IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 12 March 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090000362 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests: a. removal of a memorandum, dated 14 February 2008, subject: Disqualification of the Army Good Conduct Medal, from his official military personnel file (OMPF) and b. award of his eighth Army Good Conduct Medal. 2. The applicant states the subject memorandum was erroneously placed in his OMPF. The applicant states the memorandum indicates he was barred from reenlisting and disqualified him from receiving the 8th award of the Army Good Conduct Medal. He states that he has never had any adverse action taken against him during his entire military career. 3. The applicant provides: a. a copy of the subject memorandum from Headquarters, Iraq Assistance Group, dated 14 February 2008; b. a copy of Permanent Orders 267-013, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Center and Fort Lee, Fort Lee, VA, dated 23 September 2003, awarding him a seventh Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 9 August 2001-8 August 2004; c. a 17 February 2009 memorandum from the colonel who signed the subject memorandum stating that the subject memorandum was in error and should never have been issued; d. a memorandum of support from a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 1st Brigade, 5th Iraq Army Division, Military Transition Team, dated 16 October  2008; e. a memorandum of support from a lieutenant colonel assigned to the Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific, Korea, dated 28 October 2008; and f. a self-authored memorandum for the Commander, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), Alexandria, VA, dated 14 November 2008, requesting he be given a standby advisory board (STAB) for promotion to command sergeant major/sergeant major (CSM/SGM) under the FY 2008 criteria. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant is a Regular Army master sergeant who first enlisted on 9 August 1983. 2. The applicant received 7 awards of the Army Good Conduct Medal without incident for the following 7 periods of service: a. 9 August 1983-8 August 1986 (1st award), b. 9 August 1986-8 August 1989 (2nd award), c. 9 August 1989-8 August 1992 (3rd award), d. 9 August 1992-8 August 1995 (4th award), e. 9 August 1995-8 August 1998 (5th award), f. 9 August 1998-8 August 2001 (6th award), and g. 9 August 2001-8 August 2004 (7th award). 3. The applicant was promoted to master sergeant on 1 June 2006. Following his promotion, he served a tour of duty in Iraq as a member of the Iraq Assistance Group, Multi-National Corps-Iraq. On 14 February 2008, the Group Chief of Staff signed the subject memorandum disqualifying the applicant from award of an eighth Army Good Conduct Medal due to a bar to reenlistment. The subject memorandum incorrectly listed the period of disqualification as 8 August 2004 through 7 August 2007. 4. A review of the applicant’s Integrated Personnel Electronic Records Management System records fails to reveal any bar to reenlistment having been placed against him. 5. The applicant provides a 17 February 2009 memorandum from the former Chief of Staff of the Iraq Assistance Group, now the Inspector General for Headquarters, U.S. Army Forces Command, Fort McPherson, GA. The memorandum supports removing the subject memorandum denying an eighth Army Good Conduct Medal from the applicant’s records. It states, "Through no fault of the [S]oldier, an honest mistake was made and a disqualification memorandum was placed into his Files which denied him the eighth award of the Good Conduct Medal." 6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Army Good Conduct Medal is awarded to individuals who distinguish themselves by their conduct, efficiency and fidelity during a qualifying period of active duty enlisted service. This period is 3 years except in those cases when the period for the first award ends with the termination of a period of Federal military service. Although there is no automatic entitlement to the Good Conduct Medal, disqualification must be justified. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. Evidence of record shows that a disqualification of the Army Good Conduct Medal memorandum was incorrectly placed in the applicant's OMPF for no apparent reason. The officer who signed the memorandum verifies that it was erroneously placed in the applicant's OMPF. Therefore, the subject memorandum, dated 14 February 2008, should be removed from the applicant's performance portion of his OMPF. 2. There is no evidence of any adverse information in the applicant's records or that his commander disqualified him for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal. Therefore, it appears the applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal (8th Award) for the period 9 August 2004 through 8 August 2007 based on completion of a period of qualifying service. He should be awarded this medal. BOARD VOTE: ___X____ __X_____ ___X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. removing the disqualification of the Army Good Conduct Medal memorandum, dated 14 February 2008, from the performance portion of his OMPF; and b. awarding him the Army Good Conduct Medal (8th Award) for the period 9 August 2004 through 8 August 2007. XXX _________________________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090000362 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090000362 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1