IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 21 July 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150012162 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___X_____ ___X_____ ____X____ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 21 July 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150012162 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined 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. IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 21 July 2016 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150012162 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 advancement on the Retired List to the rank/grade of sergeant first class (SFC)/E-7. 2. The applicant states: * he requests advancement on the Retired List to the highest grade he satisfactorily held on active duty * although he retired on 30 September 1995 in the rank/grade of staff sergeant (SSG)/E-6, he previously held the rank/grade of SFC/E-7 * he has a total of 30 years of combined time on active duty and on the Retired List * he served in an SFC/E-7 position for many years prior to his retirement * he served in two SSG/E-6 positions while holding the rank of sergeant/E-5 in Korea, one as a section sergeant and the other as the chemical biological radiological (CBR) noncommissioned officer (NCO) * while still holding the rank of sergeant/E-5 at Fort Carson, CO, he was again assigned as the section sergeant, an SSG/E-6 position * he was the acting first sergeant one summer when some of his company was sent to Fort Grayling, MI, to train an Army National Guard unit * he does not recall if he ever received temporary orders for the first sergeant position, but he performed all the duties of a first sergeant that summer, including holding formations, managing training, running all weapons ranges, and assigning charge-of-quarters duty * once stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, in 1987, he attended the U.S. Army Reenlistment Course and became the platoon sergeant as well as the battalion reenlistment NCO in 1989 * he did an exceptional job in both positions and only once did he not meet his quota for reenlisting Soldiers * he attended the master gunner course for the tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided (TOW) missile system in 1989 and became the company master gunner, eventually responsible for all TOW ranges held at his assigned duty stations for the rest of his career * he again served as the reenlistment NCO and the platoon sergeant in 1991 * toward the end of his Army career, he knew his military occupational specialty (MOS) of 11H (Heavy Anti-Armor Weapons Infantryman) was being phased out with the Bradley Fighting Vehicle coming into the Army inventory * rare was the SFC/E-7 promotion in his MOS at that time, but he was too close to retirement and had spent too many years with the TOW missile system to reclassify to another MOS for the sake of promotion at that stage * his last duty position was with the division headquarters public affairs office at Fort Stewart, GA, where he was the manager of the community relations section, an SFC/E-7 position * in that capacity he corresponded with any military veterans groups seeking tours of the installation and coordinated the tours * he scheduled all motor pool walk-throughs, weapons ranges, mess hall meals, and was responsible for the division camels presented to the division by the Prince of Kuwait 3. The applicant provides: * self-authored statement * DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record – Part II) * Certificate of Achievement, dated 28 September 1979 * Army Achievement Medal Certificate, dated 28 February 1983 * Army Good Conduct Medal Certificate, dated 19 September 1984 * Army Commendation Medal Certificate, dated 7 August 1987 * 9th Infantry Division Master Gunner Course Certificate, dated 7 February 1989 * 3d Brigade "Go Devils" Table V TOW Gunnery Certificate, dated 17 March 1989 * Army Achievement Medal Certificate, dated 13 March 1989 * DA Form 2496 (Disposition Form), dated 5 July 1989, subject: Appointment of Reenlistment NCO * DA Form 638 (Recommendation for Award of Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Meritorious Service Medal), dated 21 June 1991 * Army Commendation Medal Certificate, 13 March 1992 * Headquarters, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) and Fort Stewart, memorandum, dated 6 September 1995, subject: Letter of Recommendation * group photograph of 3d Platoon, Company E, 3d Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment 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. After prior periods of service in the Regular Army and the U.S. Army Reserve between 1974 and 1977, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 15 September 1977. 3. Headquarters, 2d Infantry Division, Orders 240-62, dated 28 August 1986, promoted him to the rank/grade of SSG/E-6 effective 28 August 1986 with a date of rank of 6 April 1986. 4. Item 35 (Record of Assignments) of his DA Form 2-1 shows in his duty MOS as 11H4O from September 1991 through September 1992, an E-7 position. None of the other duty MOSs are identified as E-7 positions. Item 18 (Appointments and Reductions) of his DA Form 2-1 shows the highest rank/grade he held throughout his military career was SSG/E-6. It does not show promotion or appointment to SFC/E-7. 5. The applicant provided a DA Form 2496, dated 5 July 1989, showing he was appointed to perform duties as a career counselor at the battalion level. It does not show appointment to a higher rank/grade. 6. He retired on 30 September 1995. His DD Form 214 shows his rank and grade as SSG/E-6. 7. On 4 July 2015, he applied to the Army Grade Determination Review Board requesting advancement on the Retired List to the rank/grade of SFC/E-7 under the provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, section 3964. After careful consideration, the Army Grade Determination Review Board denied his request as his records reflect he never held the rank/grade of SFC/E-7. REFERENCES: 1. Under the provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, section 3964, an enlisted or warrant officer retiree with less than 30 years of active service who previously held a higher grade can apply for advancement to that higher grade on the Retired List. This applies to former members of the Regular Army and Reserve members of the Army who were serving on active duty at the time of Regular retirement. In order to be advanced on the Retired List to the highest grade held satisfactorily, the retiree must have actually held that higher grade. The retiree must have been promoted to the higher grade, paid in that grade, and served in that grade for the required statutory or regulatory time. Having merely served in, "acted as," or held a position or job title authorized a higher grade is not sufficient to warrant advancement to that higher grade on the Retired List. 2. Army Regulation 611-1 (Military Occupational Classification Structure Development and Implementation) contains information on the classification of individuals by identifiers and classification of positions (duty position title, identifier(s), and grade in requirements and authorization documents). a. The enlisted MOS code consists of nine characters which are used to provide more detailed identification than the three-character MOS. The first three characters consist of two numbers and one letter that identify the MOS without regard to level of skill. The fourth character is a number which shows the skill and grade level in the MOS. The fifth character is a letter or a number which shows special qualification identifiers common to a number of positions and MOSs. The letter "O" will always be inserted as the fifth character when a position does not require special qualifications or a Soldier is not qualified for award of a special qualification identifier. The sixth and seventh characters show additional skill identifiers (ASI). They are an alpha-numeric or numeric-alpha combination which are used to identify specialized skills closely related to but in addition to those in the basic MOS. The numbers "00" will be inserted as the sixth and seventh characters when a position does not required an ASI or a Soldier is not qualified for award of an ASI. The eighth and ninth characters are two-letter combinations which identify foreign language requirements and qualifications. The letters "OO" will be used when no foreign language is required or a Soldier's qualifications are undetermined. b. There is a direct relationship between grade and skill level, without regard to nonsupervisory and supervisory skills. Each skill level identifies positions in the following authorized grade(s): * skill level 1 – private/E-1 through specialist/E-4 * skill level 2 – sergeant/E-5 * skill level 3 – SSG/E-6 * skill level 4 – SFC/E-7 * skill level 5 – master sergeant/E-8 and sergeant major/E-9 DISCUSSION: 1. Under the provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, section 3964, advancement on the Retired List to the highest grade held satisfactorily requires the retiree to have actually been promoted to the higher rank and served in that grade. 2. Although records indicate he served in at least one SFC/E-7 position while holding the rank/grade of SSG/E-6, he was never promoted to the rank/grade of SFC/E-7 and thus never previously satisfactorily held the rank for advancement on the Retired List. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150012162 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150012162 5 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2