IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 21 July 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140021483 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, correction of her DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) and other official records to show her last name as G_____ vice A_____. 2. The applicant states, in effect, she is requesting her new last name be reflected on her official files due to a divorce and remarriage. 3. The applicant provides: * a copy of a State of Virginia – In the Circuit Court of Richmond City, a Final Decree of Divorce entered 23 May 2011 with a certificating document, dated 31 May 2011 * a State of North Carolina, Certification of Vital Record – Application, License and Certificate of Marriage, dated 14 September 2012 * DD Form 1343 (Notification of Change in Service Member's Official Records), with an Information Paper from the Veterans Inquiry Section at U.S. Army Human Resources Command, dated 27 October 2014 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant was appointed as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army and entered active duty on 6 August 1981. She completed training and served as a Medical Services Corps Officer. 2. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows she was honorably retired on 31 July 2005 by reason of sufficient service for retirement. She completed 23 years, 11 months, and 25 days of net active service. Item 1 (Name (Last, First, Middle)) of her DD Form 214 shows her last name as A_____. 3. The applicant provided a copy of her divorce decree from the State of Virginia – In the Circuit Court of Richmond City with a certificating document, dated 31 May 2011. She also provided a Certificate of Marriage from the State of North Carolina, which shows she remarried on 14 September 2012 and established her last name as G_____. 4. The applicant provides a DD Form 1343 (Notification of Change in Service Member's Official Records), dated 27 October 2014. It stated the reason for change as "Marriage Certificate." This form was accompanied by an information paper, dated 27 October 2014, from U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Veterans Inquiry Section. This document stated, "Your military records have been corrected to show the change you requested. Enclosed is a DD Form 1343. The official seal of The Adjutant General has been embossed on this document as proof of its authenticity. A copy of this form has been distributed to the appropriate agencies." 5. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. In states that the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's request for correction of her DD Form 214 and other official records to show her last name as G_____ vice A_____ due to remarrying was carefully considered. 2. The evidence clearly shows the applicant was remarried on 14 September 2012 and changed her last name to G_____. However, this does not change the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time her service records were created. She was remarried after her retirement and her DD Form 214 was prepared as a record of her service at the time of retirement from active duty. 3. For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the integrity 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. In the absence of a showing of material error or injustice, there is a reluctance to recommend that those records be changed. While it is understandable the applicant desires to now record her married name in her military records, there is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Army's records. 4. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document, as well as the DD Form 1343 prepared by U.S. Army Human Resources Command will be filed in her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion in regard to the name difference recorded in her military record and to satisfy her desire to have her married name documented in her OMPF. 5. In addition, the approved last name change by U.S. Army Human Resources Command, through DD Form 1343, has been distributed to the appropriate agencies that need to know and update records, e.g., the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in regards to retired pay records. 6. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's requested relief. 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) AR20120010256 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140021483 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1