IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 15 October 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150003552 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 social security number (SSN) as "XXX-XX-XX65" instead of "XXX-XX-XX62." 2. The applicant states the record is in error because the SSN is incorrectly listed. 3. The applicant provides her DD Form 214, discharge orders, page 2 of her 4-page DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record), and her social security card. 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. The applicant's records show she enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 10 February 1977. Her DD Form 4 (Enlistment/Reenlistment Document – Armed Forces of the United States) and all allied documents list her SSN as "XXX-XX-XX62." She authenticated her contract, as appropriate, with her signature. 3. She entered active duty for training (ADT) on 13 March 1977. Multiple documents that were created upon her entry on active duty listed her SSN as "XXX-XX-XX62" and include: * DD Form 93 (Record of Emergency Data) * DA Form 428 (Application for Identification Card) * Servicemen's Group Life Insurance Election [Certificate] * DA Form 2-1 * Complete separation packet * Separation orders * Record of nonjudicial punishment * Report of Medical History * Report of Medical Examination 4. She was honorably discharged on 6 July 1977. She completed 3 months and 6 days of active service. Item 3 (SSN) of her DD Form 214 shows the entry "XXX-XX-XX62." 5. She provides a social security card that contains a name similar to the name she used while on active duty and with the SSN shown as "XXX-XX-XX65." 6. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), in effect at the time, prescribed the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. 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 enlistment contract listed her SSN as "XXX-XX-XX62." She authenticated this contract and allied documents with her signature. Additionally, this SSN is consistent with the SSN recorded throughout her military service. There is no evidence she used a different SSN at any time during the period she served in the U.S. Army Reserve or on active duty. 2. 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. 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 a different SSN in her military records, there is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Army’s records. 3. Absent convincing, independent, and verifiable evidence to the contrary, it is presumed her military service records, including the DD Form 214, were correct at the time and there is an insufficient basis to grant her relief in this case. 4. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document which confirms the requested SSN will be filed in her official military personnel records. This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion regarding the difference in the SSN recorded in her military records and to satisfy her desire to have her current SSN documented in her military records. 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) AR20150003552 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150003552 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1