BOARD DATE: 22 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001363 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ____x____ ____x____ ____x____ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 22 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001363 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. 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. 2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms. ______________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. BOARD DATE: 22 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001363 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 his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for the period ending 29 October 1971 to show he was awarded the Purple Heart (PH), the Combat Medical Badge (CMB), and the Air Medal (AM). 2. The applicant states: a. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT), 3rd Brigade, 17th Air Cavalry, 1st Aviation Brigade; however there were no orders attaching him to the 1st Delta Troop in the field from November 1970 until 28 February 1971. b. On 22 February 1971, his unit received mortar fire wounding one trooper. c. On 23 February 1971, their ambush patrol was ambushed on their way out to set up. d. On 26 February 1971, while on patrol, they were mechanically ambushed with claymore mines. Being the medic on these patrols, he deserves the CMB. There were four people wounded, including himself with a pellet to his right knee. He also received a traumatic brain injury (TBI) by being blown to the ground in the explosion and one person was killed in action. e. He was given 2 days of rest after his injury and then was re-attached to B Troop. f. In 1995, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found what appeared to be possible shrapnel still embedded in his right knee. g. He also believes he is entitled to the AM, since he flew with Bravo Troop, 3rd Battalion, 17th Air Calvary, from February 1971 until the end of August 1971, on various search and destroy missions, including support of air units during the Cambodia invasion. They were flying out of An Loc at that time. 3. The applicant provides a self-authored letter. 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. The applicant’s medical record is not available for review. 3. On 28 October 1968, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) at the age of 17 with parental consent. After initial training, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 91A (Medical Corpsman). 4. The applicant’s DD Form 214 for the period ending 27 June 1969 shows he was honorably discharged for immediate reenlistment. He completed 8 months of net active duty service. 5. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 17 November 1970 to 16 November 1971, and was assigned to the HHT, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), RVN, from 24 November 1970 to 13 August 1971. Item 40 (Wounds) contains no entries. 6. On 29 October 1971, the applicant was discharged with service characterized as under honorable conditions (general). His DD Form 214 shows he completed 2 years, 3 months and 26 days of net active service and 2 years, 11 months and 26 days of total active duty service. This form also reflects the following awards: * National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) * Vietnam Service Medal (VSM) * RVN Campaign Medal with Device (1960) * Overseas Service Bar * Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar ((M-16) 7. The applicant’s name is not shown on the Department of the Army Vietnam casualty roster. There is no entry pertaining to the applicant in this list of RVN casualties. 8. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Awards and Decorations Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal orders for any awards given to the applicant. 9. The evidence of record does not reveal any orders or documentation that shows he was awarded the AM or the CMB. The applicant's record does contain a DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), issued by the Army Personnel Center, St. Louis, MO, dated 15 July 1986, that shows he was authorized issuance of the CMB. REFERENCES: 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. It states: a. The PH is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. b. The CMB is awarded to medical department personnel (colonel and below) who are assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that is organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which is engaged in active ground combat. c. The AM is awarded in time of war for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service while participating in aerial flight. This award is primarily intended for personnel on flying status but may also be awarded to those personnel whose combat duties require them to fly; for example, personnel in the attack elements of units involved in air-land assaults against an armed enemy. As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders are required. 2. United States Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided, in pertinent part, guidelines for award of the AM. It established that passenger personnel who did not participate in an air assault were not eligible for the award based upon sustained operations. It defined terms and provided guidelines for the award based upon the number and types of missions or hours. Twenty-five Category I missions (air assault and equally dangerous missions) and accrual of a minimum of 25 hours of flight time while engaged in Category I missions was the standard established for which sustained operations were deemed worthy of recognition by an award of the Air Medal. However, the regulation was clear that these guidelines were considered only a departure point. 3. Combat missions were divided into three categories. A category I mission was defined as a mission performed in an assault role in which a hostile force was engaged and was characterized by delivery of ordnance against the hostile force, or delivery of friendly troops or supplies into the immediate combat operations area. A category II mission was characterized by support rendered a friendly force immediately before, during or immediately following a combat operation. A category III mission was characterized by support of friendly forces not connected with an immediate combat operation but which must have been accomplished at altitudes which made the aircraft at times vulnerable to small arms fire, or under hazardous weather or terrain conditions. 4. To be recommended for award of the AM, an individual must have completed a minimum of 25 category I missions, 50 category II missions, or 100 category III missions. Since various types of missions would have been completed in accumulating flight time toward award of an AM for sustained operations, different computations would have had to be made to combine category I, II and III flight time and adjust it to a common denominator. 5. Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army acting through the ABCMR. The ABCMR considers individual applications that are properly brought before it. The ABCMR will decide cases on the evidence of record. It is not an investigative body. The ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity. The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence. DISCUSSION: 1. There is no medical documentation in the available records that shows he received a wound to his right knee or that shows he received a TBI from a ground explosion while in combat. Award of the Purple Heart requires substantiating evidence to verify the wound was the result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record. 2. There are no orders or records to show he completed any air missions or that he was recommended for or awarded the AM. 3. Although the evidence indicates he was authorized issuance of the CMB in the 1980s, the regulatory criteria governing award of the CMB at the time did not authorized award of the CMB to medics assigned to cavalry units. Award of the CMB was only authorized for award to medics assigned to infantry units. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001363 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001363 5 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2