PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           07 MARCH 2002             
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001065639

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	
	Mr. Regan K. Smith		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 that his military records be corrected to show that his home of record (HOR) at the time of his enlistment was Houston, Texas, vice Lawton, Oklahoma.  He states that he was visiting a family member in Oklahoma at the time of his enlistment and was instructed to “write down the address of where [he] was staying” at the time.  He submits no evidence in support of his request.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant was born in Houston and graduated from Sam Houston High School in Houston, in June 1997.  His father and step-mother resided on Edgebrook Street in Houston, which is the same address the applicant resided at between June 1992 and June 1999.  The Edgebrook address is the address listed on the applicant’s Texas driver’s license, which he used for identification purposes upon his June 1999 enlistment, and is the address the applicant is currently using.

4.  The applicant’s statement of personal history, completed as part of his enlistment processing, indicates his only places of employment prior to his enlistment in the Army were in Houston and all of his personal references are listed with Houston addresses.

5.  His statement of personal history also indicates he arrived at the Lawton, Oklahoma address in June 1999 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on 
25 June 1999.  He was processed for enlistment at the Oklahoma City MEPS (Military Entrance and Processing Station).  His enlistment documents recorded a Lawton, Oklahoma address as the applicant’s “current” and HOR address.

6.  On the applicant’s 25 June 1999 enlistment physical examination he listed Houston as his “home address” and listed his father, at the Edgewood address, as his next of kin.

7.  The applicant entered active duty on 29 September 1999 and was discharged on 17 September 2001.  His DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) reflects Lawton as his HOR, but lists addresses in Houston as his “mailing address after separation” and the address of his “nearest relative.”

8.  Army Regulation 601-210 provides that the policies and procedures for the preparation of enlistment contracts.  It states, in pertinent part, that the HOR address entered on the enlistment contract will be the address declared by the 

applicant to be their permanent home or actual home at the time of enlistment.  A temporary address will not be entered.

9.  The Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR) provides, in pertinent part, that the HOR is the place recorded as the home of the individual at the time of enlistment or induction.  There is no authority to change the HOR as officially recorded at time of entry into the military service.  However, there is authority to correct a HOR if erroneously entered on the records at that time and then only for travel and transportation purposes.  Correction of the HOR must be based on evidence that a bona fide error was made and the HOR as corrected must have been the actual home of the individual at the time of entry into the relevant period of service.  It may not be a place selected for the convenience of the soldier.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although there are no provisions to change a HOR, there are provisions to correct a HOR if it can be determined that an error was made at the time the HOR was recorded.  The applicable regulations state that the HOR at the time of entry on active duty will be the actual home or permanent home and that a temporary address will not be entered.

2.  There is sufficient evidence for the Board to conclude that the applicant was residing in Houston until June 1999 when he then relocated to Oklahoma and enlisted within days of arriving in Oklahoma.  While he may have been residing at the Lawton address for several days at the time of his enlistment, clearly Houston, which included the residence of his parents, was his only place of employment prior to enlistment, and the residence of all of the personal references he listed upon his enlistment, was more of a “permanent” address and tends to support a conclusion that the Lawton address was merely a temporary residence.

3.  As such the Board concludes that there is sufficient evidence that the applicant's likely "permanent" address at the time of his entry into the Army in 1999 was Houston, Texas, and as such it would be appropriate, and in the interest of justice, to correct his records accordingly.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant's HOR as Houston, Texas.

BOARD VOTE:  

__RVO__  __JPI ___  __RKS__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001065639	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020307	
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.	112.01	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.