BOARD DATE: 12 November 2013 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130004720 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 that his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) be corrected to show in item 7b that his Home of Record (HOR) at the time of his enlistment was 5xxx Sugxxx, San Antonio, Texas 78253. 2. The applicant states he lived in Texas his whole life and moved to Florida to try something new for 11 months but could not make it in Florida so he joined the Army in Florida. He goes on to state that he desires to obtain benefits under the Hazelwood Act but is unable to do so because his DD Form 214 reflects a HOR in Florida. He also states that he lived in Florida less than a year and did not understand the importance of establishing a HOR or how it could affect his benefits. 3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, security clearance application, and his credit report. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army in Tampa, Florida on 3 January 2008. At the time of his enlistment he provided an address in Orlando, Florida as his HOR. His security clearance application shows he had lived and/or worked in Orlando from 5 January 2007 to his enlistment. 2. He completed his training and was assigned to Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He deployed to Iraq during the period 20080921 – 20090831 and was subsequently assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. 3. On 8 February 2011, he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) due to completion of required service. He had served 3 years, 1 month, and 6 days of active service and his DD Form 214 issued at the time of his REFRAD shows in item 7b the address he provided as his HOR at the time of his enlistment. He was paid transportation expenses to that address at the time of his REFRAD. 4. The documents provided by the applicant with his application show he lived in Texas since birth, except for a brief period prior to his enlistment. 5. Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR), volume I (Uniformed Service Members), provides in appendix A that the HOR is the place recorded as the home of the individual when commissioned, appointed, enlisted, inducted, or ordered into a tour of active duty. Only if a break in service exceeds 1 full day may the member change the HOR. However, an HOR may be changed in those instances where a member can show that through a bona fide error, the place originally named at time of current entry into the service was not in fact the actual home. Any such correction must be fully justified and the home, as corrected, must be the actual home of the member upon entering the service and not a different place selected for the member's convenience. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. At the time of the applicant's enlistment on 3 January 2008 he designated an address in Orlando, Florida, as his HOR. He had lived and worked in Orlando for almost one year. It appears to have been his permanent address at the time. He failed to show through the evidence of record or the evidence submitted with his application that his HOR is in error. 2. The JFTR provides that an HOR may only be corrected if a bona fide error can be established and that it may not be changed simply for the convenience of the Soldier. Accordingly, there appears to be no basis to change his HOR. 3. While the sincerity of the applicant’s claim that he lived in Texas is not in doubt, he was living in Florida at the time of his enlistment and designated a location in Florida as his HOR. Accordingly, he was paid travel expenses from Texas to Florida when he was REFRAD, which is the reason the HOR is established as a matter of record. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING __x___ __x______ __x______ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. 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. 2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to the United States during the Global War on Terrorism. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his 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) AR20130004720 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130004720 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1