IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 29 September 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150003160 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 correct name. 2. The applicant states: a. her DD Form 214 list the wrong name and should be corrected to reflect the name she signed on the bottom of her DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record), as P____ T____ B____; b. at the time of her discharge from the Army, she was divorced and returned to her maiden name; and c. her DA Form 3349 (Physical Profile Board Proceedings) also lists the incorrect name. 3. The applicant provides copies of her: * Driver’s License * DD Form 214 * DA Form 3349 * American Embassy Letter * Divorce Decree CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's record shows she reenlisted in the Regular Army on 31 July 1981. The DD Form 4/1 (Enlistment or Reenlistment Agreement – Armed Forces of the United States) completed during her reenlistment processing list her name as P_____ F. M____ in item 1 (Name). 2. All documents contained in the applicant’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), issued subsequent to her reenlistment list her name as P_____ F. M____ and when required she authenticated these documents by signing this same name. There are no documents in her OMPF listing her last name as P____ T____ B____. 3. Her OMPF includes the following documents prepared on the dates indicated, that list her name as P_____ F. M____: * DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action) dated 21 January 1983 * DD Form 1407 (Dependent Medical Care and DD Form 1173 Statement) dated 10 July 1984 * DD Form 664 (Service Member’s Statement Concerning Compensation from the Veterans Administration), dated 10 July 1984 4. On 30 July 1984, the applicant was honorably discharged from active duty by reason of expiration term of service. Item 1 (Name) of the DD Form 214 issued to her at that time lists the name she now claims to be incorrect, P_____ F. M____. 5. The applicant provides the following documents: a. Superior Court of Liberty County, State of Georgia, Final Judgement and Decree, which ordered and decreed her marriage set aside and dissolved on 21 May 1982. Her name was listed on this decree as P_____ F. M____, the name that she claims is incorrect. b. Embassy of the United States of America, Copenhagen, Denmark, Letter, dated 14 February 1984. This document states that the applicant is free to remarry and it also lists the name that she now claims is incorrect. c. State of North Carolina, Driver’s License issued on 22 February 2011, which list the name that she claims is correct, P____ T____ B____. 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 established standardized policy for the preparation of the DD Form 214. It stated the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provided 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 last name as B______ due to her divorce on 21 May 1982. However, the evidence of record shows that while she divorced her spouse prior to her discharge from active duty, her OMPF does not contain any evidence showing she initiated a name change while still on active duty. She continually served under the name that she now claims is incorrect. She authenticated all documents by signing this same name when required to do so, from the time of her court-ordered divorce on 21 May 1982 until she was discharged on 30 July 1984. Absent any evidence to the contrary, the evidence of record shows she chose to use the name she held prior to her divorce. Accordingly, it is the name shown on her DD Form 214. 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. 3. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document will be filed in her OMPF. This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion regarding the difference in the last name recorded on her DD Form 214 and to satisfy her desire to have her maiden name documented in her OMPF. 4. In view of the foregoing, the applicant's request should be denied. 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. ____________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) AR20150003160 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150003160 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1