IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  25 July 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130021187 


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 correction of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show her middle name as Shane.

2.  The applicant states her middle name is incorrectly spelled as Shanae on her DD Form 214.

3.  The applicant provides:

* birth certificate
* marriage license
* social security card
* DD Form 214

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant initialed enlisted in the Regular Army on 28 February 2003.  She last enlisted in the Regular Army on 1 February 2007.

2.  The applicant's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) includes separate DD Forms 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document – Armed Forces of the United States) that were prepared in support of each of her enlistments.  These documents, dated 28 February 2003, 1 February 2007, and 11 December 2010, each list her middle name as Shanae.

3.  The applicant's OMPF includes a DD Form 93 (Record of Emergency Data), dated 26 August 2013, and a DD Form 214 which was prepared upon her final discharge from active duty on 19 November 2013.  These documents contain the applicant's digital signature and show her middle name as Shanae.

4.  The military documents filed in the applicant's OMPF show her middle name as Shanae throughout her military service.  When the applicant authenticated documents with her full signature, she signed her middle name as Shanae.

5.  The applicant's OMPF contains and she provided copies of her birth certificate, marriage license, and social security card which show her middle name as Shane.

6.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, prescribed 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.  It states 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends her record should be corrected to show her middle name as Shane.  However, the evidence of record confirms the middle name recorded throughout her OMPF is the same middle name recorded on her DD form 214.  The inclusion of the applicant's birth certificate, marriage license, and social security card in her OMPF proves she was aware of the middle name given at her birth, but voluntarily chose to serve under the middle name recorded in her military records.

2.  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 the applicant desires to now record the middle name shown on her birth certificate in her military records, there is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Army's records.

3.  The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document, which confirms the middle name given at her birth will be filed in her OMPF.  This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion regarding the difference in the middle name recorded on her DD Form 214 and to satisfy her desire to have her original middle name documented in her OMPF.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.

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)                                         AR20130021187



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130021187



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