IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 5 November 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090003579 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, in effect, that all correspondence in his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) showing that he was absent without leave (AWOL) and dropped from the rolls (DFR) of the Army in 2002 be expunged from his military records. 2. The applicant essentially states that the 21st Replacement Detachment at Fort Hood, Texas reported him as being AWOL and later DFR of the Army when he failed to report to Fort Hood on 15 January 2002. However, he was attached to the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion (USARB) in Portland, Oregon from 10 January to 19 July 2002. He also states that he took leave from 20 July to 5 August 2002 to proceed to Fort Hood. 3. The applicant provides a self-authored memorandum, dated 16 February 2009; a letter, dated 10 December 2008, from the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR); a previous DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record Under the Provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552), dated 21 October 2008; orders, dated 10 January 2002 and 7 February 2002, which attached him to the USARB in Portland, Oregon from 10 January 2002 through 10 March 2002; orders, dated 18 July 2002, which released him from attachment to the USARB, effective 19 July 2002; a DA Form 31 (Request and Authority for Leave), dated 18 July 2002; a DD Form 553 (Deserter/Absentee Wanted by the Armed Forces), dated 15 August 2002; two DA Forms 4187 (Personnel Action), both dated 25 July 2002; a DA Form 4187, dated 9 August 2002; a DA Form 4384 (Commander's Report of Inquiry/ Unauthorized Absence), dated 12 August 2002; a DD Form 458 (Charge Sheet), dated 20 August 2002; and his Enlisted Record Brief in support of this application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant is currently serving as a staff sergeant in the Regular Army. 2. A review of the restricted portion of the applicant’s OMPF in the integrated Personnel Electronic Records Management System (iPERMS) shows three different entries--two separate entries relating to the applicant’s AWOL period and DFR status, and an entry with 15 pages of correspondence related to the applicant's initial attempt to get the ABCMR to expunge his military records of erroneous AWOL and DFR correspondence. The 9-page entry relating to his AWOL period and DFR status, dated 15 May 2002, essentially shows the applicant was reported as having failed to report to the 21st Replacement Detachment at Fort Hood, Texas, on 15 January 2002, and he was listed in an AWOL status. 3. IPERMS also shows that he was dropped from the rolls of the Army effective 16 February 2002. However, the 9-page entry related to the AWOL and DFR status of the applicant, dated 10 January 2002, in iPERMS clearly shows that the applicant's DFR status was erroneous, and contains a DD Form 616 (Report of Return of Absentee), dated 29 April 2003, which categorized the applicant's DFR status as erroneous. This 9-page entry also contained an e-mail, dated 10 March 2003, from a master sergeant at the Field Operations Division, 3rd Personnel Group/III Corps Adjutant General, Fort Hood which clearly states that the applicant should not (emphasis added) have been listed in an AWOL or DFR status. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant contends that correspondence in his OMPF showing he was in an AWOL and DFR status in 2002 should be expunged from his military records. 2. The evidence in the applicant's restricted portion of his OMPF clearly shows he should not have been listed in an AWOL or DFR status in 2002. In view of the foregoing, and in the best interests of both the Army and the applicant, it would be appropriate to remove the two 9-page entries, dated 10 January 2002 and 15 May 2002, as well as the previous ABCMR letter, dated 10 December 2008, advising the applicant of his failure to exhaust administrative remedies in his attempt to remove these documents from his OMPF. The information contained in those entries is being incorporated into these proceedings, and their collective grouping in an approved ABCMR proceedings will create not only a streamlined restricted portion in the applicant's OMPF but it will also be less confusing to Army leaders and managers who may access the restricted portion of the applicant's OMPF in the future. BOARD VOTE: ___X____ ___X___ ___X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. 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 expunging the two 9-page entries, dated 10 January 2002 and 15 May 2002, as well as the previous ABCMR letter, dated 10 December 2008, from his OMPF. 2. The Board wants the applicant and all others to know that the sacrifices he is making in service to the United States throughout his military career, and especially while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, are deeply appreciated. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his honorable service in arms. _______ _ _X______ ___ 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) AR20090003579 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090003579 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1