RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-02402 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 1. His military service record be corrected to reflect the time he served in Thailand (administratively corrected). 2. His military service record be corrected to reflect the time he served in Vietnam. 3. The following awards be added to his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge: Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (SAEMR), Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (AFOUA) and the Air Force Good Conduct Medal (AFGCM). ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He served temporary duty (TDY) in Roi Et Province, Thailand for over 90 days. There may be an Agent Orange issue as he spent a short time changing planes in Vietnam. In support of his request, the applicant provides copies of AF Form 626, Temporary Duty Order – Military, a personal statement, his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge, and a letter from the National Personnel Records Center(NPRC), dated 26 May 11. The applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant served on active duty in the Regular Air Force from 21 Apr 66 to 6 Apr 70. His DD Form 214 reflects a total of 3 years, 11 months, and 19 days of total active service with 2 years, 11 months, and 15 days of Foreign Service. The Vietnam Service Medal (VSM), created on 8 Jul 65, is awarded to all service members of the Armed Forces who, between 4 Jul 65 and 28 Mar 73, served in the following areas of Southeast Asia: in Vietnam and the contiguous waters and airspace; in Thailand, Laos or Cambodia or the airspace there over in the direct support of military operations in Vietnam. The specific eligibility criteria requires a member to be either: Attached to or regularly serving for one, or more, days with an organization participating in or directly supporting ground (military) operations, Attached to or regularly serving for one, or more, days aboard a naval vessel directly supporting military operations, Actually participate as a crew member in one or more aerial flights directly supporting military operations, or Serve on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days, which may be waived for personnel participating in actual combat operations. In a memorandum to the applicant, AFPC/DPSIDR states they were able to verify entitlement to the VSM with one Bronze Service Star while on TDY to Thailand from 22 Jan 68 to 21 Apr 68. No additional awards could be verified. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: HQ AFPC/DPAPP recommends denial. DPAPP states they could not verify any time served in Vietnam or Thailand. They were able to verify the applicant served in Camp Drake, Japan from 21 Apr 67 to 10 Dec 68 for 1 year, 7 months and 20 days and Alconbury, United Kingdom, from 15 Dec 68 to 8 Apr 70, for 1 year, 3 months, and 25 days. DPAPP states the applicant was selected for TDY to Southeast Asia, but was unable to verify what location in Southeast Asia. The complete DPAPP evaluation is at Exhibit C. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: On 22 Dec 11, copies of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant for review and comment within 30 days. To date, a response has not been received (Exhibit E). ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of error or injustice. After a thorough review of the available evidence and the applicant’s complete submission, we find no evidence that his records should be corrected to reflect service in Vietnam. Therefore, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary responsibility (OPR) and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the victim of an error or injustice. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the relief sought in this application. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice to warrant partial relief. In this respect, we note the Air Force OPR did not address the applicant’s request to add the following awards to his DD Form 214: Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (SAEMR), Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (AFOUA) and the Air Force Good Conduct Medal (AFGCM). After reviewing the applicant’s master personnel records, we note that his AF Form 7, Airman Military Record, reflects he was awarded the SAEMR, AFOUA, and the AFCGM. As such, we believe these awards should be added to his DD Form 214. In view of the above, we recommend his records be corrected to the extent indicated below. ________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that the following awards were added to his DD Form 214: SAEMR, AFOUA and the AFCGM. ______________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR BC-2011- 02402 in Executive Session on 28 Feb 12, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: The following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-2011-02402: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 9 Jun 11, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, HQ AFPC/DPAPP dated 31 Oct 11. Exhibit E. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 22 Dec 11. AFBCMR BC-2011-02402 MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records and under the authority of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code, it is directed that: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that the following awards were added to his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge: Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and the Air Force Good Conduct Medal. Director Air Force Review Boards Agency