RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2013-00315 XXXXXXX COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 1. His record be corrected to reflect two overseas tours of active duty covering the periods of 20 Sep 1988 to 12 Feb 1990 and 15 Oct 1990 to 14 Mar 1991. 2. He be entitled to the Air Force Overseas Ribbon (AFOR). 3. He be entitled to the Air Force Achievement Medal (AFAM). ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He completed two overseas tours in support of the Persian Gulf War (Kuwait). His DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, does not reflect his AFOR and his AFAM. He requests the aforementioned changes be made so he can submit a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) claim In support of his request, the applicant provides copies of a DVA letter, DD Form 256AF, Honorable Discharge Certificate; Reserve Order CA-009530, DD Form 214 and AFAM citation. His complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. ________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The AFOR (Long and Short) is awarded to Air Force active duty, Reserve and Guard personnel credited with completion of a long or short Air Force overseas tour. Personnel credited with both long and short tours may wear both AFORs. The applicant’s DD Form 214, Item 12f, Foreign Service, reflects 00 years, 00 months, and 00 days. ________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: ARPC/DPTS recommends denial of the applicant’s requests that his record be corrected to reflect two overseas tours of active duty covering the periods of 20 Sep 1988 to 12 Feb 1990 and 15 Oct 1990 to 14 Mar 1991 and that he be entitled to the AFOR. DPTS states that he enlisted in the Air Force Reserve on 17 Aug 1988 with an 8-year military service obligation, and on 20 Sep 1988 he entered active duty. The applicant was released from active duty on 12 Feb 1990, under the Early Separation Program - Strength Reduction. On 13 Feb 1990, he was transferred into the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and on 14 Dec 1994, he was discharged from the IRR. There is no documentation in his records to reflect any overseas time was completed. Moreover, on 20 Mar 2013, the applicant was invited to provide supporting documentation to verify his overseas time. He has provided no supporting documents. Notwithstanding the above, DPTS was able to verify his entitlement to the AFAM and recommends approval. The complete DPTS evaluation, with attachments, is at Exhibit C. ________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: On 21 Jun 2013, a copy 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 D). ________________________________________________________________ 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 with regard to the applicant’s request to add two overseas tours and entitlement to the AFOR. While the applicant contends he completed two overseas tours in support of the Persian Gulf War, he has not provided any evidence to support this contention. As such, we find that he has failed to sustain his burden of substantiating the existence of an error or an injustice in his records. Therefore, in view of the above and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to favorably consider this portion of his application. 4. Notwithstanding the above, sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice to warrant correcting the applicant’s records to reflect entitlement to the AFAM. In this respect, we note the Air Force Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) was able to confirm that the AFAM should be added to his DD Form 214. Therefore, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the OPR and adopt the rationale expressed as the basis for our decision that the applicant has been the victim of either an error or an injustice. Accordingly, we recommend his records be corrected as 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 that he was awarded the AFAM. ________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered this application in Executive Session on 15 Oct 2013, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member All members voted to correct the records as recommended. The following documentary evidence was considered in AFBCMR BC-2013- 00315: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 13 Jan 2013, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, HQ ARPC/DPTS, dated 2 Apr 2013, w/atchs. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 21 Jun 2013. 2 3 4