BOARD DATE: 23 May 2012 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110023460 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 correction of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show her name as shown on her birth certificate. 2. The applicant states she does not want a discrepancy in her name to cause any future difficulties when she applies for retirement or Federal employment. She contends that her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) should read Noemi P---z-C----o and not Sonia P---z-C----o. 3. The applicant provides: * two DD Forms 214 for the period ending 23 September 1985 and 22 June 1991 * Certificate of Birth issued on 22 November 2011 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. A review of the applicant's military records reveals: a. she had served in the Regular Army from 1979 to 1985 using the name of Sonia Noemi G----a; b. she served in the Puerto Rico Army National Guard (PRARNG) from 1986 to 2002 using the name Sonia Noemi P---z-C----o; c. she was transferred to the Retired Reserve using this same name; d. that essentially every document in her military record shows her first name as Sonia and either Noemi or the letter "N" as her middle name; and e. her family name was written on various documents in one of the following three forms: * P---z (did not include that part after the hyphen) * P---zc----o (included both parts of last name without a hyphen * P---z-C----o (entire name with a hyphen) 3. The evidence of record shows the applicant signed her name in a variety of forms, to include using her full last name with and without a hyphen or space. 4. The applicant's Certificate of Birth issued on 22 November 2011 shows her birth name as Noemi P---z C----o (last name in two parts without a hyphen). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant contends her DD Form 214 should be corrected to show her first name as Noemi because she does not want a discrepancy in her name to cause any future difficulties when she applies for retirement or Federal employment. 2. The applicant served in both the Regular Army and the PRARNG using a first and middle name of Sonia Noemi. Furthermore, she used a family name that incorporated both parts with a hyphen or just a space. There is no evidence that shows the applicant has or would suffer any injury or injustice as a result of the Army maintaining its records with the name under which she served. The fact that she now desires a change to that name for personal reasons is not a sufficiently mitigating factor that warrants granting relief for changing her first or middle names as she used them. 3. For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records. The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created. However, because the applicant did use a full, two-part, family name, this portion of her request to correct her family name should be granted. 4. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document, which confirms his correct name, will be filed in her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion in regard to the difference in the name recorded in her military record and to satisfy her desire to have her correct name documented in her OMPF. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___x_____ ___x_____ ___x__ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ___________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) AR20110023460 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110023460 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1