PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            17 August 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999033501

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Sherri V. Ward		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Linda D. Simmons		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A -  Application for correction of military 
                             records
	Exhibit B -  Military Personnel Records (including
	                  advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests, in effect, that block 22 (Date of Induction), 
26 (Selective Service Data), 27 (Local Selective Service Board Number), 
28 (County and State), 29 (Home Address at Time of Entry Into Service), 
36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return), and 41 (Service Schools Attended) of his War Department (WD) Adjutant General Office (AGO) 
Form 53 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge) be corrected.  

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his WD AGO Form 53 should be an accurate reflection of a soldier’s military service and his is not when the cited omissions and errors are considered.  Further, he claims these omissions and errors give the impression that he was in violation of the Selective Service System registration requirements at the time.  In addition, it incorrectly shows that he served with no military training and that he was a reenlistee rather than the draft inductee who enlisted, as was the case.  He concludes by indicating that corrected these errors will serve fairness and equity and will not result in the government incurring any expense.  

4.  The applicant’s military records were not available to this Board for review.  A 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center destroyed approximately 
18 million service members’ records.  It is presumed the applicant’s records were among those lost in this fire. 

5.  The evidence does include a WD AGO Form 53 provided by the applicant.  This document shows that the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) component of the Army on 10 April 1946, as evidenced in block 2 (Army Serial Number) of the form which contains a prefix of RA.  The WD AGO Form 53 also indicates that the applicant was honorably discharged on 21 October 1947 by reason of reaching his expiration of term of service (ETS).  At the time of his separation he had completed a total of 1 year, 6 months, and 12 days of active military service.  

6.  On 25 September 1945, a Selective Service System letter ordered the applicant to report for a pre-induction physical examination.  This letter verified that the applicant was registered with the Selective Service System at Local Board Number (Foreign) of the District of Columbia, which was located at 2227 M Street Northwest, Washington, D.C.  

7.  On 28 March 1946, the American Vice Counsel of the American Embassy, Brussels, Belgium forwarded a letter to the applicant which advised him that he had been ordered to report for induction by his Selective Service System local board.  He was also advised that he should report to the American Army Induction Station, Antwerp, Belgium.  This letter also verifies that the applicant’s residence address at that time was 51 Avenue de la Jonction, Brussels, Belgium.

8.  The evidence provided by the applicant also includes a Training Certificate, issued by the Theater Medical Department Training Center, Lesum, Germany.  This document certifies that the applicant successfully completed a basic medical department course he attended from 30 September to 9 November 1946.  It also verifies that the applicant was rated as very satisfactory.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board noted the applicant’s contentions that there are errors and omissions in his WD AGO Form 53 which serve to render his military service record inaccurate.  In the opinion of the Board, these errors result in no significant injustice to the applicant; however, given the applicant’s wishes, the Board finds it would be appropriate to provide partial relief in the interest of accuracy.

2.  The evidence or record shows that, while the applicant was ordered to report for induction, he was actually accessed into the RA.  This could have only been the result of his voluntary enlistment in that component of the Army.  Because a member can only be accessed into one component of the Army and block 
3 (Date of Enlistment) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53 already contains a proper date entry, the Board finds it would not be appropriate to enter an induction date in block 2 of the form.  

3.  However, the Board did conclude that it would be appropriate, in the interest of clarity, to correct blocks 26, 27, 28, 29, 36, and 41 of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53.  make the following corrections to the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53:  block 26 change the entry to “Yes”; block 27 add “#1 (Foreign); block 28 add “Washington D.C.”; block 29 add “51 Avenue de la Jonction, Brussels, Belgium”; block 36 change the word reenlisted to “enlisted”; and block 41 add “Basic Medical Department Training Course”.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected entering the following information on the WD AGO Form 53 of the individual concerned:  block 26 (Selective Service Data) “Yes”; 
block 27 (Local Selective Service Board Number) “1 (Foreign)”;
block 28 (County and State) “Washington D.C.”; block 29 (Home Address at Time of Entry Into Service) “51 Avenue de la Jonction, Brussels, Belgium”; block 36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return) “Enlisted”; and 
block 41 (Service Schools Attended) “Basic Medical Department Training Course.”  

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__sw____  ___lds __  ___mm__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_____Sherri V. Ward______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033501	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/08/17	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1947/10/21	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-360	
DISCHARGE REASON	ETS	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PARTIAL 	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  1021	100.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.