BOARD DATE: 8 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001555 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 BOARD DATE: 8 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001555 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. BOARD DATE: 8 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160001555 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, award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), and correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), for the period ending 14 October 1967, to show he held an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS). 2. The applicant states, in effect, he wishes to be awarded the CIB and to have his military service accurately depicted on his DD Form 214. 3. The applicant provides: * a training certificate issued by Headquarters, 400th Regiment, Fort Chaffee, Arkansas on 8 June 1962 * National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (NGB – Report of Separation and Record of Service in the Army National Guard of Ohio), dated 19 October 1963 * NGB Form 55 (Honorable Discharge Certificate), dated 19 October 1963 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 enlisted in the Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG) on 11 April 1961. 3. The applicant entered active duty on 8 January 1962. He completed a period of active duty for training, was awarded MOS 111 (Light Weapons Infantryman), and was honorably released from active duty on 7 July 1962 and returned to the control of the OHARNG. His DD Form 214 for this period shows his MOS as 111.00. 4. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 21 October 1963. He entered active duty, completed another period of MOS training, and was awarded MOS 05H (Communication Counter Measure Operator). 5. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in: a. item 31 (Foreign Service), he served in the Republic of Vietnam from on or about 5 December 1966 to on or about 13 October 1967; b. item 38 (Record of Assignments), he was assigned to the 335th Radio Research Company during his period of service in the Republic of Vietnam, in MOS 05H, with duty as a Morse Interceptor; and c. item 41 (Awards and Decorations), the lack of an entry that indicates he was awarded the CIB. 6. The applicant was honorably discharged from the Army on 14 October 1967 after serving 3 years, 11 months, and 24 days of net service this period. His DD Form 214 for this period shows his MOS as 05H and does not show he was awarded the CIB. 7. The applicant's records are void of orders or any other evidence that shows he was awarded the CIB or that shows he served in an Infantry MOS during his period of Regular Army service. 8. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders that show he was awarded the CIB. 9. The applicant provides: a. a training certificate issued by Headquarters, 400th Regiment, Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, on 8 June 1962, showing he completed 8 weeks of advanced individual training in infantry MOS 111; b. NGB Form 22 showing he was honorably discharged from the OHARNG on 19 October 1963. It shows his MOS as 111; and c. NGB Form 55 showing he was honorably discharged from the OHARNG and as a Reserve of the Army on 19 October 1963, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 166th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division. REFERENCES: 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. It provides that the CIB is awarded to infantry officers, warrant officers, and enlisted Soldiers, possessing an infantry military occupational specialty, who actively participated in ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size. 2. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided for award of the CIB to infantry personnel who were members of infantry platoons and squads in armored cavalry squadrons and regiments. Appendix V provided that during the Vietnam era, the CIB was awarded only to enlisted Soldiers who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11D, 11F, 11G, or 11H. 3. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separations 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 Active Army. It provided that the DD Form 214 was a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty. The DD Form 214 provided a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge. For item 23 (Specialty Number and Title), the preparer should enter the separating Soldier's primary MOS code number and title. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant's request for award of the CIB and correction of his DD Form 214 to show he held an infantry MOS was carefully considered. 2. The evidence of record shows the applicant did serve in an infantry MOS; however, he did so while serving in the OHARNG during a prior period of service that ended on 19 October 1963. He enlisted in the Regular Army on 21 October 1963 and served in MOS 05H during his entire period of Regular Army service. 3. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from on or about 5 December 1966 to on or about 13 October 1967. During this period he served with the 335th Radio Research Company in MOS 05H, as a Morse Code Interceptor. 4. To be entitled to award of the CIB, an individual must have held and served in an infantry MOS while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size, and must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to such infantry unit. The applicant's service did not meet this criteria. 5. Regulatory guidance provides that the DD Form 214 is a synopsis of the Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty and provides a brief, clear-cut record of active Army service at the time of discharge. Item 23 should show the primary MOS code number and title held during the period of active duty represented by the DD Form 214. The applicant's MOS was 05H, as it is entered on his DD Form 214; therefore, there appears to be no error or injustice in this case. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001555 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160001555 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2