PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           2 October 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001059318

	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. William Blakely		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson 		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		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 his military records be corrected to show he earned the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) and all awards and decorations to which he is entitled.  He also requests that the last duty assignment listed in block 12 (Last Duty Assignment and Major Command) of his separation document (DD Form 214) be changed to show the correct unit.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his DD Form 214 does not show he earned the CMB and also does not include all the awards and decorations to which he is entitled.  He further states that block 12 of his DD Form 214 should read Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he had 3 years of prior honorable service from 23 July 1962 to 22 July 1965 and reenlisted in the Army for a period of 3 years on 22 October 1965.  He was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 91B (Medical Specialist) and served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina until being reassigned to Vietnam with his unit.  

5.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam on 13 February 1967 and served there for 
20 months until departing for separation processing on 14 October 1968.  His Enlisted Qualification Record (DA Form 20) confirms in block 35 (Record of Assignments) that during his tenure in Vietnam he served primarily with Headquarters Battery, 1st Howitzer Battalion, 92nd Artillery as a senior medical aidman and section sergeant through at least 19 September 1967.  This is the last effective date entry contained in block 35 and there is only one subsequent entry that shows he was reassigned to HHC, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division just prior to departing from Vietnam.  However, this entry contains no clear effective date and there is no indication anywhere in the record that shows he ever actually served with this unit as a medical aidman in combat. 

6.  Further, the only other documentation in the record that would shed light on the applicant’s unit of assignment in Vietnam subsequent to 13 September 1967 is a General Order (GO) Number 1461, dated 12 June 1968, issued by Headquarters, 101st Airborne Division.  This order awarded the applicant the Purple Heart for wounds he received in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 
11 May 1968.  It indicates in the standard name line that the applicant’s unit of assignment at the that time was Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 
2nd Howitzer Battalion, 320th Artillery.  

7.  Special Order Number 288, dated 14 October 1968, issued by the United States Army Personnel Center, Oakland, California, which authorized the applicant’s release from active duty does contain an entry that shows his last permanent assignment was HHC, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 
101st Airborne Division.  However, the DD Form 214 contains the following entry in block 12:  “HHC 2/302 Inf Abn Div”.  

8.  The applicant’s separation document also shows that he earned the following awards during his active duty tenure:  Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 Device, and National Defense Service Medal and that on 14 October 1968, he was honorably discharged in the rank and pay grade of staff sergeant/E-6 (SSG/E-6).

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Medical Badge 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.  Battle participation credit is not sufficient; the infantry unit must have been in contact with the enemy.

10.  Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) establishes the eligibility of individual members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit citation badges awarded during the Vietnam Conflict.  This publication confirms that, during his tenure of assignment with them, the applicant’s units earned the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation Badge and Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board notes the applicant’s contention that the CMB should be added to his record but finds insufficient evidence to support this claim.  By regulation, in order to receive the CMB a member must have been 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. 

2.  There is no evidence of record that shows the applicant was awarded or recommended for the CMB.  In addition, there is no indication that he was ever assigned to an eligible unit and was personally present with that unit when it was under hostile fire and actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.  In addition, the record clearly shows that he was assigned to an Artillery unit for the preponderance of his tour in Vietnam and at the time he was wounded in action. Thus, the Board concludes there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to award him the CMB.

3.  Although there is no evidence to show that the applicant served as a combat medical aidman with this unit and was personally present when the unit was under hostile fire and actively engaged in ground combat, the Board does find sufficient supporting evidence to show his last duty assignment was HHC,
2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and it concludes his separation document should be corrected list this unit in block 12. 

4.  Further, Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 confirms that during his assignment tenure, units the applicant served with in Vietnam earned the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation Badge and Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal.  Therefore, the Board concludes that he is entitled to these awards and they should be added to his record at this time. 

5.  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, particularly the DD Form 214 of the individual concerned corrected by showing his last unit of assignment was HHC, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and that he earned the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation and Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal Unit Citation. 

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__MKP___  __KAK__  __RTD__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__Margaret K. Patterson   _
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001059318	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2001/10/02	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.