The documents contained in her Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) identify her as "Rxxxxxx, William Roger," the name she used at the time of her enlistment and throughout her period of military service. The requested name does not appear in her MPRJ. 6. She provides her Final Judgment of Change of Name (Adult), issued by the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County, FL on 2 August 2005, which orders her name change to "Laura Lynn Rxxxxxx." 7. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) 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. 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. It is important that information entered on the form be complete and accurate. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant contends her DD Form 214 should be amended to correct her name. 2. The evidence of record shows that upon her enlistment in the Army, she listed her name as "Rxxxxxx, William Roger." She did not use the requested name at any point during her period of military service. 3. For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records. The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created. In the absence of a showing of material error or injustice, there is a reluctance to recommend that those records be changed. While it is understandable that she now desires to record her current name throughout her military records, there is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Army's records. 4. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document will be filed in her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion in regard to the difference in the name recorded in her military record and to satisfy her desire to have her current name documented in her OMPF. 5. Therefore, in the absence of convincing independent and verifiable evidence to the contrary, it is presumed her military service records, including her DD Form 214, were correct at the time and there is insufficient evidence to grant relief in this case. 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 the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _____________X___________ 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) AR20130020665 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1